1 00:00:00,060 --> 00:00:05,549 These are the two vowel sounds we're 2 00:00:00,060 --> 00:00:05,549 going to focus on in this lecture: /a:/ as 3 00:00:05,549 --> 00:00:18,180 in 'far' and /e/ as in 'hair'. So the first 4 00:00:05,549 --> 00:00:18,180 thing you noticed, I'm sure, is that the 5 00:00:18,180 --> 00:00:29,070 first vowel is long: /a:/ far /a:/ The shape of the mouth is not too wide 6 00:00:29,070 --> 00:00:37,440 open but it's not relaxed either. It's in 7 00:00:29,070 --> 00:00:37,440 the middle. /a:/ /a:/ can you see that? And 8 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:43,219 the sides of the mouth are not wide, they 9 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:43,219 are relaxed /a:/ 10 00:00:43,219 --> 00:00:50,670 On the other hand, the second vowel sound /e/ Can you notice the sides of the 11 00:00:50,670 --> 00:00:54,239 mouth? They start wide and then they 12 00:00:50,670 --> 00:00:54,239 relax. 13 00:00:54,239 --> 00:01:03,270 /e/ /e/ hair. Can you see this? This is 14 00:00:54,239 --> 00:01:03,270 one of the differences between these two 15 00:01:03,270 --> 00:01:12,000 sounds. As I said, the first one is long /a:/ the second one is actually two vowels 16 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:18,479 squeezed together. That's why we change 17 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:18,479 the shape of our mouth when we say this 18 00:01:18,479 --> 00:01:29,700 second vowel /e/ /e/ hair. Another 19 00:01:18,479 --> 00:01:29,700 thing I'd like you to notice is the 20 00:01:29,700 --> 00:01:42,180 spelling of the example words I gave you. 21 00:01:29,700 --> 00:01:42,180 'Far' F-A-R is pronounced /a:/ 'far' in British 22 00:01:42,180 --> 00:01:48,810 English. In American English the '-ar' at 23 00:01:42,180 --> 00:01:48,810 the end of the word is pronounced 'far' 24 00:01:48,810 --> 00:01:53,600 Can you hear that? This is the American pronunciation 'far'. 25 00:01:53,600 --> 00:02:00,360 But in British English when the 'r' comes 26 00:01:53,600 --> 00:02:00,360 at the end of a word we do not pronounce 27 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:08,580 it. So when the 'r' is at the end it just 28 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:08,580 turns into a long vowel sound. In these 29 00:02:08,580 --> 00:02:17,819 two examples we have 'far' and 30 00:02:08,580 --> 00:02:17,819 'hair'. Can you hear the 'r' sound is not 31 00:02:17,819 --> 00:02:26,370 pronounced? This is a feature of 32 00:02:17,819 --> 00:02:26,370 British English. Now let's move on to the 33 00:02:26,370 --> 00:02:34,140 target sound practice for the first 34 00:02:26,370 --> 00:02:34,140 vowel sound, the long /a:/ sound. Notice 35 00:02:34,140 --> 00:02:40,140 the shape of the mouth. Again, it's not 36 00:02:34,140 --> 00:02:40,140 very far open and it's not relaxed. It's 37 00:02:40,140 --> 00:02:49,640 in the middle. /a:/ /a:/ And the sides of the mouth are not wide, they are neutral /a:/ 38 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:58,860 Let's look at the word list. As 39 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:58,860 always notice the spelling and keep an 40 00:02:58,860 --> 00:03:06,829 eye on the orange highlighted parts so 41 00:02:58,860 --> 00:03:06,829 you can really focus on the target sound. 42 00:03:06,829 --> 00:03:20,180 Listen and repeat after me. Car. Ask. Half. 43 00:03:20,209 --> 00:03:39,389 Stars. Party. Iran. Marvellous. Chance. Farmer. And as you can see, look at the 44 00:03:39,389 --> 00:03:47,790 spelling. Notice there are many many 45 00:03:39,389 --> 00:03:47,790 examples of '-ar'. Car, stars and party 46 00:03:47,790 --> 00:03:55,319 for example. And the 'r' sound in these 47 00:03:47,790 --> 00:03:55,319 words is unpronounced. We do not 48 00:03:55,319 --> 00:04:03,269 pronounce the 'r' sound. The rule is when 49 00:03:55,319 --> 00:04:03,269 the 'r' sound comes before a consonant we 50 00:04:03,269 --> 00:04:08,840 do not pronounce it in British English. 51 00:04:03,269 --> 00:04:08,840 Or if it comes at the end of a word like 52 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:18,090 'car' it just turns into a long vowel 53 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:18,090 sound. So, again notice the spelling. 54 00:04:18,090 --> 00:04:24,290 As always keep an eye on this so that 55 00:04:18,090 --> 00:04:24,290 you can start to recognize some 56 00:04:24,290 --> 00:04:31,100 patterns in the relationship between 57 00:04:24,290 --> 00:04:31,100 spelling and sound. This is very 58 00:04:31,100 --> 00:04:38,660 very important for pronunciation. Now 59 00:04:31,100 --> 00:04:38,660 let's move on to the second vowel target 60 00:04:38,660 --> 00:04:45,200 sound practice. Remember this vowel is 61 00:04:38,660 --> 00:04:45,200 two vowels squeezed together. So the 62 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:50,170 shape of the mouth changes slightly in 63 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:50,170 the middle of the sound. 64 00:04:50,170 --> 00:05:03,560 /e/ /e/ Notice it's wide and then 65 00:04:50,170 --> 00:05:03,560 it's relaxed /e/ /e/ hair. Let's 66 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:10,250 look at the target sound practice list. 67 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:10,250 Notice the spelling as always. In this 68 00:05:10,250 --> 00:05:16,880 one you can see many many examples of 'r' which is actually unpronounced, as 69 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:39,550 I mentioned before. So listen and repeat 70 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:39,550 after me. Air. Hair. Chair. Scary. Square. 71 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:55,550 Everywhere. Downstairs. There. Pear. Fantastic well done. Again, notice many 72 00:05:55,550 --> 00:06:01,400 many examples of 'r' which is 73 00:05:55,550 --> 00:06:01,400 unpronounced. The 'r' sound is 74 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:06,800 unpronounced in these positions. Sometimes we pronounce it in British English. If 75 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:13,280 the 'r' is at the beginning of a word we 76 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:13,280 pronounce it. For example 'run' of course 77 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:19,400 we pronounce the 'r' sound in this 78 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:19,400 position. If the 'r 'sound is before a 79 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:29,600 vowel in the sounds, we 80 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:29,600 pronounce it. For example 'from' F-R-O-M 'o' is 81 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:37,100 a vowel sound and 'r' comes before it, 82 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:37,100 so we pronounce the 'r' 'from'. However if 83 00:06:37,100 --> 00:06:42,380 the 'r' comes before a consonant sound we do not 84 00:06:42,380 --> 00:06:48,710 pronounce it or if the 'r' comes at the 85 00:06:42,380 --> 00:06:48,710 end of a word we do not pronounce it. It 86 00:06:48,710 --> 00:06:56,480 simply turns into a vowel sound in 87 00:06:48,710 --> 00:06:56,480 British English. This is a main feature 88 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:05,510 of British English. The real difference 89 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:05,510 between American and British accents. 90 00:07:05,510 --> 00:07:13,430 This is a key part. Let's look at the 91 00:07:05,510 --> 00:07:13,430 minimal pairs for /a:/ and /e/ so you can 92 00:07:13,430 --> 00:07:21,200 really start to distinguish between the 93 00:07:13,430 --> 00:07:21,200 two sounds. On the left we have /a:/ and 94 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:33,580 on the right we have /e/ So listen to 95 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:33,580 the pairs and repeat after me. Far, fair. 96 00:07:33,940 --> 00:07:54,520 Par, pair. Star, stare. Bar, bare. Tar tear. 97 00:07:54,700 --> 00:08:04,810 Car, care. OK, I hope that's helped you a 98 00:07:54,700 --> 00:08:04,810 lot in really distinguishing between 99 00:08:04,810 --> 00:08:12,950 these two sounds. It takes some time to 100 00:08:04,810 --> 00:08:12,950 start to notice when you use these 101 00:08:12,950 --> 00:08:20,510 sounds, especially with the /a:/ sound. When we drop it in British English sometimes 102 00:08:20,510 --> 00:08:25,820 it's difficult to know when to drop it, 103 00:08:20,510 --> 00:08:25,820 when to pronounce it. But after practice 104 00:08:25,820 --> 00:08:32,030 and when you start to notice the 105 00:08:25,820 --> 00:08:32,030 spelling rules, you will master these 106 00:08:32,030 --> 00:08:38,479 rules. You'll master when to 107 00:08:32,030 --> 00:08:38,479 pronounce the 'r' and when not to 108 00:08:38,479 --> 00:08:45,560 pronounce it, when to just use a long 109 00:08:38,479 --> 00:08:45,560 vowel sound for example. So let's look at 110 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:52,509 the target sounds in use now. Look at these sentences. As always repeat 111 00:08:52,509 --> 00:09:00,670 after me, model my voice and try to focus 112 00:08:52,509 --> 00:09:00,670 on the target sounds. So sentence one 113 00:09:00,670 --> 00:09:11,199 we're focusing on the long /a:/ vowel 114 00:09:00,670 --> 00:09:11,199 sound. Mark's new car is so fast. It's 115 00:09:11,199 --> 00:09:24,069 marvellous! Sentence two we're focusing on /e/ Where's Claire? 116 00:09:24,069 --> 00:09:34,869 She promised to cut my hair. And 117 00:09:24,069 --> 00:09:34,869 sentence three is a mix of the two 118 00:09:34,869 --> 00:09:44,230 target sounds. There's a tear in this 119 00:09:34,869 --> 00:09:44,230 chair. Ask Arthur to repair it this 120 00:09:44,230 --> 00:09:55,480 afternoon. That last one was a bit 121 00:09:44,230 --> 00:09:55,480 of a challenge but if you want to keep 122 00:09:55,480 --> 00:10:04,840 practicing just hit the rewind button. And also, as always, the MP3 is very important to keep listening to 123 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:12,480 because you can put the MP3 on your phone or on your MP3 player and you can listen anywhere. 124 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:17,020 So make sure you download that. See you in the next lecture.