| FIX PROBLEM | ENGLISH SOUND | - | COMMON ERROR | - | PRACTICE MATERIALS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relax the mouth and keep sound short. | /ɪ/ | "sit" | /i:/ | "seat" | |
| Keep tongue front & low and jaws apart. | /æ/ | "cat" | /ɑ:/ | "cart" | Minimal Pairs /æ/ or /ɑ:/ practice |
| Tongue low central. Lips relaxed. | /ʌ/ | "cup" | Minimal Pairs /æ/ or /ʌ/ practice |
||
| Keep mouth round and tongue back. | /ɒ/ | "not" | Minimal Pairs /ɒ/ or /ɔ:/ practice |
||
| Weak endings: e.g. "London" "England" | /ə/ | "the" (schwa) | Practise the neutral vowel /ə/ using spoken dialogues |
||
| Keep mouth open and tongue low central. | /ɑ:/ | "part" | |||
| Mouth more open. Make sound longer. | /ɑ:/ | "part" | /ɒ/ | "pot" | Minimal Pairs /ɑ:/ or /ɒ/ practice |
| Back of tongue high. Lips tightly rounded. Long. | /u:/ | "fool" | Minimal Pairs /ʊ/ or / u: / practice |
||
| Fix tongue in central position. Long. | /ɜ:/ | "bird" | Minimal Pairs /e/ or /ɜ:/ practice Minimal Pairs /ʌ/ or /ɜ:/ practice Minimal Pairs /ɔ:/ or /ɜ:/ practice |
||
| Tongue low front to high front to centre. | /aɪə/=/aɪ/+/ə/ | "fire" | |||
| Tongue central. Then tightly round lips. | /əʊ/ | "note" | /ɒ/ | "not" | Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ or /ɒ/ practice |
| Tongue low front. Then round & unround lips. | /aʊə/=/aʊ/+/ə/ | "flour" | 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" | |||
| Unvoiced. Use more air. Trap it with lips. | /p/ | "pit" | /b/ | "bit" | |
| Tip of tongue behind top teeth. | /t/ | "tie" | /d/ | "die" | |
| Voiceless stop: back of tongue to back roof. | /k/ | "come" | /g/ | "gum" | |
| Voiced stop: back of tongue to back roof. | /g/ | "regal" | /j/ | "real" | |
| Voiceless: tip of tongue behind top teeth. Friction. | /s/ | "mass" | /ʃ/ | "mash" | |
| Voiceless. Friction. Front of tongue to palate. | /ʃ/ | "push" | /s/ | "puss" | |
| Voiced: Front of tongue to palate. Friction. | "beige" | 129 | "bays" /z/ | ||
| Quickly push air from throat out of mouth. | /h/ | "hot" | "ch" in "loch" | Minimal Pairs /h/ or silent "h" practice |
|
| British "r" is weaker & usually silent unless followed by a vowel. |
silent | "survivor" | /r/ | "Sir Ivor" | |
| Glide /j/(i:) the tongue quickly to next sound | /j/ | "yam" | /ʤ/ | "jam" | Minimal Pairs /ʤ/ or /j/ practice |
| Back of tongue to back roof. Nasal. | /ŋk/ | "think" | /ŋ/ | "thing" | Minimal Pairs /ŋ/ or /ŋk/ practice |
| Start with lips tightly rounded. Unround & glide. | /w/ | "win" | "(g)win" | ||
| Unvoiced: Tip to alveolar. Front to palate. | /ʧ/ | "which" | /t/+/s/ | "wits" | |
| Voiced: Tip to alveolar. Front to palate. | /ʤ/ | "wage" |
External links:
Non-native pronunciations of English: Greek L1
|
HOME |
PRONUNCIATION |
MINIMAL PAIRS |
PHONEME CHART |