Beginner Lesson 9
Creation - Day 7
Speaking Exercise
Pronunciation Practice
Review the Short O Sound
In this lesson, there are two words with the short o sound. You learned this sound in lesson 8. Practice these two words with the short o sound.
Listen and repeat:
God, on
Practice the Short “O” Sound
Learn the Short U Sound
The short u sound is not very common in other languages. It is an easy sound to make. Let’s learn the sound first. Then we will see how it is spelled in some sample words.
Start With a Sound You Know – The Schwa Sound
To make the short u sound, begin by making the schwa sound. You learned the schwa sound in lesson six. To make the schwa sound, open your mouth a little bit. Your lips, your tongue, and your jaw are all very relaxed. Make a small sound, like the sound you make when you get out of bed in the morning – “uh.”
How to Pronounce Short U
The short u sound is very similar to the schwa sound. However, it is a little louder, longer and higher in pitch. It is found in stressed syllables. The schwa is quieter, shorter, and low in pitch. It is found in unstressed syllables.
To make the short u sound, leave your lips and jaw relaxed. Your tongue stays on the bottom of your mouth, but make it a little bit tighter. Feel the difference in your tongue as you make it tighter. Make a short sound with your tongue tighter. This the short u sound.
Watch this video to help you produce the short open u sound found in our words today.
Practice with Short U
Let’s practice. There are no words with short u in our text today, so here are other words from Genesis 2. It will help you if you just listen and repeat the words. Don’t look at the spelling until you have practiced. You will notice that only two of the words are spelled with the letter u – up and but.
If you don’t know what these words mean, you can use a dictionary of your own language and English, or find them in an English dictionary. I like to use the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary.
Listen and repeat:
up, other, from, but, some, what, none, of, was, someone, mother
Practice the Short “U” Sound
Speaking Exercise
Practice speaking a sentence from this Bible lesson.
Instructions:
- Listen to the sentence one time. Only listen, do not talk.
- Play it again. This time, stop often. Repeat the words you hear.
- Practice many times.
Do your best to say the words the way the speaker says them. If you are learning American English, imitate her pronunciation the best you can.
Don’t worry if you have an accent. The most important thing is that people can understand you. Practice the vowel sounds, and learn the stress patterns in each word.
Here we go! Do your best.
Creation – Day 7 – Speaking Text
Click HERE to view a PDF of the speaking text. How did you do?
Now, move on to the Grammar Exercise.
