My secret English vowel pronunciation trick!

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TRANSCRIPT

Buh-clue. Hi. I'm Ronnie. I have something that... Oh my god, this is amazing. Honestly, this lesson will change your life. It changed my life when my good friend, Leaf, told me about this. Leaf, thank you; grammar god, you are pronunciation god - Leaf. Awesome. So, I've been trying to figure this out for ages, years, maybe 100 years because I'm a vampire, and I got it. Thank you.

Are you confused about the pronunciation of vowels in English? So, for example, we have a long vowel sound, and a long vowel sound means that the vowel sounds like its alphabet name. So, for example: "a". But in English, we also have: "aw" and "a". Different ways to pronounce the vowels. One of them is a long vowel sound, so "a" is pronounced like "a". Then we also have a short vowel sound where "a" is going to be pronounced like: "ah". And how do you know when you read a new word to say it like "a" or "ah"? I have the answer. Oh, it's amazing. I... Okay, I get really excited about things a little bit too much; but this, I'm just super excited about it. And I want to teach you this - and, geez, it's going to change the way that you read things, the way that you learn English. So, give me some money or something. Just, enjoy. Listen. It's amazing.

So, we have some guidelines. Now, I want to make perfectly clear that people like to say "grammar rules", and Ronnie hates rules. I'm Ronnie. I do not like rules because they're made to be broken; and in English, there's always exceptions to rules. So, you study a rule and you learn it, and then you go: "Oh", but no - sorry; that's an exception. And then you say: "Why?" Maybe you ask someone, maybe you ask your teacher: "Teacher, why?" and the teacher goes: "I don't know." So, please think of these as only guidelines; life-changing guidelines, though. Okay? I'm telling you.

So, we have words that have two vowels. Okay? So: "a", "e", "i", "o", "u", and sometimes "y" are vowels. But this is our guideline: If in the word you have two vowels, the first... Oh, I'm sorry. The first vowel sound... The first vowel in the word is going to sound like its alphabet name or it's going to sound like a long vowel sound. The second vowel, it's silent; we don't even say the second vowel. Crazy. So, in English, if there's an "e" at the end of the word - we don't say it. In all of the other languages of the world, we say all the vowels; but English, oh no. The "e" is silent; we don't say that.

So, if you have two vowels in the word, for example: "a" and "e", we're going to say the first vowel like it sounds like in the alphabet, so "a". We're going to say: "ba", and we do not say: "bak-e"; we say "bake". So, the first vowel is going to sound like the alphabet: "bake". What about this one? We don't say: "fah-me", like "ah"; we say: "fame". And, again, we don't say the last vowel in the word. So, this works with two-vowel words. The "a" we pronounce like an "a", and the "e" or the second vowel is silent.

One more time the rule; it's life-changing. The first vowel sounds like its alphabet name, the second vowel is silent; we don't say it. Let's try this again. So, this is "a". The next letter. What's this vowel sound or what's this sound in the English alphabet? "A", "e". So, we say: "these". We don't say: "the-se", "the-se". "Look at the-se. Look at these." So, again, we're going to say the "e" like an "e", and the second "e" is silent. This is amazing. Woo-hoo.

This word. So, you look: "dre-am". "I had an amazing dre-am last night; I was flying." But it's actually just a dream. So, one vowel we're going to say "e", the second vowel is silent. So, we don't say: "dre-am"; we say: "dream". "I had a dream." Did you have a dream last night or now? Are you imagining this? No. No, no, no. This is real. Get back into this. It's amazing.

Let's see with this letter. What letter is this? Now, this is hard for you guys because in your languages maybe this is "uh" and this is "e", but in English, this is "i". So, watch this trick. Put an eye-woo-hoo-on your "i". […]

[СофияСофия-гж]

I am an ESL teacher and I always watch Ronnie's videos with great pleasure ! Her sense of humour and the way she explains everything are so close to what I usually try to do while working with my students. The key word is I try because Ronnie has so many great ideas for us and she is the best English teacher for me !

[liteharted]

Thank you Ronnie! I'm a veteran ESL instructor in the US, and I love to give students your videos. You speak slowly and explain in simple terms. That is how I like to teach my own classes. I appreciate the time that goes into creating this content! Carry on!

[bonita]

Ronnie, you're awesome. I've been teaching my Chinese students this for ages. I learnt this out of pure frustration when I just didn't know how to get them to understand when to use long and short sounds, and came across it somewhere. It really changes the game!

[trudystone]

When I was a Primary School teacher I taught my children this little rhyme, to help with the above problem. I also taught my son. " When two vowels go " walking" ( they are in the same word) the first one does the talking and says it's own name." I hope this helps. :)

[brayanbautista]

She is incredible, she teaches me a lot of english and makes me laugh at the same time 😂😂

[mianqurbanalishah]

Your teaching style is so unique ma'am

[jacdillmesasantana]

The best English teacher ever. You are my favorite. Greatings from Dominican Republic 🇩🇴

[mack-hensonrene]

I really live the way she makes her entrance 😄. And her staging

[musicaleja]

I love your classes, they're hilarious and super educational. Thanks a lot!

[AmericanAccentMastery]

A lot of my accent clients watch you Ronnie, you have a great sense of humor and content too! :-)

[kevinvisney]

this is by far the most interesting and important class that every single student should watch if they really wanna learn speaking english, besides ronnie is a wonderful teacher you can learn everything with her in a easier way and enjoy at the same time. no words, idk how to thank you ronnie for all the things that you ve make for us, love from Venezuela

[Mina-frnc]

I love her too - she makes everything so easy to understand!!! 😍

[codecreed.]

This tip actually changed my thinking. I don't read things like I used to. Now it's great I am actually Pronouncing word Correct.

[sardaaribam]

I fancy the way she is teaching, really amazing.

[exinmate]

"When 2 vowels walk together, the 1st vowel talk, and the 2nd vowel stay silent"

[habibturki]

I have been studying english since elementary schools but this rule is a life changing for me.

[piopioscuatro]

Hi Ronnie, I learned English a long time ago, but I never learned phonetics or sounds. I realize that when I go to read I don't know how to pronounce some words. Searching on youtube who could teach me I found this video, which you did 4 years ago. WOW you really know how to teach and what it takes for students to learn. And your humor makes learning much more enjoyable.
Thank you so much.

[charlisparkles]

This was taught as 'the Magic E' when I was in primary school (GB). The E at the end changes the vowel sound. Cool that it works for words like sOAp and crEAm though, too. Thanks Ronnie!

[aprendainglesozinho]

Você pulando assim do nada assusta a gente tia Ronnie - Love your videos!!! 😍

Quem tá assistindo do Brazil???

[Kimjourney]

I have been devoting a significant amount of time to learning English from the internet. I feel immense stress and anxiety about my English proficiency. However, when I watch your videos, it feels almost magical - like a true paradise. Your teaching style is so engaging and interesting, it makes me feel relaxed and entertained. Moreover, your knowledge is extremely valuable and beneficial for language learners like myself.