Hello there!
This is the "Sounds American" channel.
In this video we'll compare two vowel sounds:
/eɪ/ and /ɛ/
as in the words "taste" and "test."
In our previous videos we learned how to make them.
Remember the videos for the /eɪ/ sound, as in the word "make" and the /ɛ/ sound, as in the word "bed"?
This time we'll focus on the differences between these two sounds.
The pronunciation of the /eɪ/ and the /ɛ/ vowels can be problematic for non-native English speakers.
Most people confuse these two sounds and distort them in speech.
The most effective way to improve your pronunciation of these vowel sounds is to contrast them in word pairs.
Before we begin, let's check how well you can differentiate between the /eɪ/ and /ɛ/ sounds.
You'll see a pair of words on the screen and hear only one of them pronounced.
For example,
Can you guess what word you heard?
Let's try a few more word pairs.
How did you do?
Don't worry if you couldn't recognize some of the words.
We've got some pronunciation exercises to help you improve!
Here are the 2 key distinctions between the /eɪ/ and the /ɛ/ sounds.
First, look at the lips.
For the /eɪ/ sound, the lips are stretched and tensed.
For the /ɛ/ sound, the lips are relaxed and more neutral.
Second.
Look at the tongue and the jaw:
For the /eɪ/ sound, the tongue is tensed and the mouth is slightly open.
For the /ɛ/ sound, the tongue is relaxed and the mouth is more open.
Let's pronounce these sounds one after the other:
/eɪ/ - /ɛ/
Now that you've revised how to make these sounds, let's start practicing.
Don't skip this part, as the only way to improve your accent is to practice as much as possible.
You'll see a word on the screen and hear its pronunciation.
After that you'll have a few seconds to pronounce the word.
[signal prompt to start speaking]
Repeat each word after the speaker,
the first word will have the tense /eɪ/ vowel sound,
and the second will have the relaxed /ɛ/ vowel sound.
Let's begin!
You're done!
Congratulations!
To check how much you've improved, you can do the word pairs test again.
Click this link to go back and compare the results.
By the way, did you know that the /eɪ/ and the /ɛ/ vowel sounds can be represented by the same letters?
For example,
the letter 'a' usually sounds like /eɪ/ , as in the word "mane";
but it may also sound like /ɛ/, as in the word "many".
The letter 'e' typically sounds like /ɛ/, as in the word "men,"
but it may sometimes sound like /eɪ/, as in the word "résumé."
What's also interesting is that the combination of the letters 'ea' can represent these two sounds as well:
the /eɪ/ vowel sound, as in the word "break,"
and the /ɛ/ vowel sound, as in the word "bread."
It's also true for the combination of the letters 'ai.'
This combination most often sounds like /eɪ/
as in the word "main"
and sometimes like /ɛ/, as in the word "said."
Thanks for watching!
Hope you find it useful.
Stay tuned on our Sounds American channel!