Unit 17 - Short and Long O Vowel Hi this is AJ, and welcome to our next unit In this unit we're going to learn two more vowel sounds The short o-o and the long o-o Let's talk about how they sound and then how to make them First, the long o-o They're very close sounds, there's just a small little change that will make the difference So let's talk about the long o-o It's the sound in food, ooo, ooo, food, food, right Blue, the color blue, ooo, ooo, ooo It's that ooo sound, long o-o How we it? First of all, look at my lips It's got those kissing lips again, right? So very tight together, tight little small circle for your lips Like that Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo Inside, you can't see it, but the back of my tongue goes up a little bit Ooo The back of the tongue, not the front The back of the tongue comes up Ooo-ooo-ooo And altogether it's a very tight-feeling sound, right? Face, lips are very tight as you make the sound, tongue comes up Ooo, ooo, ooo One more little tip There's a vibration happening again in the throat Try to keep the vibration low Try to keep the vibration in your throat, and even down in your chest if you can it You not want the vibration up in your nose, your head, no no no no no You want kind of a lower vibration It'll be in your throat mostly but even try to push it down into your chest This might help too Ooo, foo, ooo, ooo, ooo Let's practice some words with this sound Food, food, food Blue, blue, blue Move, move, move Choose, choose, choose Smooth, smooth, smooth Mood How you feel? Mood, moo-ooo-ooo, mood, mood, mood Knew, I knew it Mood, knew, knew I knew it Knew, ooo-ooo-ooo, mood, knew, mood, knew All right, and one more: Room, room, r-o-o-m, room, room All right, now the short o-o It's very very similar Your lips will look basically the same They'll look the same They'll have the same kind of kissing position, small little o The tongue is basically the same, the back of the tongue still comes up So what's the difference? Okay this one sounds like this: euh, euh, euh, euh Like wood, w-o-o-d or w-o-u-l-d, same pronunciation, wood, euh, euh, euh, euh So what's the difference from the long to the short? The difference is you're making a circle with your lips, but relax your lips So you're gonna push em forward, make the circle, but not too tight It's less tight It's a more relaxed feeling in your face That changes the sound, okay So it's like this, Euh, euh, euh Same vibration, same tongue position, euh, euh, euh Same basic shape in your face but more relaxed, less tight, euh, euh In fact, let's practice You can go between these two sounds, one to the other, just by relaxing or tightening your face So make this position Let's start with the long o-o first, ooo, ooo And continue making the sound and then just relax your face a little bit Watch how the sound changes Oooouh, oooouh, ooooeuh, ooooeuh I'm just relaxing my lips a little bit, even relaxing the feeling in my tongue a little bit It's just a little less tight That's the only difference in these two sounds You just relax a little bit, and it becomes a short o-o Let's practice some words with a short o-o Wood, wood, euh, wood, wood Should, should, should Good, very good, good, goood, good Look, look, euh, look, look Book, read a book, euh, book, book, book Cook, cook food right? Cook, cook, cook In fact, let's those two together because we get the short one and the - we get the short and then the long one Cook food Cook food So, it's the first word, cook, same position but a little relaxed And then for the second word, food, you're just gonna tighten You're gonna push your lips out a little more, tighten your face a little more, and it'll change the sound Cook food Cook food Coook foood Cook foood Cook foood Cook food All right, that's it You're getting near the end of the course Congratulations Again, this is a difficult one because the change is very small, so practice slowly first each day You've got five days with this unit Practice the differences in the sounds, slowly first Be patient, let yourself gradually improve Don't worry if it's difficult for you, no problem Gradually improve, getting a little better, a little better Key thing is to keep training every five days following the five-day process See you in the training one Unit 17 – Practice Session Okay It's training time Follow the five day Effortless English process As you use this audio, use it many times during the day One time's not enough; you've got to it many, many times How much good would I if I knew my mood would always be good? Could I choose my good mood and what I knew I must do? What if I looked for good moods? What if I read good books and took good moods from them? Would I be blue or would my mood improve? What if I knew how to choose already? What if I'm already moving to success and happiness? What if I knew everything I need to know already? What if it's true? I'm already happy I'm already successful I'm already an excellent English speaker I'm already getting better and better every day It's true Now at a medium speed How much good would I if I knew my mood would always be good? Could I choose my good mood and what I knew I must do? What if I looked for good moods? What if I read good books and took good moods from them? Would I be blue or would my mood improve? What if I knew how to choose already? What if I'm already moving to success and happiness? What if I knew everything I need to know already? What if it's true? I'm already happy I'm already successful I'm already an excellent English speaker I'm already getting better and better every day It's true And now a little faster How much good would I if I knew my mood would always be good? Could I choose my good mood and what I knew I must do? What if I looked for good moods? What if I read good books and took good moods from them? Would I be blue or would my mood improve? What if I knew how to choose already? What if I'm already moving to success and happiness? What if I knew everything I need to know already? What if it's true? I'm already happy I'm already successful I'm already an excellent English speaker I'm already getting better and better every day It's true CLICK HERE