Tricky Vowel Contrasts Part 1

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University of California, Irvine의 강좌에서

Tricky American English Pronunciation

409개의 평가

University of California, Irvine

Tricky American English Pronunciation

409개의 평가

In this course, you’ll practice the sounds of American English that might sometimes be confusing. You'll practice both consonant and vowel sounds. You’ll also learn about the things that give English its special “music,” such as how to stress the right syllable in a word, how to make your voice go up and down in a natural-sounding melody, and how to naturally connect sounds and words. Learning these things will help you speak more clearly and make sure that others can understand what you're saying. This course is useful for English language learners who want to improve pronunciation of American English for better communication. Note that access to all of the lectures and handouts are free to anyone, but the graded assignments and quizzes are only available in the paid version of the course. You will need to submit recordings of your own pronunciation for graded assignments.

수업에서

Tricky Vowel Sounds

This week, you’ll practice some tricky vowel sounds in American English. Vowels are sounds that come out of your mouth very smoothly, like the first sounds in apple, ocean, and out. Vowel sounds are very important for being understood in English. They’re the “heart” of each syllable, and they need to be said clearly to avoid misunderstanding. Our goal is to help you pronounce English in a way that can be easily understood by listeners in real life, and mastering vowel sounds is an important step toward that goal. Now let’s practice the vowel sounds of American English.

Tricky Vowel Contrasts Part 17:48

Tricky Vowel Contrasts Part 26:22

Tricky Vowel Pairs Practice6:57

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Tamy Chapman
Instructor, International Programs
University of California Irvine Division of Continuing Education
Marla Yoshida
Academic Coordinator
International Programs
Brad Gilpin

Tricky vowel pairs part 1.

Sometimes it's hard to tell which vowel sound you hear.

Some vowel pairs can be really tricky.

Like the vowels in beat and bit.

Sit and set.

Late and let.

Or met and mat.

Why do some vowels cause so much trouble?

Often these problems happen because a vowels sound in English might not exist in

your language.

Many languages have far fewer vowel sounds than English.

Maybe five such as e, a, o and u.

Many languages don't have vowels like a as in bag or u as in bug.

Or sounds like sounds like the vowels in beat and

bit are heard as the same sound in many languages.

When you hear new vowel sounds for the first time,

your mind doesn't recognize them.

So it's hard to hear or say the sound well.

So what happens then?

When we meet words with sounds that are new and

strange, we often use familiar, comfortable sounds instead.

When we try to say bag it might sound like beg, bug or bog.

Sometimes these changes make it difficult for

listeners to understand what we're saying.

And that's a problem.

So what can we do about this?

First, we need to be aware of the sounds that are causing problems and

try to understand the differences between similar sounds.

Next, we should try to listen carefully to tricky sounds so

we can tell if we're saying them correctly.

Finally we should keep practicing those sounds, so

that our pronunciation is easier for listeners to understand.

Let's practice some tricky vowel sounds.

First let's practice /iy/ as in beat, and /I/ as in bit.

What is the difference between these two sounds?

Many learners have heard that the only difference between /iy/ and /I/,

is that /iy/ lasts longer than /I/.

This is not true.

There are two important differences between /iy/ and /I/.

When you say /iy/,

your tongue is a little higher in your mouth then when you say /I/.

This makes a different sound.

Also the muscles in your tongue are a little tenser or

tighter when you say /iy/ then when you say /I/.

Now say the sounds /iy/, /I/.

Now say these words and sentences with /iy/ and /I/.

Seat, sit.

Least, list.

Cheap, chip.

Feet, fit.

May I sit in this seat?

At least give me the list.

Those chips are cheap.

These shoes fit my feet.

Next, let's practice /I/ as in sit, and /e/ as in set.

What's the difference between these two sounds?

When you say /I/,

you're tongue is a little higher in your mouth than when you say /e/.

Feel the position of your tongue when you say these two sounds.

/I/, /e/.

For both sounds, your tongue is fairly relaxed.

Now, say these words and sentences with /I/ and /e/.

Your tongue should be a little higher when you say /I/.

Hid, head.

The boy hid his head.

Here, hair.

Can I get my hair cut here?

Lift, left.

Please lift up the left side.

Bitter, better.

This had better not be bitter.

Next, let's practice /ey/ as in late and /e/ as in let.

How are they different?

Here again, the main difference is not that one lasts longer than the other,

there are other necessary differences.

When you say /ey/, your tongue starts out in the same place as for /e/, but

then it moves higher.

When you say /ey/ your tongue doesn't move.

It just stays in the same place.

Say the sounds /ey/, /e/.

The muscles in your tongue are also a little tenser or

tighter when you say /ey/ then when you say e//.

Now say these words and sentences with /ey/ and /e/.

Late, let.

Lace, less.

Taste, test.

Tale, tell.

I won't let you be late.

That lace costs less.

The cooks did a taste test.

Will you tell us a fairy tale?

Next, let's practice /e/ as in met and /ae/ as in mat.

How are they different?

Feel the position of your tongue when you say /e/ and /ae/.

It should be a little higher in your mouth for /e/ than for /ae/.

Your tongue is relaxed for both of these sounds.

Say the sounds, /e/, /ae/.

Now say these words in sentences with, /e/ and /ae/.

Head, had.

I had a bad headache.

Left, laughed.

We laughed and then we left.

Said, sad.

Alfred said he felt sad.

Bed, bad.

This broken bed is bad.

In this lesson, we've practiced some pairs of vowel sounds that are sometimes tricky.

To master these and other difficult sounds, be aware of the sounds that

are causing problems, listen carefully to these tricky sounds and

keep practicing them so your pronunciation is easier for listeners to understand.

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