Kool Study

[ju] ‘ew’ as in ‘few’

The ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong. The first sound of this diphthong is the Y consonant. Diphthongs are normally made up of two vowel sounds, but in this diphthong, the Y consonant is acting as a vowel. To make this sound, the front part of the tongue will push behind the bottom front teeth, yy, yy, while the mid/front part of the tongue will raise and actually make contact with the roof of the mouth. YY, yy, yyuu. Also, there’s a sort of pinching off here in the throat that gives the Y sound that quality. Yyuu, yyuu. The second half of the diphthong is the ‘oo’ as in ‘boo’ vowel, yyuu. You may find that the lips start to form that tight circle of the vowel oo, even as you’re making the Y consonant sound, yyuu, yyuu. In the ‘oo’ as in ‘boo’ vowel, the back part of the tongue stretches up towards the back of the roof of the mouth and soft palate area. So the tongue goes from being raised in the front, touching the front part of the roof of the mouth, to pulling up and stretching towards the back of the roof of the mouth. The tip of the tongue still remains forward in the ‘oo’ as in ‘boo’ vowel, jjuu, here behind the bottom front teeth, or slightly lower, in the soft tissue. Yyuu, few. Here you can see both sounds of the ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong. You can see that though in the first sound the lips are rounded, in the second sound they are much more rounded and closed.

Here are both sounds in profile. Again, note that the circle of the lips in the second sound is tighter. Here parts of the mouth are drawn in. You can see that in the first sound, the Y consonant sound, the tongue stretches up and forward. Here I have not drawn the tongue pressing all the way to the roof of the mouth because the center part of the tongue is actually leaving room for the air to pass through. So the sides of the top of the tongue are pressing the sides of the roof of the mouth, leaving a small passageway down the center. In the second sound the tongue stretches up and back. Ew. So the tongue has to make this movement from being forward and raised to being back and raised in this diphthong. Sample words: view, use, music. Sample sentence: You are one of few pupils writing beautiful poetry. Now you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion, both straight on and from an angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound.

You, you can see the lips round, but they come in tighter towards the end of the diphthong. And the tongue moves back as you can see the space between the teeth getting darker. Are, tongue moves into the R consonant position. One, lips come small, tongue goes up to make the N. Of, the lip to the teeth to make the V sound. Few, another ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong: lips start bigger and then come in to the tighter circle. Lips together for the P, pupils, another ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong. Writing, lips form a tight R position, and then open into the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. And the tongue moves up into the T position. Beautiful, another ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong here. Tongue tip up to make the T and the lip up to make the F. Poetry, the ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong. The T, then the lips make the R position, and the lips pull back into the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’.

And now from an angle. You, the lips form and you see the tongue begin to pull back as the lips tighten into a tighter circle. Are, you see the tongue back there making the R consonant sound. One. Tongue up to make the N. Of, lip up to make the V sound, few, the lips up to make the F, and another ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong, you see the tongue moving back. Pupils, another ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong. And again the lips tighten into a tight circle as the lips move back. Writing, the tongue up to touch the roof of the mouth for the T, beautiful, another ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong. The tongue up to touch the roof of the mouth for the T. Poetry, ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong. There’s the R consonant sound. And then the corners of the lips pull back into the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ sound. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

[i] ‘ee’ as in ‘she’

The ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel.  To make the sound, the front part of the tongue raises very high towards the roof of the mouth while the tip still remains down, lightly touching behind the bottom front teeth, ee, ee, ee.  The tongue doesn’t touch the roof of the mouth, but it’s very close up there, ee, ee.  You can see also the corners of the lips pull wide, ee, ee.

Here is a photo of the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound on the right, compared with the mouth at rest on the left. Notice that the corners of the mouth are pulled slightly back in this ee sound. And here with the inside parts drawn in. As with all vowels, the soft palate is raised, but more importantly, note the tongue. It’s raised very high in the mid-front, though not quite touching the roof of the mouth. The tip of the tongue lightly touches the back of the bottom front teeth.  Sample words: please, ski, even. Sample sentence: She needs to see there’s a reason to believe me. Now you’ll see this sentence close up and in slow motion, both straight on and from an angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound.

She, S-H sh, and the ee. Needs, see how much further the corners of the lips pull back, needs, as it is more stressed than she. To see, again, the corners of the mouth are pulled back. There’s, the tongue comes through the teeth, a reason, again the ‘ee’ as in ‘she'” rr ee son. To believe, lip comes up to make the V, me.

And now from the angle. She, sh here, she, needs, tongue goes up to make the N. And watch the corners of the mouth really pull back. Needs. To, t-uh here. See, teeth come together to make the S, see. There’s, tongue comes through the teeth. A reason, lips form the R, re-, corners pull back, re-son. To believe. Lips together for the B, tongue up to make the L and the corners of the lips pull back for the ee. Lip moves up to make the V. Me, corners pull back again for the ee sound. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

International Phonetic Alphabet symbol: [i]

See Wikipedia’s page for the occurrences of this sound in other languages.

[oʊ] ‘oh’ as in ‘no’

The ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong. The first sound of this diphthong does not occur on its own as a vowel in American English, o, o, oh. You can see the lips have a rounded position, o, oh. The tongue raises up a bit in the back towards the soft palate. In general, the tongue raises some and shifts back a bit, o, o. This means the tip of the tongue, pulled slightly back, is not touching anything. The second sound is the ‘uh’ as in ‘pull’ vowel sound, though, in this diphthong, the lips will round more for the second sound than when the ‘uh’ as in ‘pull’ occurs on its own as a vowel. Oh, you can see that tighter circle. The back part of the tongue will stretch even further towards the soft palate in the second half of this diphthong. The tip of the tongue, usually touching behind the bottom front teeth for the ‘uh’ as in ‘pull’ vowel, may be slightly further back because it was further back in the first half of the diphthong. Oh, no.

Here we see both sounds of the diphthong. In the first sound, you can see the jaw is dropped more. In both sounds the lips are rounded, but they are more rounded in the second sound. Here are the two sounds in profile. Again, note that the jaw has dropped more for the first sound. Here, parts of the mouth are drawn in. In the first sound, the tongue is pulled slightly back and up. In the second sound, it stretches up even more towards the soft palate. In both sounds, the tongue tip is not quite touching the bottom front teeth. Sample words: lonely, owner, telephone. Sample sentence: The window of the hotel was blown out and broken. Now you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion, both straight on and from an angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound.

The. Tongue through the teeth for the TH sound. Window, lips make the W shape, tongue up for the N. Teeth together for the D. And here a quick ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong. Of, bottom lip up for the V, the hotel, again, ‘oh’ as in ‘no’, ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’, and the tongue up for the L. Was blown, the ‘oh’ as in ‘no’, you can see the lips rounding more at the end. Out, with the ‘ow’ as in ‘now’ diphthong. And broken. Lips together for the B, R, and here is the ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong. Broken.

And from an angle. Tongue through the teeth for the TH. The window, lips make the W. Tongue up for the N and D. And here is an ‘oh’ as in ‘no’. You see the lips round more at the end. Of the ho-, again ‘oh’ as in ‘no’, you see the tongue move back, hotel. Lips together for the T. ‘Eh’ as in ‘bed’ and the tongue comes forward for the L. Was blown, lips together for the B. Tongue up for the L and down, ‘oh’ as in ‘no’, again you see the tongue moving back. Tongue up for the N. Out. Teeth together for the T. And broken, lips together for the B, again an ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong, forming a tight circle at the end. Broken. Tongue tip up to make the N. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

[aɪ] ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’

The ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. The first sound of this diphthong does not occur on its own as a vowel in American English. A, a, ai. It’s similar to the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’ in that the back of the tongue raises towards the soft palate, but it doesn’t raise as high as it does in the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’ vowel, a, a, ai. Also, you may find that the corners of the lips pull out a little bit, and the top lip raises a bit, exposing some of those front teeth, a, a. The tip of the tongue remains forward in this sound, lightly touching behind the bottom front teeth. The second sound of the diphthong is the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’. In this sound, the tip of the tongue is also forward, touching just behind the bottom front teeth. So that does not move in this diphthong. However, the front/mid part of the tongue does raise towards the roof of the mouth, ai, ai. So as it reaches up towards the roof of the mouth, the jaw will close somewhat, ai, ai, buy.

Here we see the two sounds of this diphthong. You can see in the first sound, aa, that the jaw is more dropped. On the second sound, ‘ih’, the tongue is more forward. Here are the two sounds in profile. Again, note that in the first sound, the jaw is dropped more. Here, parts of the mouth are drawn in. you can see that the tongue position in the first sound is drawn slightly back, which makes it flatter. In the second sound, the tongue is much more raised in the front. In both sounds, the tip of the tongue does lightly touch behind the bottom front teeth. The ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Sample words: shy, write, good-bye. Sample sentence: My sister is bright with a nice sense of style. Now you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion, both straight on and from an angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound.

My, lips press together for the M, jaw drops, here’s the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong, you could see the tongue come up towards the end. Sister is bright, lips come together for the B. And here it is again, the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Tongue down and then pushes up towards the front. The tip goes up to make the T. Lips come together for the W. With a nice – tongue up for the N and drops for the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Sense of, lip comes up to make the V sound, style. Another ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Jaw drops for the first part, tongue moves up for the second part, and the dark L.

Now from the angle. My, ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Jaw drops for the first part and then the middle-front part of the tongue moves up for the second part. Sister is bright, another ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’. Jaw drops, forward part of the tongue moves up, and now here the tip goes up to make the T. With a, tongue tip up to make N and drops, ai, nice, sense of, lip up to make the V sound. Style, another ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Jaw drops, tongue is down, and then the mid-front part of the tongue raises to make the second part of the diphthong. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

International Phonetic Alphabet symbol: [aɪ]

EE vs. IH and Vowel Length

In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to talk a little more about the vowels EE and IH.

Here along the Hudson River for Fleet Week, they’re bringing out some old-time replica ships.

Like the ones taken in this photo by my friend Jovon.

And this made me think about the vowels EE and IH. ‘Ships’ has the IH as in SIT vowel. And ‘fleet’ ‘week’ both have the EE as in SHE vowels. Now, I just did a video on the IH vowel versus the EE vowel, a comparison. And I didn’t talk about length at all. That’s because I don’t think length really comes into play when we’re talking about a vowel on its own. But since a lot of people teach length when they teach these two vowels, I thought I should talk about it. A lot of people will say that ‘ee’ is a long vowel, and ‘ih’ is a short vowel. But I feel like vowels themselves don’t have a length. To me the length of a syllable depends on: is it a stressed syllable, or is it unstressed? So, if the IH vowel is in the stressed syllable of a content word, then it will be long, even though some people would call it a ‘short’ vowel.

Another thing that can effect vowel length is the ending consonant. If everything else is the same, and the ending consonant is voiced, then that vowel will be a little bit longer than if the ending consonant is unvoiced. So, for example, the word ‘cap’ will be a little bit shorter than the word ‘cab’. Cap, cab.

So, in looking at the ‘ee’ vowel and the ‘ih’ vowel: in the word ‘beat’ — an unvoiced consonant there at the end — that ‘ee’ vowel is short. Beat. But in the word ‘bid’ — the ending consonant there is voiced, so ‘ih’ will be a little bit longer.

So don’t think about the length of the vowel being tied to the vowel itself. It’s tied to the syllable, and the sentence position, and maybe the ending consonant.

This ship was interesting because instead of raising their sails, they had people standing where the sails would have been.

Notice how ‘been’, spelled with two E’s, is actually pronounced with the IH as in SIT vowel. Listen again. …where the sails would have been. [3x]

>> They’re holding on to something.
>> Hey Jovon.
>> Yeah?
>> Nice socks.
>> Thanks.
>> Really like them.
>> Thanks, that means a lot.

A couple interesting things happening with pronunciation here. When I said, nice socks, notice how I didn’t make two separate S sounds, nice–socks. Just one, connecting the two words: nice socks. I also said, really like them, reducing the word ‘them’ to ‘um’. And connecting that word to the word before. Like ’em, like ’em. Listen again.

>> Hey Jovon.
>> Yeah?
>> Nice socks.
>> Thanks.
>> Really like them.
>> Thanks, that means a lot.
>> Hey guys, what do you think of these ships?
>> I think these ships are great. Where I’m from, in Arizona, there’s no water. We don’t even have any lakes. And so …
>> So this is a totally new experience for you.
>> It’s a totally new experience.
>> They’re really beautiful. Um, this is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, so they’re celebrating this and some of them are, I think are replicas from that time.
>> Cool.
>> Yeah. I didn’t know that. She knows everything.
>> Only a little bit. Thanks Wikipedia.
That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.I’m excited to announce that

I’m running another online course, so do check out my website for details. You’ll find on there all sorts of information about the course, who should take the course, and requirements. I really hope you’ll check it out and consider signing up. I’ve had a blast with my first online course, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you.

Don’t stop there. Have fun with my real-life English videos. Or get more comfortable with the IPA in this play list. Learn about the online courses I offer, or check out my latest video.

EE vs. IH

In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to compare the vowels EE and IH, as in ‘seat’ and ‘sit’.

A good place to start when comparing sounds is to take a look at pictures.

Here’s a profile comparison of the two sounds. The sound on the left is the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel, and the sound on the right the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’. Right away you can notice there’s a little bit more tension in the corner of the mouth for the ‘ee’ vowel. That’s because the corners of the lips pull back a little bit. The mouth position is more relaxed, more neutral for the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel. Now with the parts of the mouth drawn in: roof of the mouth, soft palate, throat, teeth, and finally, in the darkest red, the tongue. The tongue positions are clearly very similar. In the ‘ee’ vowel, however, the tongue does lift even more towards the roof of the mouth. It’s just a little bit more relaxed in the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel. One thing that can help students to relax their tongue a little bit more is to think of keeping the front part very wide. Sometimes that helps them to get a better ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel. Also, it is hard to tell here, but the jaw does drop a little bit more for the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel.

So you can see that for ‘ih’, the jaw drops a little bit more. If you’re not sure what else to do, just try that. Ih, ih. For the ‘ee’ sound, the tongue stretches up more, ee, ee, ee, about here, towards the roof of the mouth. Also, the corners of the lips may pull wide, ee, ee. Even if you can’t hear the difference, play around with this adjustment, moving back and forth. Solidify for yourself the physical differences in these two sounds.

And now some minimal pairs. It, eat. Rich, reach. Living, leaving. Fist, feast. Ship, sheep. Tick, teak. Lip, leap. Snicker, sneaker.

Good luck as you solidify for yourself the difference between these two vowel sounds. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

I’m excited to announce that I’m running another online course, so do check out my website for details. You’ll find on there all sorts of information about the course, who should take the course, and requirements. I really hope you’ll check it out and consider signing up. I’ve had a blast with my first online course, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you.

Don’t stop there. Have fun with my real-life English videos. Or get more comfortable with the IPA in this play list. Learn about the online courses I offer, or check out my latest video.

The I in ING

In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to go over how to pronounce the I in ING.

The ING ending is written in IPA with the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel followed by the NG consonant sound. But actually, when the IH vowel is followed by this consonant, it tends to sound a lot more like the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel. Take for example these words. Win, wing, and ween. ‘Win’ is written with the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel. Wi-, wi-, win. ‘Wing’ is also written with the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel, but clearly the vowel sound is different. Wi-, wi-, win, wi-, wi-, wing. It’s actually a lot more like the sound in ‘ween’. Wee-, wee-, ween.

So keep this in mind when you look up a word in the dictionary and find the IPA ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ followed by the NG consonant sound. It is more like the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel. Let’s look at some more examples.

Sing, si-i-i-i, sing. Nothing. Nothi-i-i-i, nothing. Winning, winni-i-i, winning. Ring. Ri-i-i-i, ring. I hope this helps to clear up the confusion that some students have when they hear this ING ending sounding so much like an ‘ee’ as in ‘she’.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English. Don’t stop there. Have fun with my real-life English videos. Or get more comfortable with the IPA in this play list. Learn about the online courses I offer, or check out my latest video.

Listening Comprehension: ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’

As you improve your listening skills, you will improve your pronunciation skills. If you can hear this sound in conversation, then you will begin to learn which words require this sound, and you’ll be able to use it yourself when you speak.

[ɪ] ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’

The ‘ih’ as in ‘sit vowel. To make this sound, the front part of the tongue raises towards the roof of the mouth, ih, while the very tip remains down, lightly touching behind the bottom front teeth, ih. The front part of the tongue also stretches wide, ih, ih. You might also see the corners of the mouth pull back slightly, ih, sit.

Here is the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel on the right compared with the mouth at rest on the left. And here, with the parts of the mouth drawn in. As with all vowels, the soft palate is raised in the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel, but more important is the tongue position. Notice the mid-front part of the tongue is raised quite high. The tip of the tongue is still lightly touching the back of the front bottom teeth. Sample words: fix, miss, stick. Sample sentence: The pins are in the big wicker bin. Now you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion, straight on and from an angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound.

The: the tongue comes through the teeth to make the TH sound. And the lips come together to make the P. Here is an ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel. The pins – tongue goes up to make the N, and the teeth together to make the Z sound. Are – lips make this R consonant shape. In. And now here I freeze it so you can see the relaxed lips, the corners of the lips pulled slightly out wide, and the tongue position where the tip of the tongue is down behind the bottom teeth, and the front part of the tongue is slightly raised, so you can see it here. Tongue tip up to make the N. The, tongue through the teeth again for the TH. Lips together for the B, big, another ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’. Lips form the W sound, wicker, another ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’. You can see the back of the tongue there has moved up. And bin. Lips together for the B, and the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ sound. Tongue tip up to make the N. And now from an angle.

The, tongue comes through the teeth. Pins with the ih vowel sound. Tongue goes up to make the N. Are: the lips form this consonant sound and the tongue goes back for it, then comes forward for the ‘ih’. In. Up quickly to the N and through the teeth. The big – another ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel. Lips form the W for ‘wicker’. Another ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel. And finally, bin with the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel sound. Tongue moves up to make the N. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

[ε] ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’

The ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel sound. To make this sound, the jaw drops, eh, and the tongue remains forward with the tip touching lightly behind the bottom front teeth. Eh. The mid/front part of the tongue raises somewhat towards the roof of the mouth while the back of the tongue feels like it stretches wide, eh, eh, bed.

Here is the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel on the right, with the mouth at rest on the left. And here we see the parts of the mouth drawn in. The soft palate, as with all vowels, is raised. It is the mid/front part of the tongue that is somewhat raised. But the tip of the tongue still rests against the back of the front bottom teeth. Sample words: feather, spend, benefit. Sample sentence: French bread is best when it is very fresh. Now you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion both straight on and from an angle so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound.

French, the bottom lip moves up to the ff position, and then the mouth opens into the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel. See that jaw drop. Tongue moves up to make the N, ch. Bread, again, the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel. And again the tongue moves up to make the D. Is best. Another ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel. When. Now here you will see that the tongue is not down, and that the jaw does not drop as much. This is because the word when is not stressed in this sentence. It is shortened. It is still the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel, but because it is so quick, the mouth does not form the true position, and the tongue is moving up into position for the N in ‘when’. It is very – with the ‘eh’. Here the tongue position appears to be slightly different. And that is because the tongue is beginning to move into position for the R consonant sound in ‘very’, even as the jaw has dropped for the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel. So the tongue does not stay down in the eh position long. This is typical of the R consonant. It tends to take over the vowel that comes before it in the same syllable. Fresh, ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’. And here is the same sentence from an angle.

French, the bottom lip moves up to make the F and the jaw drops for the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’, but the tongue quickly moves up to make that N. Ch. Bread, again, the jaw drops for the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’. And again the tongue moves up to make the D in bread. Is best, lips come together for the B, and the jaw drops, be-, best. When, with the shorter eh vowel, and you can see the tongue moving up into position for the N. It is. Bottom lip comes up for the V, very, and here is the eh, but the tongue is not completely forward, as it is already moving back for the R sound. Very. Bottom lip moves up to make the F in fresh. This is a good shot of the ‘eh’ vowel. You can see the tip of the tongue is lightly touching behind the bottom front teeth, and the tongue is raised a bit in the front/mid to make this eh vowel sound. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.