Improve Your Pronunciation: The Short A in English

Hi, I'm Rebecca from engVid, and this is a pronunciation lesson.

This is actually a really special pronunciation

lesson because in this one, you're not just

going to learn how to pronounce certain words,

which is always very helpful, but you're actually

going to learn how to pronounce a particular

sound, the short "a" sound, which appears

in thousands of words, alright?

So, by learning and mastering this sound

correctly, you will actually be able to speak

much more clearly and be understood very clearly.

So, what happens if you don't say this sound correctly?

What happens is that it ends up actually sounding

like another sound, which I'm going to tell

you about in a minute, and then people who are listening to you get confused, alright?

They're not sure what you meant, they're not

sure what you were trying to say, and as a

result, your communication is just not as effective.

So, what we want to do is to make sure that you understand it, and it's actually really

easy to master and understand.

Just stay with me, we're going to practice, and we'll go forward so that you really can

master it.

Okay, so let's start first.

What is this short "a" sound?

So, look at me for a second, I'm going to say it.

Ready?

"Aa", I'm going to say it again.

"Aa", so what did I do?

To say this short "a" sound correctly, you need to open your mouth wide, don't be shy,

I know it looks weird, just pretend you're

like an American cheerleader, you know, "Aa,

ra", okay?

And don't be shy, you need to open your mouth

to say this sound and make it correctly, okay?

"Aa", so keep your mouth open wide and your tongue low.

If you don't say it correctly, it's going to

sound like something else, which I'll show

you in a second.

But first, let's say a lot of words that have this short "a" sound.

So, repeat after me.

"Dad", "fad", "mad", "sad", okay?

So you see those all rhyme, okay?

"Dad", "fad", "mad", "sad", okay?

On purpose, because I want you to get used to opening your mouth like that, okay, each

time.

Let's do another set, ready?

"Ban", "fan", "ran", "tan", okay?

Again, we have that rhyming sound, "ban",

"fan", "ran", "tan", and each time, you need

it to be opening your mouth, so make sure that you are.

Let's see now what happens if you don't open your mouth.

The problem is, if you don't say this short "a" properly and open your mouth, then it's

going to end up sounding like a short "e".

So, let me say the short "a" sound for you again once, "a".

Now let me say the short "e" sound for you, "e", "e".

So what was the difference?

What did you notice?

For this one, my mouth opened, right, "a".

For this one, "e".

The mouth isn't opening much at all.

So, this one is also a longer sound, "a".

This one is a really short sound, "e", okay?

So now, let's apply these to a number of words

which could sound different if you don't say

them, the "a" properly, okay?

Then it's going to sound like an "e" and it's

going to make another word altogether, okay?

So, repeat after me these pairs of words.

"Pan", "pen".

Your turn.

Good.

"Bad", "bed".

Good.

"Can", "ken".

Good.

"Had", "head".

"Than", "then".

Good.

"Dan", "den".

Good.

"Land", "lend".

Good.

And the last one, "and", "end".

Okay.

Really good. Alright?

So, now you had a chance to try it out.

Now, let's train your ear a little bit more, okay?

So, I'm going to now go through this list, and you're going to tell me if I'm saying

this word or this word, okay?

Whether I'm saying the short "a" word or whether I'm saying the short "e" word. Alright?

Now, there are two ways you can do this.

One way is keep watching the video, but then you might get fooled because...

Not get fooled, it's kind of like a way to cheat.

If you look at my face, you might see my mouth

opening, and then you'll say, "Okay, you're

saying this one."

And when you don't see my mouth opening, then

you might say, "Okay, you're saying that one."

And you can do that, no problem.

However, if you want to make it a little bit

harder for yourself, you might want to just

look away while I'm saying these and try to tell me if I'm saying the first one or the

second one. Okay?

So, here we go.

I'm going to say one of them.

"Pin".

So, which one was that?

The second one.

"Bad".

The first.

"Can".

The first.

"Head".

The second.

"Hand".

"Then".

The second.

"Dan".

The first.

"Land".

The first.

"End".

The second.

Okay?

Good.

And now you're training your ear as well, because your ear is also very much involved

in pronunciation.

Okay?

So, now, let's practice a few more words so

that you can really apply whatever we've learned

here about the short "a".

All right.

So, now, let's see how the short "a" sound appears in the names of famous companies,

places, foods, and people.

Okay?

Okay?

So, now, I'm going to say it; you just repeat after me.

Okay?

"Canon".

"Apple".

"The Gap".

Okay?

Good.

Let's go ahead and say the names of some places.

"Miami". "Canada". "Africa".

Now, am I exaggerating it a little bit?

Yes, I am exaggerating it a little bit just so that you can hear it.

But when you say it, you're probably not going

to say it as long and you're going to end

up sounding perfect.

Okay?

So, yes, I'm saying "Africa".

I mean, most people are not saying "Africa", they're just saying "Africa".

But when you say it, that's what will happen.

Okay?

All right.

Let's go to say some foods now.

"Hamburger".

"Salad".

"Snacks".

This one is actually really famous for being

really messed up in terms of pronunciation.

If you don't say it properly, if you don't say that "a" properly, and it sounds like

an "e", then it sounds like "snakes" or "snakes".

Okay?

You don't want any of that to happen.

All right?

So, how should we say it?

"Snacks".

"Salad".

"Hamburger".

Okay?

All right.

Now, let's say the names of some famous people.

"Albert Einstein".

Good.

"Tom Hanks".

Good.

And this is the test.

Okay?

If you can say this, you've got that short "a" sound because it's there in two places.

All right?

Are you ready?

"Batman".

Okay?

Let's do it again.

"Batman".

One more time.

"Batman".

Okay.

If you're saying that properly, that's great.

All right?

Now, these are some words.

Now, let's put it in some sentences and make

sure that you're still saying that short "a"

properly.

Okay?

Let's do that.

All right.

So, let's try some sentences now.

Now, in the first four, basically we have both sounds.

The short "a" sound and we have a short "e" sound.

So, I'm going to say one, and then I'm going

to say the other, and you can repeat after

me.

Okay?

Here we go.

"Do you like Brad?"

"Do you like bread?"

Good.

"Brad", "bread".

Okay, good.

Number two.

"We laughed."

"We left."

Okay?

"Laughed", "left".

Do you see how if you don't pronounce it properly,

it can sound completely like that second word?

Okay?

So, make sure it's really quite different when you're saying it.

Number three.

"Where's Alice?"

Good.

"Where's Alice?"

Good.

"Alice", "Ellis".

Okay?

Next.

"Did you meet the man?"

Oops, oops.

We forgot a question mark.

Okay, let's do it again.

"Did you meet the man?"

Good.

"Did you meet the men?"

Good.

"Man", "men".

Okay.

All right?

So, that's how you can differentiate between these sounds.

Again, record yourself.

Listen to yourself.

Practice these sounds.

Make sure you can hear a difference between the two.

You should be able to.

And I'm sure that as you've been doing it,

you probably have found a difference yourself

in what you can hear and what you can say.

So, here, just to end up, we're just going to practice saying a few common expressions

that have this short "a" sound.

Words that you say every day, probably.

Okay?

Here we go.

The first one, "thanks".

See how the mouth opened?

You didn't realize that before, right?

Now you know.

Ready?

Let's say it again.

"Thanks".

Good.

The slightly more formal version, "thank you".

Good.

Make sure you're not saying the short "e" sound.

Another very common question, "what happened?"

Let's try it again.

"What happened?"

Good.

And a very popular greeting, and in case it's

your birthday today, we all want to wish you

what?

"Happy birthday".

Say it again.

"Happy birthday".

Again, see that short "a" coming in there?

Everything here in blue basically had the short "a" sound in it.

All right?

So, there is no quiz on this.

The quiz was what we were doing here.

In order for you to master it, go back...

Go back in the course of the week also.

Okay?

Listen to it.

Practice it.

Repeat it.

It's not enough to do pronunciation just once in a week or once in a year.

Okay?

If you want to master a particular point, practice it several times during the week.

Record yourself.

Listen.

Go back after another week and listen to yourself,

or practice some more, and become aware of

it.

You'll start to hear it around you everywhere,

and you'll also start to say it more accurately

yourself.

Okay?

So, this is one thing you can do.

The second thing you can do, this was to improve some pronunciation points.

Okay?

Another thing you can do if you really want to improve your English is check my English

course.

It's called Correct Your English Errors in 10 Minutes a Day.

And there, we help you to improve lots of different areas of English.

Grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, idioms, lots of things.

Okay?

Very quick, very easy, just 10 minutes a day.

And every small correction takes you forward

one more step towards your goal of speaking

English fluently.

All right?

And, last of all, if you haven't already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and

ring the bell so you know whenever there is a new video.

Okay?

Thanks very much for watching.

I'm sure you've improved your English if you've

stuck all the way with me throughout this

lesson, and keep on paying attention to it.

You can do it.