Hello, everybody. Today, we are going to practice our pronunciation. I hear many
learners make the same vowel mistake; so, today, I'm going to teach you how to
pronounce some very common vowels in English. So, to get started, I wanted to
show you two things. What is this? And what is this? This is a boot. It's a red
boot. This is a book. It's a blue book. So, we have a boot and we have a book.
Now, if we look at the spelling of these words: "boot" and "book", they both have
two "o's" in them. Do we pronounce these two "o's" the same, or do we pronounce
them differently? So, listen carefully one more time. Is the pronunciation of
"oo" the same in these two words? "boot", "book", "boot", "book". The
answer is: We pronounce the two "o's" differently in these words. So, this is
a problem many learners of English have. They see the two "o's", and they
pronounce them the same way in every word. But, in fact, there are different
ways to pronounce two "o's" in English. There's also a... Here's another
example. So, there is a vowel sound in this word: "Luke", like "Luke
Skywalker". "Luke" and "boot" have the same vowel. That's strange. Right?
Because, if you think about it, "boot" has two "o's" in it, and "Luke" has a
"u". So, here we have a situation where two... or the same pronunciation — in
this case, an "oo" sound — can be represented by different spellings. So,
this is difficult in English. What I'm going to teach you today are some common
words that have this sound in English. I'm going to teach you how to pronounce
the sound, in the different ways, for some of the most common words. So, let's
get started.
Okay. So, we are going to focus on two vowel sounds today. When you learn
pronunciation, I recommend using a mirror and looking at what your nose
does, what your lips do, what your teeth do, and what your tongue does. This can
really help you improve your pronunciation. So, once you have a
mirror, you can look at what you're doing while you say these words. So,
what is the difference between the vowel in: "boot" and "book"? Well, one of the
differences is what my lips are doing. So, I have here two lips. In this case,
the lips are rounded: "boot". So, in "boot", if I slow it down, my lips
actually make a circle: "boot", "boot", "oo". Okay? So, it has a circle sound;
an "oo" sound. It's the same within: "Luke" — "oo" — "Luke". So, sometimes
with "u" and sometimes with two "o's", we circle our lips, and we make an "oo"
sound. The... this is very different from the word: "book", "book". In this
case, my lips are not round; they're more like this — they're more spread:
"book". And compare that to: "boot", "oot"; "u", "oo". So, the lips are doing
a lot of the work to make these sounds different.
Another thing you might notice is that some vowels are very long, and so we
pronounce them for a longer time; and some vowels are very short — we say them
very quickly. Listen carefully, and tell me: What is the long vowel and what is
the short vowel? "Boot", "book". Which one is longer? "Boot" is the longer one;
"book" is very short. So, that's another difference. Sometimes two "o's" is
pronounced long; sometimes two "o's" is pronounced short. It's the same with
"u". Sometimes, like in: "Luke", it's a long vowel sound; whereas in this word:
"look", it's a short vowel sound. So, the words we are going to learn today, I
want you to really focus on: If the lips are round or if they're spread, and if
the vowel sound is long or if it is short. Okay? This will really help your
pronunciation.
So, what I want you to do is we are going to say these different words,
listen to my pronunciation, and then you try. Okay? So, the first word is:
"boot". So, again, a circle — your lips are in a circle: "boot". And it's a long
word or a long vowel sound. Now, try to say this one: "book", "book" — it's nice
and short. Okay. Let's try this word: "Luke", "Luke"; "look", "look". Okay?
Now, here's another word; this word: "pool" — my lips go like this, and it's
a long vowel sound. "Pool", "pool". Now, this is different from this vowel sound,
which is the same as in "book": "pull", "pull". It's a fast sound. "Pull". And
our lips are spread like this. Okay? Now, we have here the word: "cook". Do
you think "cook" is a long vowel sound or a short vowel sound? "Cook". It's a
short vowel sound. And what are our lips doing with this word: "cook"? Are they
in a round shape or are they spread? "Cook". They're actually spread. This is
very different from the word: "cool", "cool". In this case, my lips make a
circle — "cool" — and it's a longer sound. So, again, what you will notice
is sometimes these are pronounced the same — these letters — and sometimes
they're pronounced differently. Okay? So, let's look at a couple more words
where you might need to use these different vowel pronunciations.
So, we've talked about the spelling of "oo", and how sometimes that can have an
"oo" sound to it, like: "tool"; and sometimes it can have a "u" sound to it,
like: "took". And we said the same thing for "u" — sometimes it has that "oo"
sound and sometimes it has that "u" sound. Now, I'm so sorry, guys, but I am
going to add one more spelling: "ou" — sometimes it also has that "u" sound.
So, let's look at some examples. And, again, the main thing, here, is we're
looking at two different pronunciations of a vowel, so you're going to hear two
different vowel sounds. And I want you to think with these vowel sounds: "Do we
round our lips? Do we spread our lips? Do we say the vowel for a long time or a
short time?" Okay? So, let's look at this word: "tool", "tool", "ool",
"tool". What do you think? What kind of lips are we doing? We're doing the "oo"
lips: "tool". Okay? So, when you pronounce this word, it's important your
lips are like a circle; it's like the word: "cool". Now, this is very
different from the word: "took", "took". Notice my lips are not in a circle;
they're more spread out? "Took", "I took the exam." This is a very common word,
so you really want to work on the pronunciation of this word: "took". So,
what about with the length? "Tool" — that's a long sound, compared to: "took"
— that's a short sound; a short vowel sound. "Tool", "took". Okay?
Now, let's look at another word. We have, here, a word: "fool". It has the
same vowel sound as: "tool", "tool", "fool". So, this has the circular lips,
and the long vowel sound: "fool". Now, this is very different from the word:
"full". "Full" has the spread lips — "full" — and it's a short, quick sound.
So, now, we are going to come to three common words in English. These are the
last words we're going to talk about today: "should", "would", "could". We
use these a lot, so they're very important to master the pronunciation of
"Full"; "fool", "full". And that is really one important part of
the vowel. So: "ou" can also have the same sound as "u" and two "o's".
"Should" has the same vowel sound as: "took". So, we say: "should". It's a
pronunciation. Whenever you're learning any vowel sound, you should always ask
very fast vowel sound, so it's a short vowel sound: "should"; and our lips do
not round. If I said this word with rounded lips, it would sound like:
"shood", but that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying: "should". It's the same
yourself: "Are my lips in a circle? Are they spread? Is the vowel long or is it
with: "could", "could". You don't round your lips; you keep them spread, and
it's a short sound: "could". Finally: "would". I hear many students say:
"woold", and they make that round lip. For this word, no round lip; it's
short?" That can really help you master your vowels.
spread, and we say it fast: "would". "I would like to do that", "would". Okay?
So, that is our pronunciation lesson today. What I want you to remember
are... is that there are different ways to pronounce these spellings. Sometimes
two "o's", "u", and "ou" might have the same pronunciation; sometimes they might
have different pronunciation. Today, we talked about some very common words in
English, like: "took", "book", "cool". So, these are the words that you really
want to start to focus on in terms of pronunciation. You can watch this video
multiple times. I recommend that you watch it and say these words after me,
with your mirror; and really focus on what your lips are doing, and how long
you are saying each vowel sound for. So, to get more practice, I recommend you
come check out www.engvid.com. There, you can actually take my quiz on what
you learned here today. You can also find other lessons on many different
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There, you can find more free English resources. Thanks for watching; and
until next time, take care.