ESL Learners: How the International Phonetic Alphabet Helps ESL Learners Master Short & Long Vowels

Here, we will discuss short and long vowels in the International Phonetic Alphabet.

These are the short vowels:

'a' like in 'cat',🐱
'ɛ' as in 'bed',🛏️
'ə' (the schwa) as heard in 'ago' or 'about',
'ɪ' like in 'sit',
'i' as in 'lucky',🍀
'ɒ' as found in 'body' or 'stop', 🛑
'ʌ' as in 'lunch' or 'truck',🚚
'ʊ' as in 'wolf' or 'butcher' or 'woman'.🐺

As mentioned in the video, many long vowels favour British pronunciation, so you may see or hear some differences compared to U.S. pronunciation. I will discuss the differences between British and U.S. pronunciation later in a video.

These are the long vowels:

'ɑː' as in 'start' or 'father',👨
'ɛː' as in 'hair' or 'there',👱‍♀️
'əː' as in 'nurse' or 'refer',
'iː' as in 'see' or 'tree',🌳
'ɔː' as in 'thought' or 'August',
'uː' as in 'tool' or 'school'.🛠️🏫

Keep in mind 🤔 many long vowels lean towards British pronunciation. In an upcoming video, we'll explore the fascinating differences between British and U.S. pronunciation, so stay tuned!

But wait, there's more! In a future video, we'll dive into diphthongs and triphthongs (vowel combinations); you won't want to miss it.

If you found this video helpful, please give it a thumbs up 👍, leave us a comment, and don't forget to subscribe for more interactive Main Street English lessons. 🔄

Let's continue our journey to master the English language together! As always, it's Jason from Main Street English, and I'm excited to be a part of your ESL learning experience.

See you soon in the next video. Thanks for watching! 😃👋

- Teacher Jason @MainStreetEnglish

#mainstreetenglish #englishlearning #esl #learnenglish #phoneticalphabet #studyenglish #englishpronunciation #englishclass #EFL (English as a Foreign Language) #TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) #IELTS (International English Language Testing System) #TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) #englishteacher #pronunciation

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