Hello and welcome to pronunciation practice.
My name is Sammy, and I like to learn American English.
Today, we'll be practicing long and short vowels.
In American English, there are five vowels
but each vowel usually has more than one pronunciation.
Sometimes you have long vowels, and sometimes you have short vowels.
To get started, pay attention to the following story
and see if you notice any difference in the sounds of the underlined vowels.
My friend Pete went to the pet store.
He wanted to get a cute puppy.
He did not know that the store only had cats.
Pete was a little bit scared that a cat might bite him.
But the cat licked his face, and it changed his mind.
Then, Pete thought, "Cats are great!"
Some of the vowels in the story were long vowels
and some were short vowels.
Long vowels sound like their name.
a e i o u
Sometimes they sound more tensed or exaggerated.
Repeat after me. A. The word cake has a long "a" in it.
E. Tree.
I. Light.
O. Globe.
U. Music.
Next, let's talk about short vowels.
Short vowels don't sound like their name.
Instead, they have a softer more relaxed sound.
like a e i o u.
Let's practice! A. The word cat has a short "a" in it.
E. Bell.
I. Fish.
O. Dog.
U. bus.
Try to practice the long and short vowels in the story.
For each sentence click pause and think about which underlined word
has a long vowel and which one has a short vowel.
Then, try to repeat them yourself.
My friend Pete went to the pet store.
He wanted to get a cute puppy.
He did not know that the store only had cats.
Pete was a little bit scared that a cat might bite him.
But the cat licked his face, and it changed his mind.
Then Pete thought, "Cats are great!"
So how did you do?
The blue vowels are long, and the pink vowels are short.
Next time, we'll practice elision & deletion in spoken English.
This is American English. Thanks for watching!