| FIX PROBLEM | ENGLISH SOUND | - | COMMON ERROR | - | PRACTICE MATERIALS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relax the mouth and keep sound short. | /ɪ/ | "sit" | /i:/ | "seat" | Minimal Pairs /ɪ/ or / i: / practice |
| Keep mouth round and tongue back. | /ɒ/ | "not" | Minimal Pairs /ɒ/ or /ɔ:/ practice Minimal Pairs /ɑ:/ or /ɒ/ practice |
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| Tongue low central. Lips relaxed. | /ʌ/ | "cup" | Minimal Pairs /æ/ or /ʌ/ practice |
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| Drop tongue. Relax mouth. | /ʌ/ | "hut" | /ɜ:/ | "hurt" | Minimal Pairs /ʌ/ or /ɜ:/ practice |
| Back of tongue high. Lips rounded but relaxed. Short. | /ʊ/ | "full" | /u:/ | "fool" | Minimal Pairs /ʊ/ or / u: / practice |
| Weak endings: e.g. "London" "England" | /ə/ | "the" (schwa) | Practise the neutral vowel /ə/ using spoken dialogues |
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| Tongue low, back & fixed. Jaws together. | /ɔ:/ | "bought" | /əʊ/ | "boat" | Minimal Pairs /ɔ:/ or /əʊ/ practice |
| Tongue moves from front centre to front high. | /eɪ/ | "late" | /e/ | "let" | Minimal Pairs /e/ or /eɪ/ practice |
| Start with tongue low front. | /aɪ/ | "buy" | Minimal Pairs /eɪ/ or /aɪ / practice |
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| Tongue low front to high front to centre. | /aɪə/=/aɪ/+/ə/ | "fire" | |||
| Start with tongue low & back. | /ɔɪ/ | "boy" | |||
| Tongue central. Then tightly round lips. | /əʊ/ | "note" | /ɒ/ | "not" | |
| From low front vowel to lips tightly rounded. | /aʊ/ | "cow" | Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ or /aʊ/ practice |
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| Tongue low front. Then round & unround lips. | /aʊə/=/aʊ/+/ə/ | "flour" | Minimal Pairs /aʊ/ or /aʊə/ practice |
Tongue high and front. Move to centre. | /ɪə/ | "beer" | /eə/ | "bear" |
| Tongue from centre front. Draw back to centre. | /eə/ | "bear" | |||
| Start with lips tightly rounded. Unround. | /ʊə/ | "tour" | |||
| Voiceless. Friction. Tongue between teeth. | /θ/ | "thin" | Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /ð/ practice Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /t/ practice Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /d/ practice Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /s/ practice |
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| Voiced. Friction. Tongue between teeth. | /ð/ | "they" | /d/ | "day" | Minimal Pairs /ð/ or /d/ practice |
| Voiced. Friction. Tongue between teeth. | /ð/ | "clothe" | /z/ | "close" /z/ | |
| Voiceless. Friction. Front of tongue to palate. | /ʃ/ | "sherry" | /ʧ/ | "cherry" | |
| Unvoiced: Tip to alveolar. Front to palate. | /ʧ/ | "cherry" | /ʃ/ | "sherry" | |
| Quickly push air from throat out of mouth. | /h/ | "hot" | "ch" in "loch" | Minimal Pairs /h/ or silent "h" practice |
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| British "r" is weaker & usually silent unless followed by a vowel. |
silent | "survivor" | /r/ | "Sir Ivor" | |
| Back of tongue to back roof. Nasal. | /ŋk/ | "think" | /ŋ/ | "thing" | Minimal Pairs /ŋ/ or /ŋk/ practice |
| Glide /j/(i:) the tongue quickly to next sound | /j/ | "yam" | /ʤ/ | "jam" | Minimal Pairs /ʤ/ or /j/ practice |
External links:
Non-native pronunciations of English: French L1
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