In today's lesson, we reviewed the American English vowels. I suggested learning "anchor words," or words to help you remember the vowel sounds and have a basis for comparison for new words.
You can look up any word in the dictionary and see the IPA symbol to know what the vowel is. I recommend the Oxford Learner's Dictionary.
You can look up any word in the dictionary and see the IPA symbol to know what the vowel is. I recommend the Oxford Learner's Dictionary.
| These are the anchor words I recommend: /i/ - green leaf /ɪ/ - pink pig /ɛ/ - red tent /eɪ/ - gray day /æ/ - black cat /u/ - blue shoe /ʊ/ - good book /ɔ/ - caught law /oʊ/ - no snow /ɑ/ - not hot /ɚ/ - purple bird /ə,ʌ/ - such fun /ɑɪ/ - white night /ɑʊ/ - brown cow /ɔɪ/ - noisy boy |  Listen to the anchor words here: |
You might find it helpful to use these similar and minimal pair words to listen for the differences between vowels. Look at the vowel quadrangle below and listen to the recording of these words.
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