Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Hello there!

  • This is theSounds Americanchannel.

  • In this video well compare two vowel sounds:

  • /eɪ/ and /æ/

  • as in the wordsmadeandmad”.

  • In our previous videos we learned how to make them.

  • Remember the videos for the /eɪ/ sound, as in the wordmakeand the /æ/ sound, as in the wordcat”?

  • The /eɪ/ and the /æ/ may not sound similar, but they have two things in common:

  • Firstly, most of the time they are spelled the same way.

  • Second.

  • These two sounds don’t exist in many languages

  • and that’s why non-native English speakers often mispronounce them.

  • In this video well practice the /eɪ/ and the /æ/ in contrasting word pairs.

  • We believe that this is one of the best ways to improve your pronunciation.

  • Before we begin, let’s check how well you can differentiate between the /eɪ/ and /æ/ sounds.

  • Youll see a pair of words on the screen and hear only one of them pronounced.

  • For example,

  • Can you guess what word you heard?

  • Let’s try a few more word pairs.

  • Did you notice the pattern?

  • In these word pairs, the /eɪ/ sound is used in words that end with a silent “e” letter,

  • and the /æ/ sound is used in closed stressed syllables.

  • Here are the 2 key distinctions between the /eɪ/ and the /æ/.

  • First, look at the position of the jaw.

  • For the /eɪ/ sound, the mouth is partially open.

  • For the /æ/ sound, the mouth is open very wide.

  • Second.

  • Look at the tongue:

  • For the /eɪ/ sound, the tongue is tensed and raised to the roof of your mouth.

  • For the /æ/ sound, the tongue is tensed, flat and very low in your mouth.

  • Let’s pronounce these sounds one after the other:

  • /eɪ/ - /æ/

  • /eɪ/ - /æ/

  • /eɪ/ - /æ/

  • Now that youve reviewed how to make these vowels,

  • let’s practice pronouncing these sounds in some words.

  • This is the most important part of your training,

  • so try to go through as many words as possible.

  • Youll see a word on the screen and hear its pronunciation.

  • After that youll have a few seconds to pronounce the word.

  • [signal prompt to start speaking]

  • Repeat each word after the speaker,

  • the first word will have the /eɪ/ vowel sound,

  • and the second will have the /æ/ vowel sound

  • Let’s begin!

  • You're done!

  • Congratulations!

  • To check how much youve improved, you can do the word pairs test again.

  • Click this link to go back and compare the results.

  • Remember, the letter “a” is pronounced as the /eɪ/ sound in open stressed syllables,

  • as in the wordbaby,”

  • or in words with a silent “e” letter at the end,

  • as in the wordmade”.

  • In closed stressed syllables,

  • as in the wordmad,”

  • the letter “a” is pronounced as the /æ/ sound.

  • Thanks for watching!

  • Hope you find it useful.

  • Stay tuned on our Sounds American channel!

Hello there!

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it