How well do you know the vowels of American English?
And how well do you know the International Phonetic Alphabet
symbols that correspond to the vowels of American English?
In this video, you'll test your knowledge of the IPA for vowels with a listening
quiz.
If this is your first time learning about the International Phonetic
Alphabet, I'll give you a quick introduction today.
But if you need more review, I recommend you watch my earlier videos on the IPA.
The International Phonetic Alphabet, or the IPA as I'll refer to it in this
video, is a notation system that uses symbols to represent the sounds of a
spoken language. It is incredibly handy to use when
you're learning a language like English because English is not a
phonetic language. The spelling of the word does not always
match up to the pronunciation. For example, let's look at the spelling
of these common words in American
English.
Three different spellings, three different words,
but they are all pronounced the same. And if you had never heard these words
pronounced before, you'd need to rely on another system to
let you know the pronunciations, such as the IPA. In this video,
I'll review all the vowel sounds in American English and their IPA symbols:
the monophthongs, diphthongs, and the R-colored vowels. Then you'll
complete a listening quiz to test your knowledge. I'll start with
the monophthongs. I'll say each vowel twice, and I want you
to say the vowel with me on the second time.
Now you'll hear the vowels again, twice in a row.
Say the vowels with me.
Now for the listening quiz.
You'll hear me say one vowel sound, but you're going to see
two IPA symbols on the screen. Listen to the vowel sound and choose which symbol
represents that sound.
Now for another listening quiz, but this one will be a little harder.
You'll hear a vowel sound, but you won't see any options
on the screen. You'll have five seconds to write down the IPA symbol that
corresponds to the vowel sound. Then I'll show you the answer.
Nice job! You've just practiced all of the American English monophthongs!
Now let's move on to the diphthongs. I'll say each vowel twice, and I want you
to say the vowel with me the second time.
Now you'll hear the vowels again, twice
in a row. Say the vowels with me.
Now for the listening quiz. You'll hear me say one diphthong,
but you'll see two IPA symbols on the screen.
Listen to the vowel sound and choose which symbol represents that sound.
Now for another listening quiz, but this one will be a little harder.
You'll hear a diphthong, but you won't see any options on the screen.
You'll have 5 seconds to write down the IPA symbol
that corresponds to the vowel sound. Then I'll show you the answer.
Great - you've just practiced all of the American English diphthongs!
Now let's move on to the last category of vowels, the R-colored vowels.
I'll say each vowel twice, and I want you to say the vowel with me
the second time.
Now you'll hear the vowels again, twice in a row.
Say the vowels with me.
Now for the listening quiz. You'll hear me say one R-colored vowel,
but you'll see two IPA symbols on the screen.
Listen to the vowel sound and choose which symbol represents that
sound.
Now for another listening quiz, but this one will be a little harder.
You'll hear an R-colored vowel, but you won't see any options
on the screen. You'll have five seconds to write down
the IPA symbol that corresponds to the vowel sound.
Then I'll show you the answer,
Great job! Thanks so much for watching this video
and for completing the quizzes! I hope this helped you to understand the IPA
symbols for the American English vowels.