English spelling and English sound often disagree. Learners in every country read a word letter by letter, the way they read their own language, and say "Wed-nes-day," "re-ceipt" with a P, or "sal-mon" with an L. Even native speakers trip over some of these. In this episode: • Silent letters • Dropped middle syllables • Surprise vowels • -ough words and -ed adjectives • Simple rules and a kitchen scene • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: Wednesday (WENZ-day) — the first D and the second E are silent receipt (ri-SEET) — silent P: Keep the receipt. salmon (SAM-un) — silent L: The salmon's in the oven. island (EYE-lund) — silent S: the kitchen island listen (LIS-un) — silent T castle (KAS-ul) — silent T: a sand castle often (OFF-un or OFF-tun) — both are fine knife, knee — silent K: Grab a knife. wrist (RIST) — silent W calm (KAHM) — the L is usually silent half (HAF) — silent L: half a cup walk, talk (WAWK, TAWK) — silent L could, would, should (KOOD, WOOD, SHOOD) — silent L debt (DET), doubt (DOWT) — silent B plumber (PLUM-er) — silent B: Call the plumber. comb (KOHM) — silent B cupboard (KUH-berd) — silent P: It's in the cupboard. handsome (HAN-sum) — silent D: a handsome old desk vegetable (VEJ-tuh-bul) — Eat your vegetables. comfortable (KUMF-ter-bul) — This couch is so comfortable. chocolate (CHAWK-lit) — a chocolate chip cookie interesting (IN-tres-ting) — That's interesting. every (EV-ree) — every morning family (FAM-lee) — family dinner different (DIF-rent) — a different color restaurant (RES-tuh-rahnt) — a new restaurant Season 2 · Real American English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — accent, everyday grammar, prepositions, articles, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.