A visit to London would not be complete without a trip on the London Underground, locally
known as the Tube. So today, i'm going to show you how to pronounce twenty Tube stations
just like a local. All that is coming right up.
Hello Eat Sleep Dreamers, how's it going? For anyone that is new round here, my name
is Tom and I teach fresh modern British English so that you can take your English to the next
level and achieve your life goals. Now today, we are looking at how to pronounce twenty
London Underground tube stations and why are we doing that? Because you guys have asked
for it. You've sent me so many messages asking for this lesson and I get it guys. I get it.
British place names are sometimes totally confusing. I get it guys, don't worry. I absolutely
understand and London Underground tube stations are equally difficult to pronounce and that's
why I'm here to guide you through these names so that the next time you come to London you
can say them just like a local.
Ok, maybe not that local but you know what I mean.
Now before we start I want to mention two things. Firstly, I'm going to teach you how to say
these words in my accent. Now my accent is a London accent. There are other accents out
there that probably say these words differently or certainly with a variation. This is my
accent i can only teach you how I pronounce these words. Secondly I've chosen these twenty
words for two simple reasons. They are the ones that cause visitors most problems and
also they are the ones that visitors go to most. Now I could teach you how to say Theydon
Bois, but you are never going to go there so why would you need to know how to say it?
So these twenty stations are the ones that I think you'll probably visit when you come
to London and you'll need to pronounce properly. Alright, that's all said, that's all done,
let's get on with number one.
Alright let's get this one done straight away. Leicester Square. It's a really popular tourist
destination and it's really commonly mispronounced.The real pronunciation is Leicester Square.
Number two, Tottenham Court Road. This is a station at one end of Oxford Street which
is one of the main shopping streets in London. Now Tottenham is a tricky word because it
has a lot of syllables but actually we don't pronounce many of them. It's Tottenham. The
stress is on the first syllable. Tottenham Court Road. Now at the end of that word, ham,
you've got ham. You'll see this in a lot of British place names. I think traditionally
it means like farm or village and there are a lot of London place names that have ham
at the end of it. Now the pronunciation there, it's not Tottenham, it's Tottenham and that
ham is 'um. We pronounce it as 'um so another tube station is Clapham and it's not Clap-ham,
it's Clapham. So whenever you see the ham at the end of a British place name you'll
know how to say it. Just like the main city Birmingham. It's not Birming-ham, it's Birmingham.
Alright so one more time, Tottenham Court Road.
Another popular shopping area Piccadilly Circus. The stress there is on the third syllable,
Piccadilly Circus. Now before you go there and think there's going to be a circus there,
you'll be disappointed. Because circus is another word for roundabout so it just means
the kind of traffic system that is there but Piccadilly circus, sadly there are no circuses
but there are plenty of shops and fun things to do. And in fact let's go to another circus,
Oxford Circus. It's in the middle of Oxford street and it's basically the centre of London's
shopping. It's the place you want to go, if you want to buy clothes, this is the place
to go. Oxford Circus. Now when you arrive into London you might fly into Heathrow airport
so let's pronounce Heathrow together. Heathrow.Now if you separate it, it sounds like 'he throw'
so if you just put it together Heathrow. The stress is on the second syllable there. So
where are you flying from? I'm flying from Heathrow. Now let's look at some of the train
stations that you might go into. So we've got Euston. It's a tricky one that one. The
pronunciation is very different from the spelling Euston. Euston station. And then we've got
a classic one here Marylebone. Now this one is mispronounced so often. I see it as Mary
Le Bone that's the classic mispronunciation which I like. I quite like saying Mary Le
Bone I think that's almost a better version than the real one but the real pronunciation
Marylebone. So three sounds there Marylebone station. Next one we've got Paddington. Famous
for the bear, Paddington bear it's also a very important station. Paddington. So it's
not Paddington, it's Paddington.
Alright this station is in the West End, it's quite near a lot of the theatres and musicals
that you might visit. Holborn. Now it looks more complicated than it actually is, it's
actually two very simple sounds, Holborn. Then you just put the stress on the first
syllable Holborn. I'm going to Holborn. Alright, Holborn.
If you are going to one of London's famous musicals then you might also go to Covent
Garden tube station. Covent Garden. I don't really pronounce that t very much so it's
not Covent Garden, it's Covent Garden.
World famous for being the beginning and end of time, it's Greenwich. Now this is often
mispronounced as Green Which but it's not, it's Greenwich. Two sounds Greenwich.
Three of London's biggest museums are located in South Kensington. You've got the Natural
History Museum, The V&A and the Science Museum and they are all in South Kensington.So I
think we should learn how to say that. So Kensington, the stress is on the first syllable
Kensington. Now rather helpfully locals actually just say South Ken. You don't even need to
say Kensington, you can just say I'm going to South Ken' and they will know what you
are talking about. How wonderful is that? So let's all go to South Ken.
This station is on the south side of the river and it's located next to MI6 which features
in one of the James Bond films. Now the way to pronounce this is Vauxhall. So two sounds
Vauxhall. Stress is on the first syllable, Vauxhall station. Possibly the world's most
famous shop Harrods is located in Knightsbridge. So if you want to visit Harrods you'll probably
go to Knightsbridge station. So let's say that together Knightsbridge. So the stress
is on the first syllable there Knightsbridge.
One of London's most popular markets is Borough market and it's located in the area of Borough.
So there is a station called Borough. Now the pronunciation is different from the way
it's spelled so it's actually much easier to say than it looks. So it's two sounds Borough,
stress is on the first syllable Borough. Although actually if you are going to Borough Market
your best bet is to go to London Bridge station because it is literally right there so go
to London Bridge it's probably a much easier walk.
If you visiting the river Thames and particularly the London Eye you might well go to Embankment
station. Three sounds Embankment. Now the t at the end there, the t, you should probably
pronounce it Embankment, in reality when I'm saying it I'll drop that t, Embankment. I'm
going to Embankment. I'll see you at Embankment. The stress is on the second syllable Embankment.
Now the clue of the location is in the name. An Embankment is a bank of earth that stops
river flooding so it's up against the river to stop it from flooding so Embankment is
next to the river. Embankment. Sometimes English makes sense.
Just south of the river and really centrally located is Southwark. Not South Walk, Southwark.
If you love shopping you will also want to go to London's biggest shopping centre Westfield.
Now there are two Westfields one is in Stratford and the other one is in Shepherd's Bush. So
let's get that pronunciation again Shepherd's Bush. Let's finish this off with two more
major train stations the first one Waterloo, the stress there is on the last syllable Waterloo.
Ok and finally Kings Cross St Pancras. This was made famous by Harry Potter, he used to
get his train from Kings Cross. So we have Kings Cross and then St Pancras. Now it's
one tube station Kings Cross St Pancras but when you get out at Kings Cross St Pancras
there are two different main line train stations. You've got Kings Cross which goes up north
and you've got St Pancras which you can get the Eurostar and go to Paris or Brussels or
wherever. So it's a pretty busy train station to go to. Kings Cross St Pancras. Alright
Eat Sleep Dreamer how was that? I'd love to know in the comments below which one do you
find the hardest to say? So write that in the comments below and write down any other
train stations that you'd like me to pronounce. I can do a part two maybe to this video, so
let me know which tube stations would you like me to pronounce for you. Guys remember
to check out my Facebook page and my Instagram account. I put daily English content on there
so that you can learn English every single day. How good is that? and also remember that
I put new videos out every Tuesday and every Friday helping you take your English to the
next level. This is Tom, the Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye.