harry Potter Harry Potter Harry Potter Harry Potter Harry Potter The Harry Potter Harry Potter Harry Potter When JK Rowling chose the name Harry Potter for her main character she wasn’t just picking any old name It’s packed with some of the most iconic sounds in British English Let’s find out what they are and how you can sound British just like magic.
So what we’re going to do is we’re going to look at five sounds used in the name Harry Potter that make you sound British So let’s begin Let’s start with the H in Harry In some British accents like Cockney English or Estri English the H is dropped completely So instead of being Harry it becomes ari Harry But in most British accents the H is heard loud and clear It becomes hry Harry Harry Potter Tip Make sure you add a little breath before the H sound like you’re sighing slightly Try saying these words Hut Hello Harry That’s great Now practice saying these sentences Harry had a huge pile of spell books in his hut
Hello Harry Are you happy with your Hogwarts letter now let’s talk about the Ah in Harry In American English it’s often pronounced like Harry with a longer more open vowel sound Pleasure doing business with you Harry However in British English it’s short and crisp Harry Harry Potter Can you hear the difference tip: Keep your mouth more relaxed and open slightly less than for an American a It should sound like the A in cat or bat Try repeating these words Cat Hat Harry And can you say these sentences focusing on the a sound harry cast a spell on his pet cat The black hat on the shelf belonged to a wizard Next let’s talk about the O in potter
This is one of the most recognizable sounds in British English Can you hear the difference in how a British and American person pronounces this sound harry Potter Potter Potter Potter Okay In British English we use an open back rounded vowel that sounds like O O Tip Keep your lips relaxed and slightly rounded and drop your jaw just a little to get that deep open sound For example lot got potter Let’s practice these sentences Hogwarts is a lot bigger than I thought Ron got a new wand from Ollivanders Potter’s pot was boiling over in the classroom
Now let’s talk about the T sound in potter In British English the T is clear as a pure T sound However in American English it can sound a bit more like a D Can you hear the difference potter Potter Potter Potter To make a crisp tea sound tap the tip of your tongue behind your upper front teeth and release it with a little puff of air For example butter Water Potter Let’s practice with these sentences Professor McGonogal gave Potter a letter The wizard spilled his butterbeer in the three broomsticks In some British accents like Cockney or Estri English the T becomes a glottle stop So
it sounds more like potter So let’s hear the difference Potter Potter Tip To make a glottle stop briefly stop the airflow in your throat without using your tongue It’s a softer more relaxed pronunciation Butter water Potter Last but not least let’s talk about the R in the name Potter British English is usually nonrotic So when words end in e r we usually don’t pronounce the r So instead of potter it becomes potter Potter Can you hear the difference potter Potter Tip Keep your tongue relaxed and don’t curl it up Just let the vowel flow smoothly into the next sound For example car far potter Okay let’s practice these sentences
Harry read the letter over dinner Hermione always tells Potter to study harder So there you go By practicing these sounds and using the shadowing technique to perfect them you’re going to be sounding like a Hogwarts student in no time just like Harry Potter So that’s British English pronunciation You have learned how to speak British English just like magic Make sure you like the video subscribe to the channel and let me know if you want to see more videos like this where we break down British pronunciation to help you sound British just like magic