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Pronouncing vowel sounds can be challenging in a foreign language. This is because we interpret the vowels we hear through the filter of our native language. We hear a sound close to a vowel sound in our language, and our brain lumps it together with that known sound. Fortunately, we can learn to override this filter and adapt it to include a different set of vowels. But we have to know which words have the new vowel sound, and with the lack of consistent spelling in English, this is a learning process.
We have been looking at the vowel sounds one sound at a time. The best way to re-train your brain to hear these sounds is to use listening skills. But being familiar with the variations in spelling will also help you succeed. The sound /e/; or "vowel ay," has at least nine different ways that it is spelled in English. It is most frequently spelled with the letter a and is sometimes called "long a". You can see examples of the sound's various spellings in the chart below.
Pronouncing vowel sounds can be challenging in a foreign language. This is because we interpret the vowels we hear through the filter of our native language. We hear a sound close to a vowel sound in our language, and our brain lumps it together with that known sound. Fortunately, we can learn to override this filter and adapt it to include a different set of vowels. But we have to know which words have the new vowel sound, and with the lack of consistent spelling in English, this is a learning process.
Let's look at the vowel sounds one sound at a time. The best way to re-train your brain to hear these sounds is to use listening skills. But being familiar with the variations in spelling will also help you succeed. The sound /ɪ/; or "vowel ɪ," is challenging for many non-native English speakers. In English, this vowel sound has at least six different ways that it is spelled, however, it is most frequently spelled with the letter i and is sometimes called "short i". You can see examples of the sound's various spellings in the chart below. To learn more about pronouncing this sound, you can read here. When we speak a foreign language, the sound system of our first language acts as a filter which affects how we pronounce the foreign words. This filtering of pronunciation as well as our intonation patterns contribute to what we call an accent.
Our native language influences not only how we sound when we speak a foreign language, but also what we perceive when listening. When listening to English, you hear the sounds through the filter of your native language's sound system. This means it can be difficult to notice your pronunciation differences, because to you, it sounds the same as what you hear when Americans speak. The good news is, we can overcome these filters and re-train our listening and speaking to include new sounds, and to differentiate between similar sounds. Systematically exposing ourselves to the American English sounds in combination with imitating them can help us learn to produce them correctly. You can read research into this phenomenon here. Pronouncing vowel sounds can be challenging in a foreign language. This is because we interpret the vowels we hear through the filter of our native language. We hear a sound close to a vowel sound in our language, and our brain lumps it together with that known sound. Fortunately, we can learn to override this filter and adapt it to include a different set of vowels. But we have to know which words have the new vowel sound, and with the lack of consistent spelling in English, this is a learning process.
Let's look at the vowel sounds one sound at a time. The best way to re-train your brain to hear these sounds is to use listening skills. But being familiar with the variations in spelling will also help you succeed. The sound /i/; or "vowel ee," is common in most languages, so we will begin with it. In English, this vowel sound has at least nine different ways that it is spelled, and likely more. You can see examples of the sound's various spellings in the chart below. To learn more about pronouncing this sound, you can read here. |
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