AmericanEnglishPronunciationCourse Lesson2 PDF
AmericanEnglishPronunciationCourse Lesson2 PDF
AmericanEnglishPronunciationCourse Lesson2 PDF
This lesson introduces two new sounds – the sound in mat and the sound in
mate – and compares them with the sound in met, which we practiced in the
last lesson.
First let’s look at the sound in mat and the sound in met. To make the
difference, you open your mouth a little more for mat. Watch me and repeat:
MAT MET
One good practice exercise to help you feel the difference is to alternate saying
the two sounds like this: A – E – A – E – A – E
Now, the mat sound and the met sound are single vowel sounds. But the mate
sound is a diphthong – that means it’s a combination of two vowel sounds
together. This means your mouth moves as you pronounce it – starting more
open and then closing. Watch me pronounce it slowly to show the movement:
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© Shayna Oliveira 2013
Let’s practice each sound individually.
apple
add
actor
dad
cat
snack
black
practice
happy
effort
episode
excellent
wet
send
bread
generous
feather
present
eight
aid
age
play
break
late
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© Shayna Oliveira 2013
main
say
okay
Here’s one tip that can help you know if the letter A has a sound like MAT or a
sound like MATE:
This rule applies only to the A in stressed syllables (and it is not perfect –
there are exceptions!)
sand / send
gas / guess
man / men
tap / tape
rat / rate
pan / pain
wait / wet
sale / sell
raid / red
taste / test
Now you’re going to see two words, and I’m going to say only one of them. You
have 3 seconds to identify the word before the answer appears.
flash / flesh
rant / rent
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© Shayna Oliveira 2013
cattle / kettle
mad / made
snack / snake
clam / claim
chase / chess
late / let
main / men
Now let’s try the practice sentences – repeat each one slowly and then fast.
Practice Sentences
Focus on MAT:
Focus on MET:
Focus on MATE:
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© Shayna Oliveira 2013
You’ve finished Lesson 2 of the American English Pronunciation Course!
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© Shayna Oliveira 2013