Sound more natural in English: Learn and practice 5 BACK VOWELS

Hello.

My name is Emma, and in today's video we are going to learn about pronunciation, specifically

how to pronounce back vowels.

Okay?

So, whether you are learning British English, Canadian English, American English, whatever

English you're learning, these sounds exist in all of them.

Okay? So it doesn't matter what type of...

What dialect you're learning.

You will find these sounds in many different dialects.

Okay, so to get started let's talk about: What are vowels?

So I have here "a", "e", "i", "o", "u", and sometimes "y".

These are what we call vowels in English.

Okay?

So, these make a certain type of sound where usually you...

You have a lot of air coming into your mouth from the back of your throat.

So it's not so important how...

Like, what a vowel is.

The main thing is to remember that "a", "e", "i", "o", "u", and sometimes "y" are vowels.

Whatever is a letter that isn't one of these is called a consonant, so for example:

"s", "t", "d", "f".

These are all consonants.

Okay, so let's get started by looking at this and thinking: What is a consonant and what

is a vowel?

So we have here the word: "drew".

Can you tell me: What is the vowel in this word: "drew"?

If you said this, you're correct.

Okay?

The "d", "r", and the "w", they're consonants, and the "e" is a vowel.

We have the word here: "foot".

So what's the vowel?

In this case it's the o's and "f" and "t" are consonants.

"Hello",

the "e" is a vowel and so is the "o".

"All", in this case the "a" is the vowel.

"Jaw", and "clock".

Okay, so these are the different vowels in English.

Today we are going to be looking at four of the vowel sounds that happen in the back of

your mouth.

So I'll explain that in a second, but first I want you to look at these four words:

"foot", "food", "foe", "flock".

What is the same in these words?

If you look at the spelling,

all these words have an "o" in the spelling.

Now, do we pronounce the "oo" the same way?

Listen carefully.

Is the "o" pronounced the same in each of these words?

"Foot", "food", "foe", "flock".

The "o" is actually pronounced differently in these words, which is why you can't always

depend on spelling in English to help you with your pronunciation.

Okay?

So I'm going to teach you how to...

You know, some tips on how to do these different pronunciations and how to know when to pronounce

which sounds.

Okay.

So, before we get to these different vowel sounds we're going to practice today, I just

wanted to tell you some general things about pronouncing vowels.

A lot of students, they don't know what they're doing with their mouth when they're pronouncing.

It's very important to pay attention to what your mouth is doing and what your tongue is

doing when you actually pronounce something.

Okay?

This will really help you improve your pronunciation.

It's also a good idea maybe to use a mirror in order to look and become aware of what

this area is doing to make the sound.

So, when you're thinking about your lips it's important to think: Are your lips spread,

like: "cheese",

or are your lips...?

So this would be spread.

Or are your lips like closer together, like: "food", "oo"?

"ee", "oo", notice the difference?

So that's one thing to look at: Are your lips spread like "ee" or are they close together

like "oo"?

Okay.

How open is your mouth?

Is something you want to look at.

Is it not very open, like: "oo"?

Or is it very open, like: "ah"?

Okay? How open is your mouth?

The other thing you want to pay attention to is your tongue.

So, these are your lips.

I'm not a great artist, I know.

These are your teeth, this is your chin, your neck, and this red...

Red thing is your tongue.

Is your tongue touching your teeth, is your tongue touching the top of your mouth, or

is your tongue hanging out kind of close to the back of your mouth?

For back vowels your tongue is going to be more towards the back, like this.

Okay? So your tongue is not where your teeth are.

Your tongue...

If these are your teeth, your tongue is not touching your teeth.

Your tongue is a little bit back.

Okay?

Okay, so now we know what we need to pay attention to.

Now let's learn some of these back vowels and how to make them.

Okay, so the first back vowel sound we're going to learn is the "oo" sound, "oo".

Okay?

So, again, your tongue should be not touching your teeth.

Your tongue... If this is your teeth, your tongue is a little bit back.

Okay, so here is the spelling of this sound.

You might see it as two o's, "oo", it might be a "u"...

Oh, I put "u" again.

"ue" sometimes, like "blue", "oo",

"o" and "e", "o" and "u", and "e" and "w".

So there's many, many different spellings of this sound.

That's one reason why you can't use the spelling always to know how a sound is pronounced.

One thing you can use is something called the International Phonetic Alphabet or IPA

for short.

This is where you have a lot of different symbols, and each symbol actually is a sound.

So, in the dictionary when you're looking at a word, sometimes they will actually have

the way to pronounce it and they will show you the International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciation.

So this is a tool that can help you with your pronunciation.

Okay?

So, this is the symbol for the "oo" sound.

So if you ever look at the International Phonetic Alphabet and you see a word and it has this

in it, it's the "oo" sound.

So let's look at some examples of this sound.

We have: "boot", "oo", "boot", "new", "due", "Luke"...

If you think of Luke Skywalker and you think of Star Wars, "Luke", "too".

Okay? These all have the same sound in them.

So I want you to think now about what your lips are doing, what your mouth is doing,

how big or how small your mouth is to help you with the pronunciation of this sound.

Okay.

So, I want you to look at my mouth.

"Oo", "oo".

What does my mouth look more like?

Is it really big, and wide, and spread, or is it small?

Is it like this?

"Oo", "oo".

No. It's not like this.

It's more like this.

Okay? So you don't have a big mouth for this.

These are my lips.

Okay?

If you look at the side: "oo", they're curving upward or they're...

They're coming out.

So if you want an example of this, think about a wolf: "oo", you know, when wolves howl,

they go: "oo", okay?

That can help you with your lips.

So your lips should be curved and rounded.

Okay, now look at the actual size of the hole.

Is it like this or is it really big?

"Oo", "oo".

It's not big.

My mouth...

There's a little, tiny hole so it's more like this.

Okay? So it's...

We have to check it off.

Now, listen to the sound: "oo".

Is it a long sound or a short sound?

"Due", "blue", "Luke".

It's actually a bit of a long sound.

Now, if that's confusing to you, you'll see what I mean when you compare it to other sounds

because some other sounds are very short.

This sound is a little bit longer.

Okay?

So it's long.

Okay, so let's do some practice of this sound, and again, use a mirror as a...

To help you so you can actually look at your lips and see what they're doing to make sure

you're doing it correctly.

Okay, so I want you to repeat after me:

"boot", "oo", "boot",

"new", "new", "new".

So, again, think about the lips, they're not really big.

"Due", "due", "due",

"Luke", "Luke", "Luke", finally:

"too", "too",

and I'm going to give you one more: "blue", like the colour "blue".

Okay?

So, again, your lips are small, but they're protruding outward, they're rounded like a wolf.

"Oo".

Okay, so now let's compare this to another back vowel sound.

Okay, this one: "u".

So we just did this is "oo", "u".

So hopefully you can hear a bit of a difference with that and you can see a difference in

the way I pronounce this.

Okay, so this sound can be spelt with two o's, along with a "u", just like this sound,

so they actually have the same spelling, but they are different sounds.

Okay? So if you're ever unsure, look in the dictionary for the International Phonetic Alphabet spelling,

and you will know which sound to use.

So let's look at some examples of this sound: "book", "u", "book",

"cu", "could", "u".

So this is a "u".

"Oo", "u".

"Look", "cook", "stood".

Okay? So it's a "u" sound.

Okay, so let's look at...

Actually to really compare before we get started on what your mouth is doing, I want you to

say: "boot", now compare this to "book".

"Boot", "book".

So you might notice with your mouth: "boot", "book",

your mouth is kind of small for both of them. Right?

"Book".

I'm not saying "blu-, book" where my mouth comes spread.

No, no, no. My mouth is small.

So it's not big like this, it's actually closer to this.

Okay, so with this sound: "oo", you have a very small mouth...

A very small mouth and very small hole.

For "book" the size is a little bit bigger, so it's bigger than this hole, but it's not

very big.

Okay? It's just a little bit bigger.

So, it's not super small, it's not large like "aw", it's somewhere in the middle.

Okay?

And the sound, I want you to compare these two sounds:

"boot", "book".

Which one is a longer sound?

"Boot", "book".

This one is longer.

"Boot" is a very short sound.

Okay? Or, sorry.

"Boot" is a long sound.

"Book.

"Book" is a short sound.

So it's shorter, whereas this one is longer.

Okay, so let's practice the pronunciation now.

"Book", "book", "book".

Okay? And again, it's very short.

"Could", "could",

"look", "look",

"cook", "cook",

and notice I'm not smiling.

Okay? And my lips...

For this one my lips are really like coming out, like "oo".

With this one my lips aren't.

"U", "u".

They're flat.

"Stood", "stood".

Okay.

Great.

So it's very...

A great idea...

It's a wonderful idea to actually compare some of these sounds to one another.

Okay? So, especially "boot" and "book", you can really start to notice some of the differences

in what your mouth is doing.

Now let's look at some more back vowel sounds.

Okay, so the next back vowel we're going to learn is "o", "o".

Okay?

So we've done two other ones already.

Here is the spelling.

It might be in the shape of an "o", it might be "o" and "e", it might be "o" and "a", "ow",

"o" and "e", so there's many different spellings for this.

And the IPA symbol is an "o".

Okay?

So what are some examples of this sound, "o"?

Well, we have the letter "o", if you're thinking about the alphabet, we have

"go", "home",

"road", "toe",

"don't", we also have the word "no".

Okay? So this is a very common sound.

It might even exist in your language.

"O".

Okay, so I want you to think about what my mouth is doing.

First off, is it very spread like: "o", or is it kind of closed like: "o"?

"O".

Yeah, "o", it's not spread, it's actually very small.

Your mouth actually almost looks like an "o" shaped.

Okay.

So, it looks more like this.

Now, in terms of the size of it, "o", "o", is it a small hole or is it a very big hole?

"O", "o".

It's actually kind of in the middle.

It's not "oo", it's not very, very tiny, but it's also not "aw", very big.

So this is kind of...

Your mouth is kind of...

Maybe if I draw this a little bit bigger, okay.

So there's a little bit of hole there.

"O".

Okay, another thing is: What are my lips doing?

Are they rounded or are they flat?

"O", "o".

Notice my lips are rounded.

Okay? They come outward.

"O".

They're not flat.

And the sound, is it long or is it short?

"O".

"Home", "home", "road".

It's actually a long sound.

Okay, so let's do some practice of this sound.

I want you to repeat after me.

"O", "o",

"go", "go",

"home", "home",

"road", "road",

"toe", "toe",

"don't", "don't".

Okay? Great.

So now we're going to look at the last sound we're doing today.

There's actually more back vowels.

If you look at the differences between Canadian English, American English, British English,

Australian English, some dialects have more vowels than others.

We're just doing actually more of the basics which all dialects have.

Okay? So we're going to skip some back vowels that exist in British English, but don't exist

in Canadian English or American English.

Okay?

Okay, so we now have our last sound we're going to look at today.

This is actually a fun sound to make.

It's almost like you're going to the doctors.

When a doctor says to you: "Open your mouth and say: 'Aw'",

this is the sound you're making.

"Aw".

Okay, so it's a big sound.

So this is the letter we use in terms of the International Phonetic Alphabet.

So if you're looking for the symbol that represents the sound,

this represents "aw" when you see that.

Now, in terms of spelling, we can spell this with an "o" or sometimes we actually spell

it with an "a".

Okay?

So I have here some different words that have this sound in it.

We have: "clock", "aw", "clock", "doll"...

And notice how big my mouth gets.

"Doll", "stop", "stop",

"hot", "hot",

and "father", "father".

Okay? So, in all of these you'll notice my mouth is a lot bigger than, for example: "oo".

"Aw", "oo".

You see the difference?

So let's look at what the shape of my mouth is doing.

Okay, so this is an "ah" sound.

Is it very spread, like "ahh"?

"Ah", no, it's not spread.

It's actually more like, I draw it.

So it's not spread like an "e" sound or an "ahh" sound.

It's... My cheeks aren't going this way.

It's actually more inward.

"Ahh".

Okay?

So it's more like this.

Now, in terms of the opening, is there a little opening or a big opening?

"Aw".

Okay, it's a very big opening.

Your mouth should be very big for this.

So it looks like this.

Okay?

So it's big and it's not spread, it's closer together.

"Aw".

Now, I want you to compare this with a front vowel sound: "ahh", "ahh", "aw".

You see the difference?

And this is why it's very important to pay attention to what your lips are doing and

what your mouth is doing in the pronunciation.

Okay, now, is this a short sound or a long sound?

"Aw", "father",

"stop", "aw".

It's actually a long sound.

Okay.

So now let's do some practice with some of these words-okay?-to get the sound correct.

I want you to repeat after me.

"Clock", "clock".

And again, if you're having trouble just remember going to the doctor's, you can start off with:

"aw", "clock",

"doll", "doll",

"stop", "stop",

"hot", "hot",

"father", "father".

Okay?

And so in different dialects, these might be pronounced slightly differently.

Sometimes they might have this sound, sometimes they might have another sound.

So that's something to keep in mind, but the key here is these sounds that you learned

today, they exist in these different dialects so you will come across different words

with these sounds.

Okay, so now let's do some practice to make sure that you've understood everything and

that you're good with these pronunciations.

Okay, so you've learned four different back vowel sounds.

You've learned "oo", "u", "o", and "aw".

Okay? So you've learned four different back vowel sounds.

Now I want you to think about: What sounds are in these words?

Okay?

So pay attention to what my mouth is doing and listen to the sound, and think about:

Which sound is it?

So the first one is: "dawn",

"aw", "dawn".

Okay, so if you said this is an "aw" sound, you're correct. Okay?

So it looks like an "a", "aw", "dawn".

The next song...

Sound: "hood",

"u", "hood", "hood".

So it's a short sound, "hood".

My mouth isn't really open that much.

"Hood".

So this is actually this sound.

"U", "hood", "u", "hood".

Okay.

Now, what about this one?

"Poke",

"o", "poke".

Do you hear the "o" sound in there?

"Poke".

So this sound that we learned today is an "o", "poke".

And finally the last one if you look at what my mouth is doing: "blue", "blue", "blue".

What sound is that?

It's an "oo" sound.

"Blue".

So these are our IPA or International Phonetic Alphabet symbols which represent the sound.

And so in "oo", "blue", I mean, you have an "oo" sound.

So, this takes time.

Okay? I don't expect you to know all your vowels just after watching this video, but the main

thing that I hope you learned today is that when you're making sounds, really, really

pay attention to what your lips are doing, what your mouth is doing, how open your mouth

is or how closed it is, and whether the sound is very long or short.

Look in a mirror, compare these sounds, and try to notice some of the differences between them.

Get used to what your mouth is doing for an "oo" sound versus an "aw" sound.

Comparing them is one way to really start improving your pronunciation.

I also want to invite you to check out our website at www.engvid.com.

There you can actually find more videos on different sounds, including other vowel sounds,

like front vowels and central vowels.

And you can also learn some tips on how to improve your pronunciation.

We also have a quiz there, so if you want to practice what you learned today, you can

check out our website and take our quiz.

I highly recommend it.

Until next time, thanks for watching and take care.