Lesson 1

How to say it - /ʊ/ & /uː/ sounds

Introduction

/ʊ/ sound

Make this sound by lifting the back of your tongue and using your voice. It is a short sound. The spelling of /ʊ/ is sometimes 'u'; eg. 'put' /pʊt/, and sometimes 'oo'; eg. 'cook' /kʊk/.

Hong Kong people often have a problem with the meaning of 'cook' /kʊk/ and 'cooker' /kʊkə/. (The first vowel sound is the same.)

/ʊ/ and /uː/ sound

Make the /uː/ sound by lifting the back of your tongue more than for /ʊ/ and using your voice. Your lips should be very rounded and the hole between your lips should be small (see below). It is a long sound. An example with this sound is 'you'.

The spelling of /ʊ/ is sometimes:
'u'; eg. 'put' /pʊt'/, or:
'oo'; eg. 'cook' /kʊk/.

The spelling of /uː/ is sometimes:
'ou'; eg. in 'you' /juː/, or:
'oo'; eg. in 'too' /tuː/, or:
'o'; eg. in 'to' /tuː/, or:
'oe'; eg. in 'shoe' /ʃuː/, or:
'ue'; eg. in 'blue' bluː/.


Video of Mouth

Follow the instructions as they appear in the video.

/ʊ/ sound

 

/uː/ sound



Pronunciation Tips

/ʊ/ sound

 

/uː/ sound