/əʊ/ vs /ɔ:/ | Learn English Pronunciation | Minimal Pairs Practice

Hi guys.

This is Fann-y. Welcome to this English pronunciation video.

In this video, I'm gonna focus on two tricky sounds:

/əʊ/ and /ɔ:/

sounds similar but they are very different

and you need to hear the difference and to pronounce them differently.

Let's take two example words shall we...

the first word is 'so'.

/əʊ/ is the sound. Can you hear it?

'so'

The second word is 'saw'.

The sound is /ɔ:/. Can you hear it?

so /səʊ/ saw /sɔː/

Now I know they sound very similar to most of you.

But they are different and with a little bit of practice,

you will improve your skills.

I promise you by the end of this video,

you will hear and pronounce them differently.

So keep watching.

Let's go guys!

I'm gonna help you make these sounds

/əʊ/ and /ɔ:/ in English.

I want you to hear the difference and to be able to pronounce them correctly.

Also you should know the IPA spelling.

Watch how I move my mouth.

And please try to repeat after me.

I know you can do this so let's get to it.

First, let's make the sound /əʊ/.

/əʊ/ is actually a diphthong.

So it's two vowel sounds /əʊ/.

So as you pronounce it, as you can see,

my mouth is quite round.

It moves and it becomes smaller.

/əʊ/

Let's practice. Repeat after me.

/əʊ/-/əʊ/-/əʊ/

Let's practice now with the word 'so'. Repeat after me.

so - so - so

And now for the sound /ɔ:/.

As you can see my mouth is round as well

but it's doesn't move.

And the sound is a tiny bit longer.

/ɔ:/

Let's practice. Repeat after me.

/ɔ:/ - /ɔ:/ - /ɔ:/

Let's take the word 'saw'.

Please repeat after me.

saw - saw - saw

Good.

Let's now use minimal pairs.

Words that are very similar but the vowel sounds change.

They're a very good way to practice these vowel sounds.

First, let's just practice the sounds.

Watch how my mouth moves and repeat after me.

/əʊ/ - /əʊ/ - /əʊ/

/ɔ:/ - /ɔ:/ - /ɔ:/

/əʊ/ - /ɔ:/

Let's now take our words 'so' and 'saw'. Repeat after me.

so - so - so

saw - saw - saw

so - saw

Excellent guys.

Okay students let's now move on to minimal pairs together.

I'm gonna read them to you you should repeat after me.

And watch my mouth - how it moves.

Let's get started.

boat bought

bode bored

bow bore

code cord

coke cork

cone corn

copes corpse

choke chalk

chose chores

close claws

crow craw

doe door

dome dorm

doze doors

drone drawn

foam form

foe for

folk fork

go gore

goal gall

hone horn

implode implored

Joe jaw

know nor

load lord

low law

moan morn

moaning morning

mole maul

motor mortar

mow more

o or

oat ought

owe or

poach porch

poke pork

sew saw

scone scorn

show shore

show sure

shown shorn

snow snore

stoke stork

stow store

toe tore

tone torn

tote taught

quote quart

Good guys. Let's carry on.

Okay guys. Let's practice further. I'm going to show you a

couple of words I want you to read them with the proper English vowel sound:

/əʊ/ and /ɔ:/

Let's get to.

Let's start with the first word.

Is it stoke or stalk?

It's stoke.

Next word.

moaning or morning?

It's 'morning' of course.

next word

code or cord?

code

Next word.

stoke or stork?

stork. Very nice.

Next word.

poke or pork?

It's 'poke'. Very good.

Then we have boat or bought?

Its 'bought'.

Next word.

poke or pork?

It's 'pork', guys.

Next word.

hone or horn?

horn

Then we have 'code' or 'cord'.

It's 'cord'.

And finally...

boat or bought?

'boat' Very nice.

That was excellent guys.

Let's move on.

Ok guys moving on to sentences containing /əʊ/ and /ɔ:/ sounds.

So pay attention and repeat after me.

The first sentence

I saw four crows fly low.

Second sentence...

Joe chose pork and corn.

And finally...

There's more snow on the low shore.

Great guys.

Let's move on.

Great job guys.

You now have a better understanding of the difference between the English vowel sounds

/əʊ/ and /ɔ:/

But keep practicing.

It takes time and practice speaking and listening

to master these vowel sounds.

But you can do!

So keep practicing and watch my other pronunciation videos.

They're very useful if you want to improve your English skills.

So see you next time.

Thank you so much for watching guys.

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Click 'like', subscribe to the channel, put your comments below

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See you.