Top 20 Most Requested Words to Pronounce in 2023

from my American English Pronunciation Q&A Meetup group

What words did we practice the most in 2023?

In 2023, my Meetup group, American English Pronunciation Q&A, met on Mondays at 6:00-7:00pm and Tuesdays 12:00-1:00pm (US Eastern time). Starting in 2024, I won’t be meeting on Mondays anymore. You’re welcome to join live or watch the videos I make after each one where I pronounce the words we practiced.

In the Meetups, I ask people what words they want to practice so these words have all been requested by people who are asking me, not me providing them. At the end of the year, I combine all the spreadsheets and find out what were the most requested words.

Looks Like vs Sounds Like

Most of the words on this list are spelled differently than they sound or they have more than one pronunciation option. The spreadsheets I use in every Meetup have what the word looks like in column A in regular spelling.

Column B spells the word the way that it actually sounds (in regular letters, not IPA symbols) and uses capital letters for the stressed syllable.

Column C identifies the sound of the vowel in the stressed syllable which is important because that’s the sound you’re going to pronounce with higher pitch and longer duration.

Then I use the word in a group, phrase, or short sentence so it’s not just an isolated word.

Here’s what it looks like and you can copy the Google sheet.

Listen

I recorded myself pronouncing all these words just like I do after every Meetup. If you can’t attend the pronunciation or intonation Meetups, you can always watch the videos I make after each one to hear new words and sentences. Visit the whole channel with the link below or click on the video to go directly to the Top 20 list.

Adastra Speech YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@adastraspeech

I thought it was interesting how the words requested are a subtle reflection of what was going on in the world at the time. The words on this list are definitely more focused on career and communication. If someone would like to write a little story that uses all the words on this list, that would be awesome!

I wish you all an interesting new year!