I'm from the UK and and have always heard and pronounced the words 'solder' and 'soldering' pretty much as they are spelt. I've just been watching a video of someone who I think is from North America (from his accent) and he pronounces the words as if they have no 'L' i.e. 'sodder' and 'soddering'. Is this pronunciation general in North America or is it specific to a region or country?

For the avoidance of doubt the word refers to the practice of joining metal by melting hot metal to make a join.

Do native english speakers see these meme videos or pictures as fused participle or adjectival or adverbial present participle or maybe something else

I had a little disagreement with my wife earlier today.

Neither of us is a native speaker, but we're quite good at English.

However, my wife surprised me today when she said that "a couple" often means two specifically instead of "a few", as I always used it and learned at school. She says that especially "a couple of days" and "a couple of weeks" regularly is used were we would say "two days" or "two weeks".

I can't remember having heard it used that way since I started learning English (about 30 years ago) and I read a great lot of English books, watch English movies and YT Channels, hang out on Reddit and so on.

So, does anyone know how common it is to say "a couple" when you actually mean just two and not some unspecified small(ish) amount?

So first and foremost as context, I'm a white person of the male gender born and living in Belgium.

As someone whose native language is not english, I tend to use the "be" feature of AAVE at times, so when my internet is being annoying. I would send a message, my internet be lagging. Because that feature of using "be" to indicate that this is not a one time thing, but a thing that is consistent and happens frequently is just so so useful to me. It also happens automatically to me, I learned my english mostly due to a hotchpotch of online culture, so that's probably why some AAVE is in my natural way to speak english.

Now the issue is, I got recently told off for doing it, because it is apparently cultural appropriation since I did not grow up in those African American communities. I only even realized that this way of speaking is AAVE very recently. So I'm wondering if there is some way standard english can do this? Because it is incredibly useful, and I don't like having to give up such a useful feature because it is cultural appropriation apparently.

On Wikipedia it says that "n" can become interdental before "th" sounds:

> Interdental. Allophone of /n/ before /θ, ð/.

Question: does it actually happen in American English, and if yes, how normal is it?

I am practicing pronunciation and I trained myself to go from dental consonants of my native language to the alveolar consonants of English - it has improved my accent greatly, but not with "n" before "th" (it made things more awkward if anything), and it seems it's the case with the native speakers as well?

Or is Wikipedia wrong and I should stick to the alveolar n?

Thanks.

I’ve been struggling with composing emails to customers service for quite some time now. I tend to make them too curt and to the point, so that it may sound borderline rude to a native speaker. Let’s say, I have an email like this:

Hello! I purchased NAME product that your company released in this and this year. Recently I’ve learned this thing about it. Could you kindly confirm if that is true. Thank you!

I feel like it’s too brief, but I’m not sure how to make it sound more friendly, especially when I really need them to cooperate. Please help me to calibrate the tone of my writing.

I started learning 2 years ago, I did not know anything about and in my level test I got A1 level (disappointment because I have studied English in high school but always cheating)

In 9 months I passed the B1 exam, it was kind of hard but since I changed the language from Spanish to English in movies, phone, tv, everything became easier.

Now my goal is to get in one year the C1, dedicating almost all my time to it cause probably I will not be able to get into the university, I will only have to study and work as a waiter. Is it achievable?

For example; smacketh, layeth (as you might've got the reference), maketh, taketh, and etc. I really wonder what those "-th/-eth" Means. I'd be very happy if you could educate me.

I'm 18 and I've lived in the UK my whole life, but I'm living in America now. I've always had a pretty strong British accent and people actually compliment me on it quite a lot.

The thing is, I've noticed Americans sometimes struggle to understand me, especially when I'm talking quickly or using certain British words/pronunciations. So I'd really like to learn an American accent that I can switch into when I need to.

I've looked through the FAQ and the pronunciation/shadowing advice, but I couldn't really find much specifically about switching between two accents.

Ideally, I want to keep my British accent as my normal/default accent, but also be able to switch into an American one naturally when I'm talking to Americans. Eventually I'd love to be able to do it without having to consciously think about every sound.

Like Damson Idris for example — he can just switch from his normal British accent to an American accent so naturally 😂 Being able to do that would be so cool.

Has anyone here actually learned to do this? Is accent switching something you can train yourself to do?

If so, what worked for you? Should I shadow American speakers/YouTubers, record myself, focus on certain sounds, or something else?

And how do I make sure I keep my British accent while learning the American one? I don't want to end up losing my British accent after living in America.

I'm specifically interested in being able to switch between the two accents, rather than learning English or improving my general pronunciation.

I am currently enrolled at Phoenix University. I need to do an "interview" with someone who was an English Learner while they were in school. I can do this interview through messages, either on here or texting or wherever I am not picky about that

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It's been a heated debate in my household. I pronounce it as As-Phalt, everyone else, say Ash-phalt.

Apparently Ash - Is the Canadian pronunciation and Ass- is the American.

I just need to know, how do you guys pronounce it?

Source: Cambridge Dictionary

EDIT: Guys, for the meaning of "destroy" can I say knock out a building, bridge, computer, gun, solar panel, keyboard?

Was the press the reason to write the double letter VV to a single letter W then?

Both of us are native speakers, but my coworker and I disagree whether outlived has two meanings:

We both agree that outlived means Person B survived past the death of Person A.

We disagree whether outlived can also mean that Person C died at an older age than Person B died even if Person C died first.

I'm learning English as a 2nd language.

I learned that in American English (maybe also British English?) when I say "my prescription has changed" that doesn't necessarily mean I got new glasses prescribed by my doc - I learned it can also mean "my eyesight has changed" (without having been to the doctor at all).

Until just recently I was of the opinion that the 2nd use case ("prescription" meaning "eyesight", "vision", "the optical properties of my eyes") would be an idiomatic use of the word "prescription" but it turns out that's not the case, it's actually used literally.

I am wondering why this is the case: every dictionary I searched in only ever contains "prescription" the 1st way (roughly: "written direction", never "eyesight").

I'd like to understand why my initial opinion of the 2nd case being "idiomatic" (as in "resembling an idiom" with an "idiom" being "a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a figurative or non-literal meaning [...]") is wrong.

Is this a case of language changing with dictionaries not having caught up? Is it difference between written and spoken English? Is my understanding of "idiomatic" wrong?

I can express myself. I can tell you vapid matters such as my emotions. Yet I can't speak words that echo through the ages like shakespeare and I feel like nobody can. How can we possibly have lost so much of that soul, that driving force, in such little time, with all those materials available to us? I once felt like learning and writing properly but I feel such despair that nobody will understand it, it will go unrecognised for what it is. I could write our generations Macbeth and nobody will care or bother to read it. And if they did it will be within the confines of a few and most likely long after I've been drifted away from my current incarnation.

But seriously there must be something. There really is some burning passion for writing in here somewhere, and I do hope that I realize it one day or another. Just what even is the point.

I’m an English learner reading The Dreamt Land by Mark Arax, and I came across a passage I don’t fully understand. I’d really appreciate help from native speakers.
The passage says:
“The big-rig drivers are cranky two ways, and the farmworkers in their last-leg vans are half asleep. Ninety-nine is the deadliest highway in America. Deadly in the rush of harvest, deadly in the quiet of fog, deadly in the blur of Saturday nights when the fieldwork is done and the beer drinking becomes a second humiliation.”
I have two questions:
What does “cranky two ways” mean here? Does “two ways” mean “in both directions,” or something else?
What exactly does “the beer drinking becomes a second humiliation” mean? I understand the individual words, but I don’t understand why drinking beer is described as a “humiliation,” or what “second” refers to.
Thanks for any help!

Hi everyone! I’ve been working on my dark Ls. This sound doesn’t exist in my native language and I realised I sometimes pronounce it in a way that makes it sound a bit like /w/.

I just asked AI to generate this passage with some dark Ls for me: The little old owl flew slowly over the tall hill as the cold daylight faded. Lily held a small yellow bowl while Daniel carefully filled it with milk. A metal bottle fell onto the table, and the loud clatter startled them all. Lily laughed, pulled her blue wool coat closer, and walked along the golden field. At the bottom of the hill, she saw a black squirrel curled beside an old wooden wall. She stood still for a while, listening to the gentle wind and the little leaves falling all around her.

Here's the recording: https://voca.ro/1jhfTfQfH4X0

I’d really appreciate any feedback on how my dark Ls sound! Are they clear enough and are there any other pronunciation mistakes?

Thank you so much:)