Daily English - Day 30

And back vowels. If you remember, the back vowels we discussed were u, o, o, o, o, o, and a. U as in boot, o as in book, u, o, o, o, o, o as in boat, o, o, o as in bought, o, and a as in bought, which is a nonsense word. So let's talk about the first one now. U, u, the u sound is in the word move. Notice how my lips are puckered, tight, and forward. U, move. If you don't bring your lips tight and forward, you are not going to make the correct sound. And if you don't do this right, the u will sound like u, and move will sound like mv. And that is no good. So practice these words with me, making sure your lips are coming forward, and that you're getting that clear u sound. Here we go. Blue. Booth. News. Juice. Loosen. Ruler. Food. Shoes. Mood. Moving. Loop. New. Tooth. Smooth. Pool. Shoes. Zoo. Grew. Room. Good. Okay, now let's go over these sentences. The room in the school was very cool. Tuesday at noon in the studio viewing the moon on June nights. Okay, now let's try this paragraph. Do you remember the woman who lived in a shoe? Good. Okay, now let's try this paragraph. Do you remember the woman who lived in a shoe? She hadn't a clue what to do when her family grew. Remember the woman who lived in a shoe? She hadn't a clue. What to do when her family grew. Well, through your help they are moving in June June into two big pools. Pools. They are moving in June into two big boots. Pools. Very good. Now, at times, you know, English pronunciation can be very confusing. Here is one of those times. There are many words that are spelled with a double O as we just went over. And in most of these words, the vowels are pronounced as OO. However, here's the confusing part. There are also many words that are spelled with a double O but they are not pronounced with an OO vowel. They are pronounced as UH, which is a lower vowel. Let me show you. The word food has a double O and it's pronounced as OO. Food. Okay? But the word foot is also spelled with a double O but it is pronounced with a lower vowel sound. UH Foot. UH Food. UH Foot. Food. Foot. OO UH Food. OO UH OO UH Food. Foot. You hear that? There's a whole bunch of words spelled with that double O that are pronounced with that lower vowel UH. Let's practice some of those words now. Here we go. Foot. Took. Cook. Shook. Stood. Good. Look. Book. Whoa. Swoosh. Very good. Now, another word that gives many foreign speakers difficulty is the word wood, regardless of the spelling. As in, it's made of wood or would you help me or the city of Hollywood, California. The vowel sound in would is also a lower vowel. Same sound as in the word foot. Would. Foot. What makes it difficult for many people is the W at the beginning. I've seen many foreign speakers just drop that W sound. The word is not would without a W. It's would. Your lips need to be tight and forward and you need to push out that W sound. Would. Good. Like that. Now, say this sentence with me. Here we go. Would you please order the wood. Wood. From Hollywood. Hollywood. Very good. Okay, notice also that the word good has the same vowel sound as the word would and foot. Very good. Okay? Very good. Let's practice these sentences with the OO and the UH vowel sounds. To help you out, all the words that have high OO sounds appear in red. Here we go. He took a good look. He took a good look under the hood. Under the hood. And found. And found a flute. Found a flute. Julie enjoys. Julie enjoys good books after school. Good books after school. He put his foot in the. He put his foot in the new boot. New boot. She took her student in the new boot. She took her student. She took her student to the. To the brook. Brook. To wash their shoes. Their shoes. We pulled him out of the swimming pool. Brook. To wash their shoes. We pulled him out. We pulled him. Out of the swimming. Out of the swimming pool. Pool. The fool ate until he was. Ate until he was full. Full. Very good. Now let's do a new vowel sound. Let's cover the EH sound. EH is in the word egg. It's made with the front of the tongue low. Listen carefully and try to copy that sound. EH. Egg. Let's go over some words with that sound in them. Here we go. Egg. Get. Friend. Next. Entrance. Better. Healthy. Lettuce. Wrench. Spread. Best. Ready. Every. Red. Exit. Check. Fence. Headset. Necklace. Wealth. Resting on the edge. Of the bed. Ten letters from the enemy. Letters. Dennis will enter the festival. Festival. The message was given to the chef. Was. Will enter the festival. Was. The message was given to the chef. Was given to the chef. Chef. Very good. Now let's try this. Hello again, friends. Let's do a weather check. Very good. Now let's try this. Let's do a weather check. Hello again, friends. Let's do a weather check. Well, whoever said... Temperatures are getting better. Better get ready to spend a wet weekend in Tennessee. Whoever said temperatures are getting better. Better get ready. Let's do a weather check. Well, whoever said... Temperatures are getting... Better, better get ready... ...to spend a wet... ...weekend in Tennessee. Well, who... ...weekend in Tennessee. Whoever said temperatures are getting better. Better get ready to spend a wet weekend in Tennessee. Great. You know, generally vowels take a longer time to master. But if you hear the sounds I'm giving you and understand the content...