Vowel Comparisons

I am sure that you had a few vowels that sounded the same to you. The reason for this is because your ears have not been tuned to the small details of English flow. So two similar sounds will combine into one in your ears.

If you listen to these sounds next to each other over and over again, however, your ear will eventually learn the difference.

This takes a bit of time, though, and we don't want to waste any time. So on this page, you are going to listen to some of the most common vowel pairs that English learners confuse and try to mimic the difference in a recording.

Then, once we identify which vowels you are struggling with, we will know which vowel comparisons that you personally need to work on.

In the recordings below, I take two vowel sounds and do the following:

First I say the first vowel, then I say the second vowel. Then I repeat.
Then I say an English word with the first vowel, and then I say an English word with the second vowel.
Finally, I do the first step again.

Directions

For each recording, you will record yourself do the exact same as me. Be sure to listen closely. If you need to, copy and paste the name of each track if you can't type the symbols on your keyboard.
If you need to re-submit anything, please follow the format in the tutorial from the first section so I can better assist you with feedback.
Submit all of the soundcloud links in one email so that I can check them together.
When you get feedback on which you need to fix, you should bookmark them and practice them regularly until it comes natural to you. You will not fix them all immediately, but you should see improvement with time.
Go through the tutorials in order to make sure you are pronouncing correctly before submitting. You can always find these tutorials in the Drill Index.

/i/ vs. /ɪ/ - Tutorial

i Vs ɪ Comparison Test by The Mimic Method on hearthis.at

Please Name this Track:
"i vs. ɪ"

Submit Recording

/ɪ/ vs /eɪ/ - Tutorial

ɪ Vs Eɪ Comparison Test by The Mimic Method on hearthis.at

Please Name this Track:
"ɪ vs eɪ"

Submit Recording

/eɪ/ vs /ɛ/ - Tutorial

Eɪ Vs Ɛ Comparison Test by The Mimic Method on hearthis.at

Please Name this Track:
"eɪ vs ɛ"

Submit Recording

/ɛ/ vs. /æ/ - Tutorial

Ɛ Vs æ Comparison Test by The Mimic Method on hearthis.at

Please Name this Track:
"ɛ vs. æ"

Submit Recording

/u/ vs. /ʊ/ - Tutorial

U Vs Ʊ Comparison Test by The Mimic Method on hearthis.at

Please Name this Track:
"u vs. ʊ"

Submit Recording

/oʊ/ vs /ɔ/ - Tutorial

oʊ vs ɔ Comparison Test by The Mimic Method on hearthis.at

Please Name this Track:
"oʊ vs ɔ"

Submit Recording

/a/ vs /ɔ/ - Tutorial

a vs ɔ Comparison Test by The Mimic Method on hearthis.at

Please Name this Track:
"a vs ɔ"

Submit Recording

/ɑ/ vs /ə/ - Tutorial

Ɑ Vs Ə Comparison Test by The Mimic Method on hearthis.at

Please Name this Track:
"ɑ vs ə"

Submit Recording

/ʊ/ vs /ə/ - Tutorial

Ʊ Vs Ə Comparison Test by The Mimic Method on hearthis.at

Please Name this Track:
"ʊ vs ə"

Submit Recording

I know that was difficult, but this will be very helpful to identify the exact vowel problems you are having in American English.
Once we can identify your personal weaknesses with the English vowels, we can drop all the other sounds and focus on what you need to improve.

This ends our training for today. Please wait until you receive feedback on your vowels before you continue with the course with your first English Pre-Test.

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