I bet you don’t know how to pronounce H. I know what you are thinking, “That’s the letter H.”
In fact, you are probably pronouncing it a few times in your head right now. Go ahead and pronounce it out loud several times and if you are like most Malaysians, notice that you pronounced it ‘hetch’. The letter H makes a soft ‘heh’ sound so you probably pronounced the letter with the soft ‘heh’ sound too.
Actually, the letter H is pronounced ‘aitch’. Yes! You do not pronounce it with a hard H sound or any sound at all at the front. Try saying it a few times to get used to it.
The H sound in words is like a breath or a whisper. Look at how I spelt the H sound. The H sound in H happens at the end of the pronunciation. Try saying these words: hat, hello, and handsome.
Don’t say the words with a hard H like ‘H-ello’, but with a gentle breath so it sounds ‘h-ello’. Say the H in hello as if you are starting a breath ‘heh…’ but before you finish completing your breath, add the ‘ello’ and you will pronounce ‘hello’ correctly.
Try saying, “Harry the hungry, hungry hippo is happily eating ham in his house.” The H in every word should be like a breath and not like someone trying to blow out a candle with every word.
Of course, if you say the H too softly, it will sound ‘ello’ much like a bobby greeting you suspiciously, or worse, like an uneducated English bumpkin.
Some Hs are not pronounced at all e.g. ‘honest’. You pronounce this word as ‘on-est’ and not ‘hon-est’.
Pepper's World. Notes to myself. 