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ERROR #2: Short and long vowel sounds often sound the same



It refers to when Spanish speakers tend to stretch out the vowel sound too much to overcompensate, or merge it with the closest sound in Spanish. It happens because there are around twenty distinct vowel sounds in English, whereas in Spanish there are only five. 


Example: 

Mispronunciation of the vowel sound 'ɪ' (as in ship) because it is replaced with 'i:' (as in sheep). 


Exercise #1:

Instructions:

The following table lists short and long vowel sounds of English. Practice the pronunciation of these minimal pairs to see the difference between the vowel sounds of these words. 



Exercise #2:

Instructions:

1. Click on the links below. 

2. Listen to the audios. 

3. Then select the option you heard of the short and long vowel sounds.  


Minimal pairs /æ/ /Λ/

Minimal pairs /æ/ /ɑː/

Minimal pairs /ɪ/ /iː/

Minimal pairs /ɒ/ /ɔː/

Minimal pairs /ɒ/ /əʊ/

Minimal pairs /əʊ/ /aʊ/

Minimal pairs /əʊ/ /ɔː/

Minimal pairs /ɪ/ /iː/












References

Oxford House. (2020, November 11). 6 Pronunciation Mistakes Spanish Speakers Make in English (And How To Fix Them) | Oxford House Barcelona. https://oxfordhousebcn.com/en/6-pronunciation-mistakes-spanish-speakers-make-in-english-and-how-to-fix-them/ 

Phonetic exercises - vowels. (n.d.). https://agendaweb.org/phonetic.html




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