English Pronunciation Practice - 13 or 30? w/Video

English Pronunciation Practice
13 or 30?

This post will help with your English pronunciation of numbers like 13 and 30. There is a video at the end to help your listening and check your own pronunciation so you sound just like a native speaker.

Learn an easy way to pronounce numbers that sound similar to non-native English speakers.

I was helping a student in Tokyo with their English pronunciation a few days ago, they were having trouble pronouncing the numbers 13 and 30.
We practiced numbers, not just 13 and 30, but 14 and 40, 15 and 50 etc.

I was thinking about a clear way to write the words out, to help my students read the numbers the same way we pronounce them. A new student recently asked my age. (At the time I was 45) If I wrote this number out by the sounds I would write FOUR-DEE-FIVE. I’m 45.

I realized that native speakers pronounce numbers like 30, 40 and 50 with a D sound rather than a T sound.

30 = THIR – DEE
40 = FOUR – DEE
50 = FIF – DEE

13, 14 15 on the other hand have a much stronger T sound in their pronunciation. They also have a slightly longer E sound with subtle ‘N’ sound at the end.

13 = THIR – TEE-N
14 = FOUR – TEE-N
15 = FIF – TEE-N

That’s a big difference and it’s also a simple way to teach how to pronounce these numbers.

English Pronunciation Practice - 13 or 30?

It’s good to read and understand how to make these sounds, but it’s better to listen! Watch the video below for more help with your English pronunciation.