In this English Pronunciation tutorial, you're going to learn how to tell the difference
between the /ʊ/ sound in English and the /u:/ sound in English.
These two sounds can be incredibly difficult to hear the difference between
if you have learned English as a Second Language.
And the reason for that is because they sound very very similar
and they come from similar positions in the mouth.
What I'm going to do today is take you through a simple four-step process
that I use to help my clients to learn to tell the difference between these two sound
and then I'm going to give you some exercises at the end of the video
to really make sure that you can actually hear the difference between these two sounds when they're used in English speech.
So make sure to watch until the end of the video!
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and that by doing so would help you to speak the language with more confidence
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Let's get started with the lesson!
So, I'm going to break the lesson down into four simple parts:
We're going to start by looking at how we make both sounds and where they actually come from in the mouth;
I'm then going to compare the two sounds and give you a simple exercise to tell the difference;
We're then going to go through five words that are exactly the same in English
apart from this one English vowel sound that makes them different;
And then finally, I'm going to give you a couple of sentences for you to practice making this sound in full sentences of English
to get you comfortable using it in context.
So, let's get started!
The /ʊ/ sound to begin with the sound, to begin with.
The /ʊ/ sound is a short vowel sound in English.
/ʊ/
It comes from words like 'put' or 'foot.'
And take a look at my lips;
/ʊ/
My lips are rounded.
/ʊ/
This is the sound in English that has my lips in the most tightly rounded position.
/ʊ/
The sound comes from almost the very back of my mouth and my mouth is almost completely closed.
So if you look at a vowel chart in English it's right there almost at the very back in the very top.
/ʊ/
It's really important when you make this sound to really put your lips in a really tight position
and stick them out like you're almost like you're kissing something.
/ʊ/
Look at it from a sideways point of view.
/ʊ/
Look how far my lips actually come out when I make the sound
Let's now look at the /u:/ sound in English. What do you notice?
/u:/
'Food', 'food', 'mood'
Well, first of all, it's a long vowel sound in English.
/u:/
Can you see it my lips are in the rounded position again?
/u:/
and the lips almost become tighter as I make the sound.
/u:/
Do you hear that? 'Food', 'food', 'food.'
As I make the /u:/ sound, it's almost like I'm getting ready to make the sound that comes after the /u:/ sound.
/u:/
The /u:/ sound comes from the very back of my mouth and it's in a closed position.
/u:/
So my mouth is as close as it can be without actually being closed.
/u:/.
Let's now compare these two sounds and put them together so you can see exactly the difference between them both, okay?
/u:/, /ʊ/.
Can you see there how with '/u:/, /ʊ/' my lips open slightly more /ʊ/ for the short /ʊ/ sound?
/u:/, /ʊ/.
Okay? /u:/ 'food' 'food.' 'Foot.' Alright?
So the exercise to learn the difference between these two sounds is just simply to go in between them like I've just done there.
/u:/, /ʊ/
It may feel unnatural-- it will feel unnatural.
Even for me doing this exercise myself
it still feels-- I still feel it in my lips okay because when I'm speaking English normally
I'm not doing this exercise which is really designed to strengthen the lips and make them comfortable in that position.
So the key exercise to learn the difference between these two English sounds is to actually get comfortable
making the positions for both of them.
/u:/, /ʊ/.
Okay?
Let's now look at five words in English that are exactly the same apart from these two English vowel sounds that make them different.
Being able to tell the difference between these two sounds will enable you to
hear the difference between these two words and actually make these two words correctly in speech.
If you can't make the sounds correctly then you're never going to get the words correctly
in English and that's where you start to make big mistakes when you get them wrong.
For example, if I say 'I'm full' that means I'm full. I don't need any food I'm not hungry.
But if I say 'I'm a fool' or 'I'm fool' it means 'I'm stupid,' okay? If you put an A in there 'I'm a fool' it would mean 'I'm stupid,' okay?
So, the five words to learn the difference between these two sounds:
1) 'Suit,' 'Soot.'
Practice them along with me!
2) 'Who'd,' 'hood.'
'Who'd been to the party?' 'This jacket doesn't have a hood.'
3) 'Shooed,' 'Should'
'I shooed him away,' okay? 'I shooed him away'
'I should keep making English pronunciation tutorials.' 'I should keep making English pronunciation tutorials.'
4) 'Luke,' 'look.'
'I've got a friend called Luke,' Luke in English is a man's name.
'Look!' 'Look over there!' 'Look over there!' 'Look at that!' Look. Look look. 'I am looking at the camera'
And finally 5) 'Pool.' 'pull.'
Some of these houses around us are really really expensive houses
and on some of the backstreets, the houses here have underground swimming pools, okay?
So they have underground swimming pools, can you imagine? I want one of them my house amazing, alright?
And 'pull' 'pull' 'pull' 'pull' 'pull' 'I pull the rope,' alright?
'Pool,' 'pull.'
And now finally I'm going to give you two sentences that you can practice.
One focuses on each of these sounds to get comfortable making these two English sounds in your English speech, okay?
So practice these now and then spend the rest of the week practicing these two sentences and it's really really going to make a massive difference.
Let's go!
Sentence one is for the /u:/ sound. Ready?
'The rude youth moved schools.'
And the second is-- it's actually a saying that we have in English;
'Should've, could've, would've.'
If I had the opportunity to do something and I didn't and I'm making excuses for having not done it
and they're bad excuses someone could say to me:
'Should've, could've, would've.'
Okay, so to recap:
We've looked at the difference between these two sounds; We've then looked at an exercise that you can practice to go between
the two sound to help you to learn the-- to tell a difference and also to get comfortable making both sounds;
We then looked at five minimal pairs five pairs of words that are exactly the same apart
from this one sound which is essential to be able to tell the difference between these two words;
and finally, I've given you two sentences that you can take away and practice using this sound or to
practice using it in your English speech.
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