Improve Your Pronunciation: The Short ‘i’ in English

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. If you would like to improve your accent in

English, this is an important lesson for you. Why? Because, today, we're going to

look at how to pronounce the short "i" sound correctly in English. This is

always a challenge for many English speakers, especially if you are a

Russian speaker, a Spanish speaker, or a Hebrew speaker. But many other people

also have a bit of a challenge with this sound. Why? Because this sound doesn't

exist in many different languages, or it might be pronounced a little bit

differently. So, let's look at how to master this sound, which appears in

thousands of words in English, and also lots of everyday common words, like:

"is" and "it". Okay? So, let's get started.

So, the short "i" sound should be pronounced like this: "ih". Say it after

me: "ih". What did you notice? It's very short; it almost isn't there — it's that

short. So, the correct way, again: "ih". The wrong way, which many people do say

is to make it long, like this: "ee". That's a different sound; that exists —

that is a long "e" sound in English, and we have it, but it's not the short "i"

sound. So, let's listen to the difference: "ih", "ee". Okay? Quite a

difference. This is, what? Short, quick; this is long. All right? So, your goal

is to keep the short "i" sound, what? Short. Okay. So, let's look at a few

simple words in which we have this short "i" sound. You can say them after me:

"bit", "lit", "mill", "bill", "bid", "rid", "miss", "kiss". Okay? You see

that short "i"? It's really short. Okay. Now, why is this so important? It's not

just because you want to improve your accent; it's because if you don't say it

correctly, and if you say it like that long "e", what will happen is that

there's going to be some confusion in the eyes of the person who is listening

to you. Why? Because, sometimes, when you mispronounce it, it's going to

create a grammar mistake; sometimes when you mispronounce it, it might make a

vocabulary mistake; and sometimes it's just going to cause confusion and people

are not going to understand you, even though you are actually using the

correct words, but just with the accent issue.

So, let's look at what happens there. Okay? So, let's look at these pairs of

words for a second. "This" — you can repeat it after me. "This" and "these".

That's the second one. Okay? "This" is the one we're working on. This is what

happens, here, if you make the mistake. But nevertheless, what happened? "This"

is a word, and "these" is also a word. But if you want to say this sentence,

and you mispronounce it, it will sound like a grammar mistake. So, first, let's

say it correctly: "This box is big." Again: "This box is big." But if you

didn't say: "This"; and instead of "This", you said: "These box is big" —

now, "these" is plural; "this" is singular, so now it sounds like you

don't know your grammar. Okay? So, we don't want to make that mistake. Let's

look at another pair: "sit" and "seat". Let's try the example the correct way.

"Please sit down." Okay? If you didn't say: "sit" properly, it might sound

like: "Please seat down." That doesn't... That's a vocabulary mistake.

Okay? Let's try one more: "live", "leave". Okay? This is the short "i"

sound. So, for example, if you ask someone a very common question: "Where

do you live? Where do you live?" but if you don't pronounce it properly, it will

sound like: "Where do you leave?" And where, leave? Doesn't make sense. Okay?

So, sometimes what might be happening is that, actually, you do know your English

well, and you're using the right words, but just because of the accent — it's

causing a little bit of confusion. And by the end of this lesson, you're going

to get rid of thousands of mistakes, just by working on this short "i".

So, to improve your pronunciation, we need to train your ear and your mouth.

So, in this part of the lesson, that's exactly what we're going to do. Now, in

the first part, we will focus on training your ear for listening. So,

what we'll do is this: I'm going to say one of these words. On this side, we

have the short "i" word; and on this side, we have the long "e" word. And I'm

going to say either this one or this one. Then you listen and tell me which

one you think I said, and then I will tell you whether you're right or not.

Okay? All right. So, are you ready? We're going to do the first one. I'm

going to say one of them. "Eat". So, which word did I say? The first word, or

the second word? The short "i" or the long "e"? This time, I said: "eat" — I

said the long "e". Did you get that? Okay. Let's try the... the second one.

"Sick." Which one did I say: short "i" or long "e"? I said: "sick" — short "i".

Okay? Good. Let's go to number three: "chip". Which one did I say? I said the

short "i": "chip"; not this one. Okay? Let's go to number four: "he's". Which

one did I say? This time I said the long "e": "He's". This one would have been:

"his", but I said: "he's". Okay? Pay attention to that. Next, number five.

Which one am I saying? "Tim". Okay? This time I said the short "i": "Tim". All

right? So, right now you were just training your ear to realize that there

is a difference, and to hear it. This will help you when you're listening to

other people talking as well, because you will understand which word they're

actually saying. All right? So, it's not only for your accent and your

pronunciation, but also for your overall understanding. Now, that was the

listening section.

Now we'll start working on your speaking. Okay? On the speaking section.

We'll go first with some words; then on the next board, we'll do some sentences

and questions. Okay. So, all you have to do here is just repeat after me, and try

to match your pronunciation to mine. Okay? Again, the goal is to keep this

short "i" sound, what? Short, quick. With this sound, we don't smile. Okay?

We're just kind of saying it really fast. Okay? Let's start. The first pair:

"ink", "think". Good. "It", "wit". Good. "Ill", "will". Good. "Is", "his".

Excellent. And "print", "sprint". Very good. Okay? You're getting it. And if

you find that your mouth is trying to, like, stretch it — bring it back. Okay?

Just make it nice and short. Now let's try again with some sentences and

questions.

So, as you can see, even making these small adjustments to your pronunciation

can make a big improvement in your English. And that's the concept of an

entire online course that I have actually, called: "Correct Your English

Errors in Ten Minutes a Day". There, we make small changes to make a big

difference. But, there, we also cover grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation,

and more. Okay? If you're interested, check it in the lesson description. Now,

let's continue. So, here we have some sentences. We're going to read each one,

and you can repeat it after me and listen for the difference. "It's a

winner.", "It's a weiner." A "weiner" is a hot dog. "Winner", "weiner". Okay?

Now, in the beginning, I was exaggerating the sound a little bit more

just so you could get used to hearing it. Now we're going to say it a little

more naturally — the way you might hear native speakers actually speaking. So,

the difference might not be as pronounced. Okay? But there is still a

difference.

Let's go to number two: "Listen to this." Good. "Listen to these."

Excellent. So, we have: "this", "these". Okay? Good. Now, actually, even though

we talked about "this" and "these", if you were saying this — the short "i" is

also here: "Listen". Not: "Leesen", but: "Lihsen". "Listen to this.", "Listen to

these." Right? Good. Number three: "This is the list.", "This is the least." The

"least" means the smallest amount. Okay? "List", "least". Okay? And, again, it

was also in this word. You see, those short "i"? The short "i's" are

everywhere. Look: "this" — short "i", "is" — short "i", "list" — short "i".

Three of the four words in this sentence are short "i" words. All right? So, you

can see what a difference it can make once you master this sound. Now let's do

some questions. Number four: "Did you fill the glass?" The next one: "Did you

feel the glass?" Good. "Fill", "feel". Good. And you also had it, here, in the

word "Did". Number five: "What's the cost of living?" Good. "What's the cost

of leaving?" Yes. "Living", "leaving". Excellent. Number six: "When did you

slip?" "Slip" means fall. Okay? Or: "When did you sleep?" So, we had:

"slip", "sleep". Okay?

So, I hope you've enjoyed this lesson. I hope you can hear the difference.

Something that you can do is actually go back, look at some of these words, write

them down, and then — if you have someone else there who's also learning

English — you can play this game where you're saying one of the words, and

they're writing down what they think you're saying. I used to do this in

class, and it was a lot of fun with my students because they think they're

saying the right thing, and then they say it to somebody else from another

country and that person thinks they're saying the other word. So, it's really a

fun game. Try it out. It'll help you to master this and have a little bit of

laughter along the way. Okay? Because staying happy is very important when

we're learning. All right. So, what can you do next? There is no quiz on this

because this is a pronunciation lesson, but as I said, you could do a quiz with

your friends. All right. And don't forget to subscribe and ring the bell.

All right? Thanks very much, and all the best with your English.