Hi and welcome back to Love English in today's lesson 'six or sex?' what is the difference
in pronunciation? Yes, today is all about pronunciation. Today we're going to be looking at
some common errors that are made when it comes to pronunciation particularly when two vowels
sound very similar so today i want to explain many of the common phonemes vowel sounds that
we have in English in today's lesson we're going to look at and explore the differences in many
of the vowel sounds in english now for some of you depending on your nationality some of these sounds
might be actually a lot more difficult than others simply because you may not even have these sounds
in your language so how are you supposed to know how to pronounce them and of course it is
important that understanding these sounds will help you distinguish between different words
because there are many words in english that sound very very similar but are simply different by
one vowel sound or consonant sound now sometimes this can be a little bit embarrassing
the difference between cock and coke but sometimes it's just confusing so today i want you to listen
not only with your ears but also with your eyes pay attention to how i mouth and sound the sounds
look at the position of my tongue my teeth my lips all of these things are going to give a
big clue to help you identify the differences in the sounds and also help you produce those sounds
now these words are referred to as minimal pairs minimal pairs words that are separated
and distinguishable by only one different sound in today's lesson we're going to be
looking at vowel sounds but i will if this lesson is popular create a part two looking
at consonant sounds so on with the lesson minimal pairs problem sounds for you guys understanding
the differences improving your listening and pronunciation let's get started with six and sex
right it's important that you understand the different type of vowel sounds in
english we have short sounds like e we also have longer sounds like e
and we also have diphthongs that are essentially
two vowel sounds coming together and with a diphthong your mouth will move
so today we're just going to be looking at long
and short vowel sounds because these are the ones that are often confused first let's look at
six six now here we can see the phonemes look like this and the pronunciation six
it's a short e sound like ship ship so look at how I pronounce the sound
you'll notice that you can see my teeth nicely
that my mouth is slightly stretched across my teeth and my lips become wider my tongue
is lying at the bottom of my mouth but it's actually touching the bottom set of teeth okay so
i'm pushing forward air and then stopping it very quickly try it with me one time
i ship six six of course with the word six it's quite tricky because you have this sound
there and of course that can also be another problem x x 6 try it without the s x
x then add the s 6 6 okay looking at sex sex here we have an e e sound notice
that my mouth actually becomes slightly wider more open and the sound that i make i'm pushing air out
and stopping it again quite suddenly it's a short sound so let's compare e
e you're kind of pulling your mouth wider when you do that
have a go right now come on look crazy and try pronouncing those two words six six sex sex so
six sex now i'm using my hands here because i'm trying to encourage you
to be aware of the shape of your mouth so by doing
and this hopefully you're actually helping yourself make the correct shape with your mouth
the placement of my tongue doesn't change in fact but it is the shape my mouth makes
now let's have a look at some common minimal pairs
and the vowel sounds that we need to understand to be able to pronounce them correctly right
we've got a big open mouth there ah apple cat anaconda
okay we've got a big a sound and the mouth opens wide and then compare
wide but more narrow ah try the hand movements do it in a mirror um obviously if people are
listening in they might think you're a little bit crazy but don't worry about it let's have another
go ah okay and then ah now uh we can think about umbrella up umbrella up in england you often need
to have your umbrella up it's been raining quite a lot so let's look at some minimal pairs where
these sounds when confused can mean you say a completely different word cat cat cut cut cat
cut ankle ankle uncle uncle ran ran run run drank drank drunk drunk drank drunk match match much
much match match much much now for more practice you might want to try writing a sentence with
two of these words together in the same sentence to help you practice them in a real natural way
for example i drank too much and got drunk i drank too much and got drunk try it with me
i drank too much and got drunk okay there we go so have a go if you guys can make some more sentences
with both of those words the minimal pairs contained within a sentence try writing them down
below and maybe other people can practice saying those sentences along with you another example my
uncle hurt his ankle my uncle hurt his ankle right back to the e sound from six if remember versus
e e a long sound and when we have long sounds you'll notice the phonemes have those two little
dots on the end so e short and e long and look at the difference in the way my mouth is shaped
not a lot just simply the noise that i'm making from the back of my mouth
with my tongue pushing forward at the top of the back of my mouth
e back of my tongue is actually touching my back teeth as well so e
e the bottom part of my tongue again pushing forward on the bottom part of my teeth here
and again you push the air out and stop it very quickly so let's have a look at some examples
ship ship sheep sheep eat it eat eat hit hit heat heat bin bin bean bean live live leave
leave and again think about putting these words into a sentence to help you practice the ship
had many sheep on it did you eat it all did you eat it all the bin has been there for days the bin
has been there for days right the next two words that i'm looking at here i think are going to be
particularly useful and helpful for many of you because i have noticed that many students often
get these confused work and walk work and walk now both of these sounds are long there's not a short
and a long but two long sounds which might make this a little bit harder let's break down those
vowel sounds and pay attention to how we move and shape our mouth to make them the first sound
now look here at my bottom lip it kind of comes out a little bit and actually how i normally teach
this sound is maybe when you see food and you don't like it and you go uh i'm not eating that
oh look at that english food terrible so er with your lip and your teeth slightly more tucked under
now with or or you're making a slightly more pouty look your lips are both
top and bottom coming out a little bit more or or like saw saw and try again
for example bird bird saw i saw a bird yes we are looking crazy particularly me but hey if this is
helping your pronunciation it's worth it so more examples and let's look at the difference between
work work walk walk work work walk walk and pay attention guys yes the l is pretty much silent
we don't say how would you do that we just don't there's a silent l walk and work keep practicing i
walked to work i walked to work now bird and board bored bird board bird board the bird was bored
not difficult to make these sentences up right fur fur four four so you can see how with or
your mouth becomes more oval shaped so more this kind of shape fur four fur four what do you need
fair for shirt shirt and short short shirt short shirt short my shirt is too short sir sir and saw
saw there we go right so i'm actually going to throw in a diphthong here so remember i told you
that a diphthong is where two vowel sounds come together in this case we're going to
be looking at a a okay so you can see the mouth moves when i make that sound a like train train
and compare that with that big round a sound that vowel ah so the air is being stopped
train apple train let's have a go and look at some different examples of minimal pairs hat hat hat
hate hate hat hat hate hate remember your mouth should move more hat obviously closing my mouth
when i make the t sound and hate hate mad mad made made lack lack lake lake back back bake bake
cap cap and cape cape remember try making a few more sentences to help you practice those sounds
i hate her hat i hate her hat now continuing with the a sound but this time comparing it with e
round vowel sound and then e
there you're pulling your lips across your teeth and making a slightly wider shaped mouth
fat bat bet bet dad dad dead dead pack pack and peck peck
sad sad and said said she said something sad and finally tan tan and ten ten
so hopefully there you've got a better idea of the differences between those two
short vowel sounds and they are very very similar again i'm not expecting you to speak with your
hands all the time but while you're practicing this just might help you create the right
shape for your mouth to make those sounds now finally we're going to end with two long sounds
like ah look at that baby so cute
and or or like or or maybe ah look at that cat isn't it cute so ah and or
little bit like a big wide mouth open wide ah and then or so your mouth actually goes narrower ah
my tongue is at the bottom of my mouth not doing very much really
and obviously because they are long sounds we're elongating it making them longer or
let's have a look at some minimal pairs far far four four it was far for her to walk
far for her to walk tart tart and taut taught she taught me to make a tart she taught me to
make a tart part part and port part and port farm and form farm and form and finally barn and
born barn and born he was born in a barn he was born in a barn born in a barn and there we have it
we've gone from sex and six to born in a barn so i really do hope that that lesson there has helped
you understand some of the vowel sounds that we have in english and what i would like to know
comment below what sounds do you find it difficult in english if this lesson gets enough likes
i might just be willing to make another lesson on those sounds thank you so much for watching
i look forward to seeing you with many more lessons like this very soon take care bye