How to Pronounce: I Need to Cancel My Reservation.

Hello! I’m John Russell. In recent lessons, we have explored words and phrases related to travel. But what do we say when our plans change? One useful verb to know is “cancel.” Let’s work together to improve our pronunciation of the word. Cancel involves two vowel sounds. For the first one, I would like to imagine you are a mad child, like this: [EXAMPLE – DO NOT USE IPA IN SUBTITLES æ] [Repeat several times] The second vowel sound is almost like a grunt. Listen and repeat after me: [ ə] Now let’s say the two vowel sounds in the order they appear in the word: [ ə] Once we have the vowel sounds mastered, we can include the consonant sounds, like this: Cancel Cancel How might we use “cancel” in a sentence? You might say this: I had to cancel my trip. Or this: I need to cancel my reservation. You should know that “cancel” often appears in passive sentences as well. A passive sentence does not make clear who is doing something. To make “cancel” passive, we add an –ed ending, as in: My trip was canceled. My trip was canceled. Be sure to put enough strength behind the very last sound of the word: Canceled That’s all for today! Keep up the good work! --------- Learning English is Voice of America’s multimedia source of news and information for millions of English learners worldwide. We help you build vocabulary, strengthen your speaking skills and improve your ability to communicate for work, school and everyday life. EXPLORE OUR PLAYLISTS: » Learning English Podcast:    • Learning English Podcast   » Let's Learn English with Anna! (For children 8-12)    • Let's Learn English with Anna   » Let's Learn English Level 1    • Let's Learn English   » Let's Learn English Level 2    • Let's Learn English Level 2   » VISIT OUR WEBSITE: learningenglish.voanews.com/ » LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/voalearningenglish » FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/voalearningenglish/ » FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: www.twitter.com/voalearnenglish » SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST ON ITUNES: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/voa-special-english-tv… Voice of America (VOA) is the largest U.S. international broadcaster, providing news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of 326 million people.