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Pronunciation

britdam007

britdam007

India

“Forest deparment officials tried to treat the elephant for the better part of the day on Thursday but she died around 8:30 pm.”


My question to you is, in the above sentence I would like to know the pronunciation of the preposition ‘for’ in fluent English, i.e. whether the pronunciation of ‘for’(especially when it is used in the middle of the sentence) becomes | fər |  or rather | fer | ? 



Is it true that when the preposition ‘for’ is used in the begining of a sentence the pronunciation of it becomes | fɔːr |


Example:  For | fɔːr | all I know, the mayor hasresigned already. 



Do you agree with me?


Best regards,


Abhishek

01:25 PM Dec 26 2015 |

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Teacher AmySuper Member!

United States

Hi,



This is a very interesting but also very complex question. The answer will vary from person to person.



Language learners learn best when they have a personal reason for learning. Because of this, it depends on why a person wants to learn a UK or US version of English. If a person wants to work in the US, it may be psychologically difficult for them to learn the UK style of English. 



Does that make sense?



Best, 



Amy

12:22 AM Jan 05 2016 |

britdam007

britdam007

India

Apart from the vowel sounds and some American Idioms both the accents are quite similar, isn’t it? So don’t you think a person who has an English accent can master the standard American accent? But it is not the other way around unless an American stays in Southern England for a considerable period of time. What do you think?



Best regards,


Abhishek

08:32 AM Jan 05 2016 |

Teacher AmySuper Member!

United States

Hi,



This is a big topic because accents and dialects are very sociological and psychological. People often speak in a way that is similar to their friends, family, and/or co-workers. They can also learn the accents/dialects that are spoken by the social groups that they admire. 



I don’t think we can generalize about how easy/difficult it might be for an entire group of people to learn another accent/dialect. This type of learning is very personal. For example, a US English speaker who admires the British accent will probably be able to learn this accent by studying it from afar. Watching movies and listening to podcasts is a great way to do this. 



Best, 



Amy 

09:51 PM Jan 05 2016 |