Short-vowel IPA Symbols
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 […]
Short vowels
Overview of Vowels
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 […]
The Sounds of E
The vowel system of English can be confusing because there are only five vowel letters (A-E-I-O-U), but there are 15 different vowel sounds. The key is that each vowel letter has three or four sounds, […]
Vowels – Long and Short
Each of the vowel letters (A-E-I-O-U) has a Long-vowel sound, plus one or two Short-vowel sounds, and those are the normal sounds for each vowel. But what does Long-vowel or Short-vowel mean? Long-vowel The Long sound for any vowel, […]
Tongue tension – a secret key
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 […]
Short-oo? What’s that?
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 […]
Sell or Sale?
Does the difference between the words “sell” and “sale” seem confusing? I have known quite a few students who have trouble pronouncing those two words clearly, and some are not even sure which word is […]
This or These?
“Do you mean 1 or more than 1?” Have you ever been asked a question like that after trying to say something with the word “this” or “these”? If so, you’re not alone. It can be […]
A tongue-twister: How Much Wood?
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. […]
A tongue-twister: Fuzzy Wuzzy
Here is a good tongue-twister to try: Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy, was he? There are 2 keys to pronoucing this well: 1. “Wuzzy” and “was […]
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