One of the things I took very seriously while I was in school was the correct pronunciation of words, English words, to be precise, because English is the official language in my country, Nigeria. We are made to study English Language as a subject in primary school, secondary school, and even at the early stage of tertiary education as a general course.
During secondary school, I developed a deep interest in the confusing pronunciation of some English words, especially when we got to the Oral English aspect, which looked like a completely different subject on its own. I remember how I found it difficult to hold my laughter in class when a lecturer kept pronouncing certain words wrongly, very far from their actual pronunciation. I was punished too when it became obvious.
To be honest, I am not very good at the sentence-full part of English. I mean speaking very fluently and writing very well. You can see that clearly in my writing. However, when it comes to knowing the correct pronunciation of strange English words, especially those whose pronunciation is completely different from their spelling, I am quite good at that. At a point, I even thought I had mastered all of them, until yesterday, when I came across one that completely caught me unaware.
The word is “SACHET.” How come I did not know about this? How come I have been pronouncing it the awkward way all this time? The shame that hit me yesterday was out of this world. 😂
So, the correct pronunciation is “sa-shay” and not “sa-chet”, as most of us have been pronouncing it.
Now, the real problem is this: how do I walk into a shop and tell the shop owner that I want to buy a “sa-shay” of water?. I would be laughed at badly, even though they would be surprised to know that I actually pronounced the word correctly. And the craziest thing about me is that once I know the correct pronunciation of a word, I can never go back to pronouncing it the wrong way again.
At this junction, I honestly think our schools need to take the teaching of pronunciation more seriously. It is a big load of embarrassment to travel to another English-speaking country, and end up pronouncing simple words awkwardly.
Thanks for reading.
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