English Pronunciation Practice: OO & U

Hello, everybody. Today, we are going to practice our pronunciation. I hear many

learners make the same vowel mistake; so, today, I'm going to teach you how to

pronounce some very common vowels in English. So, to get started, I wanted to

show you two things. What is this? And what is this? This is a boot. It's a red

boot. This is a book. It's a blue book. So, we have a boot and we have a book.

Now, if we look at the spelling of these words: "boot" and "book", they both have

two "o's" in them. Do we pronounce these two "o's" the same, or do we pronounce

them differently? So, listen carefully one more time. Is the pronunciation of

"oo" the same in these two words? "boot", "book", "boot", "book". The

answer is: We pronounce the two "o's" differently in these words. So, this is

a problem many learners of English have. They see the two "o's", and they

pronounce them the same way in every word. But, in fact, there are different

ways to pronounce two "o's" in English. There's also a... Here's another

example. So, there is a vowel sound in this word: "Luke", like "Luke

Skywalker". "Luke" and "boot" have the same vowel. That's strange. Right?

Because, if you think about it, "boot" has two "o's" in it, and "Luke" has a

"u". So, here we have a situation where two... or the same pronunciation — in

this case, an "oo" sound — can be represented by different spellings. So,

this is difficult in English. What I'm going to teach you today are some common

words that have this sound in English. I'm going to teach you how to pronounce

the sound, in the different ways, for some of the most common words. So, let's

get started.

Okay. So, we are going to focus on two vowel sounds today. When you learn

pronunciation, I recommend using a mirror and looking at what your nose

does, what your lips do, what your teeth do, and what your tongue does. This can

really help you improve your pronunciation. So, once you have a

mirror, you can look at what you're doing while you say these words. So,

what is the difference between the vowel in: "boot" and "book"? Well, one of the

differences is what my lips are doing. So, I have here two lips. In this case,

the lips are rounded: "boot". So, in "boot", if I slow it down, my lips

actually make a circle: "boot", "boot", "oo". Okay? So, it has a circle sound;

an "oo" sound. It's the same within: "Luke" — "oo" — "Luke". So, sometimes

with "u" and sometimes with two "o's", we circle our lips, and we make an "oo"

sound. The... this is very different from the word: "book", "book". In this

case, my lips are not round; they're more like this — they're more spread:

"book". And compare that to: "boot", "oot"; "u", "oo". So, the lips are doing

a lot of the work to make these sounds different.

Another thing you might notice is that some vowels are very long, and so we

pronounce them for a longer time; and some vowels are very short — we say them

very quickly. Listen carefully, and tell me: What is the long vowel and what is

the short vowel? "Boot", "book". Which one is longer? "Boot" is the longer one;

"book" is very short. So, that's another difference. Sometimes two "o's" is

pronounced long; sometimes two "o's" is pronounced short. It's the same with

"u". Sometimes, like in: "Luke", it's a long vowel sound; whereas in this word:

"look", it's a short vowel sound. So, the words we are going to learn today, I

want you to really focus on: If the lips are round or if they're spread, and if

the vowel sound is long or if it is short. Okay? This will really help your

pronunciation.

So, what I want you to do is we are going to say these different words,

listen to my pronunciation, and then you try. Okay? So, the first word is:

"boot". So, again, a circle — your lips are in a circle: "boot". And it's a long

word or a long vowel sound. Now, try to say this one: "book", "book" — it's nice

and short. Okay. Let's try this word: "Luke", "Luke"; "look", "look". Okay?

Now, here's another word; this word: "pool" — my lips go like this, and it's

a long vowel sound. "Pool", "pool". Now, this is different from this vowel sound,

which is the same as in "book": "pull", "pull". It's a fast sound. "Pull". And

our lips are spread like this. Okay? Now, we have here the word: "cook". Do

you think "cook" is a long vowel sound or a short vowel sound? "Cook". It's a

short vowel sound. And what are our lips doing with this word: "cook"? Are they

in a round shape or are they spread? "Cook". They're actually spread. This is

very different from the word: "cool", "cool". In this case, my lips make a

circle — "cool" — and it's a longer sound. So, again, what you will notice

is sometimes these are pronounced the same — these letters — and sometimes

they're pronounced differently. Okay? So, let's look at a couple more words

where you might need to use these different vowel pronunciations.

So, we've talked about the spelling of "oo", and how sometimes that can have an

"oo" sound to it, like: "tool"; and sometimes it can have a "u" sound to it,

like: "took". And we said the same thing for "u" — sometimes it has that "oo"

sound and sometimes it has that "u" sound. Now, I'm so sorry, guys, but I am

going to add one more spelling: "ou" — sometimes it also has that "u" sound.

So, let's look at some examples. And, again, the main thing, here, is we're

looking at two different pronunciations of a vowel, so you're going to hear two

different vowel sounds. And I want you to think with these vowel sounds: "Do we

round our lips? Do we spread our lips? Do we say the vowel for a long time or a

short time?" Okay? So, let's look at this word: "tool", "tool", "ool",

"tool". What do you think? What kind of lips are we doing? We're doing the "oo"

lips: "tool". Okay? So, when you pronounce this word, it's important your

lips are like a circle; it's like the word: "cool". Now, this is very

different from the word: "took", "took". Notice my lips are not in a circle;

they're more spread out? "Took", "I took the exam." This is a very common word,

so you really want to work on the pronunciation of this word: "took". So,

what about with the length? "Tool" — that's a long sound, compared to: "took"

— that's a short sound; a short vowel sound. "Tool", "took". Okay?

Now, let's look at another word. We have, here, a word: "fool". It has the

same vowel sound as: "tool", "tool", "fool". So, this has the circular lips,

and the long vowel sound: "fool". Now, this is very different from the word:

"full". "Full" has the spread lips — "full" — and it's a short, quick sound.

So, now, we are going to come to three common words in English. These are the

last words we're going to talk about today: "should", "would", "could". We

use these a lot, so they're very important to master the pronunciation of

"Full"; "fool", "full". And that is really one important part of

the vowel. So: "ou" can also have the same sound as "u" and two "o's".

"Should" has the same vowel sound as: "took". So, we say: "should". It's a

pronunciation. Whenever you're learning any vowel sound, you should always ask

very fast vowel sound, so it's a short vowel sound: "should"; and our lips do

not round. If I said this word with rounded lips, it would sound like:

"shood", but that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying: "should". It's the same

yourself: "Are my lips in a circle? Are they spread? Is the vowel long or is it

with: "could", "could". You don't round your lips; you keep them spread, and

it's a short sound: "could". Finally: "would". I hear many students say:

"woold", and they make that round lip. For this word, no round lip; it's

short?" That can really help you master your vowels.

spread, and we say it fast: "would". "I would like to do that", "would". Okay?

So, that is our pronunciation lesson today. What I want you to remember

are... is that there are different ways to pronounce these spellings. Sometimes

two "o's", "u", and "ou" might have the same pronunciation; sometimes they might

have different pronunciation. Today, we talked about some very common words in

English, like: "took", "book", "cool". So, these are the words that you really

want to start to focus on in terms of pronunciation. You can watch this video

multiple times. I recommend that you watch it and say these words after me,

with your mirror; and really focus on what your lips are doing, and how long

you are saying each vowel sound for. So, to get more practice, I recommend you

come check out www.engvid.com. There, you can actually take my quiz on what

you learned here today. You can also find other lessons on many different

topics. I also recommend that you check out my YouTube channel and you

subscribe. There, you can actually find a lot of different English resources on

pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and many other subjects. Remember to ring

the bell; when you ring the bell, you will get notifications of new videos.

Finally, I invite you to come check out my own website: www.teacheremma.com.

There, you can find more free English resources. Thanks for watching; and

until next time, take care.