It seems pretty basic. Some vowels are long, some vowels are short. But is this really the case? In the pronunciation classes I teach, my first order of business is to take the words “long” and “short” and dump them in the figurative trash can. The essential...
I have given little teasers about the /i/ sound in other posts, but today the tense /i/ is the star of the show. Let’s talk about the tense /i/ sound at the ends of words. Spelling: “y” Endings A final “y” can sometimes say /aɪ/ as in “like” or...
Many of you may be inadvertently leaving out an essential component (or two) in the word “January.” One thing that’s interesting about this word is that almost every one of my students has difficulty with it, no matter where the student is from. Approximately 99% of...
October begins the parade of heavily “themed” holidays in the United States. First we celebrate Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and finally Christmas. I am dedicating this post to 10 of the highest frequency Halloween-themed words that you are likely to use this month, especially if you...
“Of” and “off.” Similar spellings, different pronunciations. Did you know that the words “of” and “off” have different vowels? Also, though both are spelled with an “f,” only word contains a /f/ sound. Two things make these “of” and “off” different. Vowel sound Do you remember the difference...
Pronunciation of “con” and “com” can seem tricky in words like “complete,” “concert,” and “condition.” When do you use /ə/ (“uh”) and when do you use /ɑ/ (“ah”)? Why is the pronunciation different in words with the same spelling pattern? The answer is actually pretty simple. ...
Open the voice memo app on your phone (if you don’t have a smart phone, grab a handheld recorder) and record yourself saying these three words: cope, cop, cup. Listen to the recording. Do all three words sound different or do a couple of them...