If you’re going to learn English, you’ll have to understand one of the main characteristics that complicate it – it’s not a phonetic language. That means, we do not always pronounce words the way they are spelled.
Some words bear the same spelling, but need to be pronounced differently. For example, the word “read” is mouthed off differently in these two sentences:
- Read the paper from yesterday.
- I have read yesterday’s paper.
Some words are pronounced the exact same way, yet are spelled differently. For example, the words “way” and “weigh” are complete separate things, yet are mouthed off in exactly the same manner.
- Show me the way.
- How much do you weigh?
Unless you’ve specifically studied both uses of the word, there’s no way you could have known how to differentiate one from the other. Most likely, you will make mistakes with such words during the course of your study with your language software. Just know that it’s nothing to be embarrassed about – those phonetic differences are things you will need to recognize and remember whenever you encounter them.
There are a total of 52 different sounds in the English language, each of which you will likely encounter during your attempts at mastering it. You should learn all these different pronunciations if you want to both speak and listen more capably.