How do you pronounce agenda?

One word that I frequently teach people to say is the word AGENDA.

Why is this word so tough to pronounce?

Agenda is difficult to pronounce because the letter G has a /ʤ/ sound.

While most people can articulate the /ʤ/ sound, Chinese Spanish and Indian English speakers  often find it difficult.

The letter G has more than one sound

Other people just don’t realize that the letter G sometimes has a /ʤ/ sound.

Other words that have a /ʤ/ sound include:

• job
• John
• journal
• suggestion
• digital
• manager
• agenda

Listen here

 

It’s often the spelling

You can see that the /ʤ/ sound can be spelled with a G or a J.

In my experience as an accent reduction coach, I’ve found that it’s often the spelling of a word that causes pronunciation problems for non native speakers.

Learn the patterns

Learning common sound & spelling patterns is something that I teach the professionals who I work with in my accent reduction coaching programs.

In most cases you can articulate the correct sound….you just need to understand WHEN to use it!