Sooner or later, someone on the phone will say, "Could you spell that for me?" Then the letters you know so well suddenly sound wrong. Learners often say letter names the way they sound in their own language, so an American hears E when you mean I, or G when you mean J. Others translate symbols directly and say "arroba" or "point" in an email address, or spell a double letter one by one so fast that the listener loses count. In this episode: • The letters that get mixed up • Double letters and the "as in" method • Asking, spelling and confirming • Email and web-style addresses • Invented scene: the delivery call • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: A (AY) — rhymes with day E (EE) — rhymes with see I (EYE) — rhymes with my G (JEE) — starts like jeans J (JAY) — rhymes with day M (EM) and N (EN) — M closes the lips; N keeps them open R (AR) — like the word "are" H (AYCH) — no H sound at the start W (DUB-ul-yoo) — three syllables Y (WHY) — sounds like the word "why" Anna — A, double N, A Emma — E, two Ms, A Kelly — K, E, double L, Y B as in boy — B, not V or P V as in Victor — V, not B M as in Mary — M, not N N as in Nancy — N, not M D as in dog — D, not T T as in Tom — T, not D S as in Sam — S, not F F as in Frank — F, not S P as in Peter — P, not B Is that M as in Mary or N as in Nancy? — a clear check (neutral) Could you spell that for me? — asking someone to spell (polite) How do you spell that? — asking someone to spell (neutral) Can you spell your last name? — asking for a family name (neutral) Sure, it's L-E-E. — spelling a name (neutral) 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.