American English Sounds All of these pages were based on the incredible work from Christine Wingate. The tutorials are made to help learners recognize the sounds of English and produce them accurately at word, sentence, and discourse levels. Contents English vowel and consonants sounds practice The purpose of this section is to furnish drill exercises in the production of speech sounds and serve as a free reduction accent training. American english vowel chart A vowel is a voiced sound produced in the mouth with no obstruction to the air stream. The air stream is weak. The tongue and the vocal cords are tense. American English consonant chart # /iy/ - Front High Vowel as in (see) Lift your tongue to the top of your mouth. Spread your lips... /ɪ/- Front High Vowel as in (sit) Lift your tongue to the top of your mouth. Spread your... /ey/- Front Middle Vowel as in (take) Put your tongue in the middle of your mouth. Spread your... /ɛ/- Front Middle Vowel as in (pet) Move your tongue towards the middle of your mouth. Widen your... /æ/- Front Low Vowel as in (sat) Lower your jaw. Widen your lips. Tighten your tongue... /ɜr/- Central High Vowel as in (nurse) Raise your tongue so that the sides of your tongue press against... /ər/- Central High Vowel as in (surprise) Your lips should be relaxed and slightly open, not rounded or... /ʌ/- Central Middle Vowel as in (cup) Your lips should be relaxed, not rounded or spread. Let... /ə/- Central Middle Vowel as in (about) Your lips should be relaxed and slightly open, not rounded or... /ɑ/- Central Low Vowel as in (stop) Lower your jaw and tongue. Your lips should be very... /ʊ/- Back High Vowel as in (put) Make a circle with your lips. Raise your tongue slightly and... /uw/- Back High Vowel as in (food) Make a tight circle with your lips. Pull your tongue back... /ɔ/- Back Low Vowel as in (lost) Lower your tongue and pull it backwards. Make a circle... /ow/- Back Middle Vowel as in (low) Pull your tongue backwards in your mouth, without raising... /ɑɪ/- Front Diphthongs Vowel as in (pie) Lower your jaw and tongue and make your lips very open and... /ɑʊ/- Central Diphthongs Vowel as in (cow) Lower your jaw and tongue, and make your lips very open and... /ɔɪ/- Back Diphthongs Vowel as in (boy) Form a circle with your lips (as for /ɔ/), and pull your... /p/- Stops Bilabial Consonant as in (peace) Press your lips together. Move your lips outward while... /b/- Stops Bilabial Consonant as in (buy) Press your lips together. Forcefully pull your lips apart while... /m/- Nasal Bilabial Consonant as in (map) Press your lips together and breathe out through your nose... /w/- Glide Bilabial Consonant as in (win) Make a tight circle with your lips and pull your tongue back... /f/- Fricative Labio-dental Consonant as in (fix) Press your upper teeth against your lower lip. Breathe out... /v/- Fricative Labio-dental Consonant as in (love) Press your upper teeth against your lower lip. Breathe... /θ/- Fricative Dental Consonant as in (bath) Touch the back of your upper teeth with the tip of your tongue... /ð/- Fricative Dental Consonant as in (this) Touch the back of your upper teeth with the tip of your... /t/- Stop Alveolar Consonant as in (take) Touch your alveolar ridge (the hard space behind your upper... /d/- Stop Alveolar Consonant as in (day) Touch your alveolar ridge the hard space behind your... /s/- Fricative Alveolar Consonant as in (sit) Touch your alveolar ridge (the hard space behind your upper teeth)... /z/- Fricative Alveolar Consonant as in (zoo) Touch your alveolar ridge (the hard space behind your upper teeth)... /l/- Liquid Alveolar Consonant as in (less) Touch your gum ridge, the hard spot behind your upper... /n/- Nasal Alveolar Consonant as in (nice) Touch your alveolar ridge (gum ridge) with the tip of your... /ʃ/- Fricative Palatal Consonant as in (push) Lightly press the middle of your tongue between your alveolar... /ʒ/- Fricative Palatal Consonant as in (vision) Lightly press the middle of your tongue between your... /tʃ/- Affricate Palatal Consonant as in (match) Lightly press the middle of your tongue between your alveolar... /dʒ/- Affricate Palatal Consonant as in (edge) Press the middle of your tongue between your... /r/- Liquid Palatal Consonant as in (rose) Move the tip of your tongue upwards and backwards, so that... /y/- Glide Palatal Consonant as in (yes) Raise your tongue to the top of your mouth so that the sides... /k/- Stop Velar Consonant as in (cat) Touch your soft palate (the soft part of the roof of your mouth)... /g/- Stop Velar Consonant as in (gas) Touch your soft palate, the soft part of the roof of your... /ŋ/- Nasal Velar Consonant as in (hang) Touch your soft palate, the soft part of the roof of your... /h/- Fricative Glottal Consonant as in (help) Your tongue doesn't need to touch any part of your mouth...
