Pronunciation - V & W

Hello. Welcome to www.engvid.com -- not "EngWid". Today, I'm going to teach you the difference

in pronunciation between a "V" and a "W". That's "U" times two. In some parts of America

-- I don't know which parts, which states -- I know people say "double yah". We don't

actually say "double yah" in Canada; it's "double U" versus the "V". Now, this goes

out to all of my friends who speak Chinese, Farsi, Arabic, German, Polish, Slovak, Czech,

Slovenian, Russian, Ukrainian: As far as I understand, all of these languages have problems

with the "V" and the "W". "Double yah"! The "double U". Let me help you out.

The easiest way to get this down straight is when you say the "V" sounds, you've got

to stick out your two front teeth and go "vuh", "vuh", "vuh". No. 1 rule: When you want to

say the "V" sound, you have to stick your big front teeth out of your mouth over your

bottom lip -- "vuh". Your bottom lip is going to make the air come out, and it's going to

make the sound of "vuh". If you look at this word, it's "visor", "visor". You always need

to put your teeth out like a beaver. The other letter is "W". When we actually

make the "W" sound, you're going to make like you're going to kiss someone. "Wuah", "wuah",

"wuah". As you can see -- "V", "wuah" -- your mouth does a completely different thing with

the two sounds. "V", "wuah", "wuah". So let's try -- let's practice, first of all, making

the "V" sounds with some words. The first one is "visor", "visor". "Visor"

is the top part of a baseball cap that keeps the sun out of your eyes.

The next one we have is "veil". A "veil" can be worn at a wedding. It covers the bride's

face, and in many countries around the world, women wear veils to hide their beautiful eyes.

So "veil" is a face covering -- "veil". The next word is a "vest", "vest". "Vest"

is usually an article of clothing worn by a man. Women can wear vests as well, and it's

part of a three-piece suit: You have a tie, a shirt, a vest, and an over -- a suit jacket.

I'm going to draw a vest. It's going to be funny-looking. If you guys have ever seen

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I think the Oompa-Loompas wear a vest. And then you

would have your shirt here. So the vest is, basically, like a jacket with no arms -- "vest".

The next one is a kind of car -- a very fast car -- and also a snake. This is a "viper",

"viper". And the last "V" sound for you today is "verse",

"verse". "Verse" we use in writing songs or poetry, and it's a stanza of music or words

that's broken down into different parts of the song. "Verse", "viper", "vest", "veil",

"visor". Now -- hold on -- we're going to go into the

"W" -- "double yah" -- the "W" sound. As I told you, once you -- when you say the "W"

sound, you're going to make like you're going to kiss someone. So Ronnie's going to pretend

she knows how to draw. These are lips and they're going "wuah!" They're blowing you

kisses or besos. The first "W" word is "wiser", "wiser".

The next one is "whale", "whale". "Ronnie, what's a whale?" A "whale" is an animal -- a

really, really big animal -- is it a fish? Is it an animal? I don't know -- that lives

in the ocean. And they like to eat peanuts. What? Yeah. "Wiser" means someone is smarter

than you. Maybe you are smarter than me because you know that whales don't eat peanuts at

all. The next one is "west", "west". "West" is

a direction. We have north, south -- oh, I hope I get this right --east, and west. This

guy right here is "west". If you are the fan of a band called "The Clash" -- my favorite

band ever -- they have a song that's called "Gates of the West". You don't want to make

a mistake and say, "Gates of the Vest" because people think, "What? Okay, so you have a vest

and then a gate. Gates with the vest. Oh, I don't get it." So the song is "Gates of

the West". The next word is "wiper", "wiper". A "wiper",

you have -- if you have a car, I hope you need them. They are on your windshield, and

they go, "wicky, wicky, wicky, wicky, wiper." They help to clear the rain or the other dead

animals that fall onto your car off of your windshield so you can see when you're driving.

And the last "wuah" word is "worse". "Worse" means "bad", so "worse".

Now is the fun part, the exciting part, the challenging part: We have to contrast the

"V" and the "W" with these words together. Ready?

"Visor", "wiser". Now be careful: "Vooh", "Wooh". Give it a try. "Visor", "wiser". "Visor",

"wiser". Okay. The next one: "Veil", "veil", "whale", "whale".

"Veil", "whale". "Vest", "vest", "west", "west".

"Viper", "viper", "wiper". "Viper", "wiper". You ready -- are you ready for the last one?

Second third last one? "Verse", "worse". "Verse", "worse". Do you think that you can do this

well now? I hope so. We're going to go for two more words, and this is a little bit more

difficult because -- because the "V" and the "W" are in the middle of the word. Don't worry

about it. You can do it. So remember what I taught you about the [kiss] and the [beaver

teeth]? So when we say this word, you've got to get your kiss ready, and this one, you've

got to get your beaver teeth out. Yeah. Stick your teeth right out. So this word is "rowing",

"rowing" -- [sings] row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream! Okay. The other word

is "roving", "roving". Do you know what "roving" means? It's another word "to wander about

aimlessly". "I'm going to rove through the mountains. I'm going to rove through the forest.

It's a beautiful green forest with lots of trees." "Rowing", "roving". So in the middle

of the word, you have to be careful and make sure that your mouth is doing the correct

position so that you're making the right sounds. The last one is "grew", "grew". "Grew" is

the past tense of "grow", which means if you plant a plant -- plant a plant -- and you

give it water and love, it's going to grow and become bigger. There're other things that

grow and become bigger if you give them a kiss. The last word is "groove". "Grew", "groove".

This one's difficult because you're going to do the "ooh" sound like this, but in the

end you've got to give it your beaver teeth. So it's "groove". "Grew", "groove". "Groove"

means "to dance". Yeah, groovy. In the 1960s, it was really cool to say, "Groovy, dude!"

Good thing we're not living in the 1960s. Today, we have practiced the "vah" versus

the "wuah" sounds. If you have questions and would like to see more videos, go to www.engvid.com.

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