Knowing how the English vowel system works, with Long-vowels and Short-vowels, can help train your brain to work with English in a way that is similar to how native-speakers process the language. It can help you be better with spelling, and with being more confident in figuring out how to say new words. At the… Read More Short-vowel IPA Symbols
Do you know the total number of different vowel sounds in English? Beginners often think the answer is “five”, because there are five vowel letters in the alphabet. Of course, anyone familiar with this blog already knows that each vowel letter has at least one Long-vowel and one Short-vowel sound. So is it ten vowels… Read More Overview of Vowels
There is no letter “OO” in the English alphabet, but Long-OO and Short-oo are part of the vowel system. Short-oo Short-oo is a unique vowel sound that is not represented by any other vowel letter. This vowel is explained in “Short-oo? What’s that?” Long-OO Long-OO does not have its own sound. It uses the Long-U-2 sound.… Read More Long-OO
Tongue tension is important for pronouncing English short vowels well. All of the short vowels in American English need a relaxed tongue. In fact, some books and dictionaries call these vowels “lax vowels”. THE SECRET KEY for lax vowels Most students of English do not seem to know about tongue tension. Many of my students… Read More Tongue tension – a secret key
Short-oo is a vowel that is a little bit unusual. Now, you may be thinking, “But that’s not a letter in the English alphabet!”, and of course, you’re right. But Long-OO and Short-oo is a pair of vowel sounds that follow some of the spelling and pronunciation patterns of the other Long and Short vowels… Read More Short-oo? What’s that?
Here is a good tongue-twister to try: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? There are 3 keys to pronouncing this well: 1. “wood” and “would” sound the same. (Words that sound the same are called homonyms.) 2. Use the Short “oo” sound to say “wood”, “would”, and “could”.… Read More A tongue-twister: How Much Wood?
