Interactive (not anymore, see our comment below) Vowel Sounds Chart: American English Pronunciation

There are 12 vowel sounds in American English. If you want to speak like an American, you’ll need to learn to pronounce them correctly. This Interactive video is an easy way to remember how all these vowel sounds are pronounced. Once you watch it, you’ll be able to organize and understand how to make them.
#AmericanPronunciation #VowelSounds #SingleVowels

Navigation Links (Table Of Contents):
Intro: 00:00
American Vowel Sounds Overview: 00:10
Vowels Chart (Menu) : 00:40
► Vowel Sound /i/, as "be" 02:28
► Vowel Sound /ɪ/, as "it" 04:18
► Vowel Sound /eɪ/, as "make" 06:03
► Vowel Sound /ɛ/, as "bed:" 08:01
► Vowel Sound /æ/, as in "cat:" 09:55
► Vowel Sound /ʌ/, as in "us:" 11:49
► Vowel Sound /ə/, as in "ago:" 13:37
► Vowel Sound /ɑ/, as in "got:" 15:23
► Vowel Sound /u/, as in "blue:" 17:16
► Vowel Sound /ʊ/, as in "put:" 19:03
► Vowel Sound /oʊ/, as in "go:" 20:54
► Vowel Sound /ɔ/, as in "on:" 22:55
Bonus
► R-colored Vowel /ɝ/, as in "first:" 24:53
► R-colored Vowel /ɚ/, as in "after:" 27:16

Practice Exercises:

[THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, SPANISH, JAPANESE, CHINESE, VIETNAMESE, KOREAN, AND PORTUGUESE SUBTITLES!]
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TRANSCRIPT

Hello there! This is the "Sounds American" channel.

There are 12 distinct vowel sounds in American English.
If you want to speak like an American, you’ll need to learn to pronounce them correctly. And that could be a challenge.
There’s good news, though! There’s an easy way to remember how all these vowel sounds are pronounced. Each vowel sound is made with your tongue moving to a certain place in your mouth. Once you know the position of your tongue for each vowel, you can more easily organize and understand how to make them.
Take a look.

• The vowels in the upper row are pronounced with your tongue raised very high in your mouth.
• The vowels in the lower row are pronounced with your tongue placed very low.
• OK, as you may have already guessed, the vowels in the most right column are made with your tongue pulled back.
• And finally the vowel sounds in the most left column are pronounced with your tongue pushed forward.

For example:
The vowel sound /i/, as in the word "be," is pronounced with your tongue pushed forward and raised very high in your mouth.
So its card is in the upper left corner.

Here’s another vowel, the vowel sound /ɔ/, as in the word "on."
This sound is pronounced with the tongue pulled back and placed very low in your mouth.
So its card is in the lower right corner.

OK, if you’re watching this video on a computer, click on a card to find out more about each vowel.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t work on mobile devices. But we have a work-around. You can use the Navigation links in the Description below.
Have fun!

[mostafaahmadi]

AMERICAN IPA:

Vowels Chart (Menu) - 0:32

► Vowel Sound /i/, as "be" - 2:29
► Vowel Sound /ɪ/, as "it" - 4:19
► Vowel Sound /eɪ/, as "make" - 6:04
► Vowel Sound /ɛ/, as “bed” - 8:02
► Vowel Sound /æ/, as in "cat" - 9:56
► Vowel Sound /ʌ/, as in "us" - 11:50
► Vowel Sound /ə/, as in "ago" - 13:38
► Vowel Sound /ɑ/, as in "got" - 15:24
► Vowel Sound /u/, as in "blue" - 17:17
► Vowel Sound /ʊ/, as in "put" - 19:03
► Vowel Sound /oʊ/, as in "go" - 20:55
► Vowel Sound /ɔ/, as in "on" - 22:56

Bonus
► R-colored Vowel /ɝ/, as in "first" - 24:53
► R-colored Vowel /ɚ/, as in "after" - 27:17

[lymeo]

Thank you for creating such a wonderful website. Four years ago, I learned to pronounce each sound on your YouTube channel, and it completely changed my pronunciation. Thank you very much

[SoundsAmerican]

Friends! Unfortunately, YouTube removed the annotations functionality and the links from the vowels cards no longer work even on desktops. However, we have all those links in the video description. Please, use them, they work. We apologize for this inconvenience, but no one can influence YouTube in this respect :). We'll continue looking for options to restore the interactivity.

[josidaka]

Sir, I have learned more from your channel than I had from expensive traditional classroom. Your videos are explicit, easy to follow, and straight to the point. Thank you very much, and God bless you always.

Vowel Sound /i/, as "be" - 2:29
► Vowel Sound /ɪ/, as "it" - 4:19
► Vowel Sound /eɪ/, as "make" - 6:04
► Vowel Sound /ɛ/, as “bed” - 8:02
► Vowel Sound /æ/, as in "cat" - 9:56
► Vowel Sound /ʌ/, as in "us" - 11:50
► Vowel Sound /ə/, as in "ago" - 13:38
► Vowel Sound /ɑ/, as in "got" - 15:24
► Vowel Sound /u/, as in "blue" - 17:17
► Vowel Sound /ʊ/, as in "put" - 19:03
► Vowel Sound /oʊ/, as in "go" - 20:55
► Vowel Sound /ɔ/, as in "on" - 22:56

Bonus
► R-colored Vowel /ɝ/, as in "first" - 24:53
► R-colored Vowel /ɚ/, as in "after" - 27:17

[rimsharafique]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful resource.

[jhonygalan]

Muchisimas gracias. Le sacare el mayor beneficio posible a esta informacion.

[Sinnamo]

This is amazing English lección its so helpful, I'm learning alot, thank very much for you support.

[brunosoppelsa]

Dear SA, thank you for your great job. please can you do your best to restore the interactivity of your vdos? thank you.

[tiangnegara]

I'm from Indonesia... we here only have 6 vowel sounds and they are very distinc one another, at first it is very hard to distinguish english vowels... I learn from some videos... after hundreds videos n you're the best... i get it now...

[RosieVu]

Thanks for making these great videos! I'm now switching to your videos to guide my students. Please keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing more videos about dipthongs later on! :)

[rozy]

This is what exactly Im looking for. My teacher also produce this chart but I didn't understand completely because of limited time. Thank you so much again.

[hollywoodinstitute]

Best YouTube videos.... Best explanation

[dorag]

it is the best video on pronunciation teaching I have ever seen

[pedroguevara]

This chart is very useful, thanks teachers.

[cynthiafuertespanizo]

Thanks for the explanation. I have a doubt, what is the difference between the sounds / ʌ / and / ə/?

[pumas]

great video n well put together! thanks for this free info its very helpful

[edununezsalazar]

Extremely helpful. This is what i was looking for. Thank you.

[ranie]

best channel about phonetics, thanks a lot

[adrianfg]

Excellent English lesson., Thank you.