Pronunciation - vowel 1 /æ/, /e/, /ɪ/, /ɑː/, /ɒ/, /ʌ/

Let's learn the symbols to help us learn pronunciation. As long as you remember the sounds, you don't need to memorize the symbols because that is a teacher's job! What's more important is you can pronounce correct sounds when you see the letters. For example, when you read the word 'rat', you can pronounce /ræt/. When you focus on learning sounds, you don't need to know the meanings either. How the letters in bold should be pronounced is what you should remember.

There are different systems of symbols for sounds and here I am using IPA symbols. First, we will start with vowels showing the basic and common sounds of a, e, i, o, u (or y), which some people call 'short vowels'. Some words (underlined) have two different sounds, British (Br) and American (Am) sounds. 

Most importantly, you should watch the video, listening and following how I pronounce them. Practice, practice, and practice!

/æ/ rat, app, fast (Am), laugh (Am) (the letters, a and au, in bold are pronounced /æ/)

/e/ vet, egg, said, weather, friend

/ɪ/ zip, inch, busy, gym, decide

/ɑː/ lot (Am), opt (Am), fast (Br), laugh (Br), what (Am)

/ɒ/ lot (Br), opt (Br), what (Br)

/ʌ/ jug, up






[Reminder] Watch the video before starting reading the text and you can see all the pictures together if you click on one of them! You can also use the 'Translate' tool on the blog to help you understand the text. What's better, all the key vocabulary in my examples ranges from elementary to advanced levels (CEFR: A1~C2 / IELTS: 1~9) so you will learn a lot of English words if you keep studying each lesson. You will also benefit more if you use a dictionary to help you. Finally, don't forget to use English in daily life so all the grammar/vocabulary can be stored in your mind easier. While using this language, you are also learning from others and observing when is the appropriate context for different usages. 

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