Lesson 5

Comparing /eə/, /aɪ/, /aʊ/ & /əʊ/

Introduction

Click these buttons to hear the four sounds:

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[Sounds like 'air'.]
To make this sound, first say /e/, then move your tongue backwards and close your mouth a bit to say /ə/.
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[Sounds like 'eye'.]
To make this sound, first say /ɑː/, then move your tongue up and forward to the /ɪ/ position, and close your mouth as you say the sound.
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[Sounds like the 'ow' in 'cow'.]
To make this sound, first say /æ/, then close your mouth a bit and move your tongue up and back to a /uː/ sound, not to the /ʊ/ sound, because this is a long 'u' sound.
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[Sounds like the name of the letter 'o'.]
Beware! The last sound is not really a /ʊ/, it is really a /uː/, but the characters in diphthongs always contain the short form of a sound, not the long form, eg. /ʊ/, not /uː/.

Reading

Read the word in phonemics, then use the keyboard to type in the word in normal English letters. Then press 'Enter' to check your answers.

1. /bəʊ/
2. /beə/
3. /heə/
4. /haɪ/
5. /baɪ/
6. /baʊ/
7. /təʊ/
8. /teə/
9. /taɪ/
10. /haʊ/

 



1. /bɪə/
2. /beɪ/
3. /bɔɪ/
4. /feə/
5. /gaɪ/
6. /ə'laʊ/

 



Story - Chapter 4

Read the story and answer the question. If you are not sure of the sound of a letter, click it to hear it.

/ sʌdənliː

 

 rɪbɪt

 

 sɔː

 

 wɒt

 

 wəz

 

 meɪkɪŋ

 
ðə

 

 mjuːzɪk /

 

 ɪt

 

 wəz

 

 ə

 

 bænd /

 

What was making the music? A

Type the answer into the box above, then click 'Answer'.