Let's look at two more vowel sounds.
These two sounds are /ai/ as in 'might' and
/i/ as in 'bit'. Can you notice the
difference between these two sounds? Like
the previous sounds we studied, one is
long and the other is short. The first
sound /ai/ is long. As you noticed by the
symbol, it's actually two vowels pushed
together.
/ai/ /ai/ /ai/ And notice the mouth. With this vowel we
move the mouth very very slightly /ai/ /ai/
as in 'might'. So the mouth is open and
then it closes very very slightly.
/ai/ /ai/ Can you see that? /ai/ as in 'might'. Contrast that with the other sound /i/
It's very very short. Very very short and
sudden. /i/ as in 'bit' So it's super super
short. The mouth with this vowel sound /i/ is quite neutral we say. Just normal.
/i/ /i/ The mouth is not so far open and
obviously it is not closed, but it's just
neutral. /i/ /i/. You don't want to
open very far /i/ no. Just slightly open
in a neutral position. /i/ as in 'bit.' So
this is the difference. The main
difference between the two. The first one
is long the mouth starts wide and closes
/ai/ and the second one is short with a
neutral mouth position
/i/ as in 'bit'. Now let's look at the
target sound practice for the first
vowel /ai/. Notice the spellings. Often it's 'i' as
in K-I-T-E kite. 'igh' is sometimes
appearing, for example 'light' and 'y' is
sometimes representing this sound. So
let's go through this target sound
practice. Listen and repeat after me
focusing on the vowel sound. Kite. Light.
I'm. Idea. Ice. Organize. Spider. Flying.
Bicycle. OK very good.
So that's the first target sound
practice. That was the long vowel. The
second one remember is the much much
shorter vowel sound. It's very very short.
/i/ It's just a very short burst of air
coming through. Remember to keep your
mouth in a neutral position. /i/ as in 'bit'.
Let's look at the target sound practice
list. The spellings that represent this
sound are 'i', 'y'
and sometimes 'e'. Let's look at this
list. Repeat again after me. Hit. Gym.
City. Pretty. Interesting. India. Impossible.
Chicken. Picnic. OK very very good.
I hope the difference is clear now
between the long one and the short one.
Now as always we're going to go to the
minimal pairs. Remember the minimal pairs
are different only in one sound, the two
sounds that we are focusing on. These
minimal pairs are right here. /ai/ is on
the left and /i/ is on the right.
Listen to me say each pair and repeat
after me.
Eyes, is. Bite, bit. Height, hit. Like, lick.
Sight, sit. Wine, win. Very very good. The difference, as you can see, mainly
is the length. The length of the vowel is
very very different. As we've done in
previous videos, I've chosen a long one and a short one so you can
really start to notice the different
sounds in English. Let's look at the
three sentences: the target sounds in use. These are very useful because you can
practice the sentences over and over
again. Don't just read them once.
When you listen to me say it the
first time, you can hit the rewind button
and listen again and repeat again. Use
these sentences to really start
practicing the sound that we are
targeting. The first sentence we're
targeting is the /ai/ sound. Repeat after
me
focusing on the vowel sounds. It's windy
so I might try to fly the kite. Sentence
two we're targeting the /i/ sound, the very
short vowel sound.
Did you give Ricky his birthday gift?
OK, and the third one we're doing a
mixture. Michael likes riding his bike
with his best friend Phillip. Well
done! As always make sure you look at the
next video to really master the mouth
shapes. Download the PDF and the MP3s.
See you in the next lecture.