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English Pronunciation Exercises - A Diphthongs

By , About.com Guide

The following series of pronunciation exercises combines words beginning with the same dipthong sound followed by similar diphthong sounds. Voiced and voiceless consonants are paired (b - voiced / p - voiceless, d - voiced / t - voiceless, etc.) to help students compare and contrast similar consonant formation.

  1. Repeat each line slowly, listen for the minor differences between the vowel and consonant sounds.
  2. Repeat each line three times. Each time repeat more quickly trying to keep the sounds distinct.
  3. Find a partner and listen to each other repeat the lines.
  4. Try to invent sentences using each sound at least once. For example: We ate cake and flew a kite on my birthday. - Don't worry too much about the sentence making much sense!

'ay' as in 'day' 'ai' as in 'die'
bay buy
pay pie
day die
table tie
gay guy
cake kite
say sigh
zany Zaire
shape shy
Jake jive
chase child
hey! hi

Vowel Sounds

'eh' - as in 'let', 'ih' - as in 'hit', 'ee' - as in 'see', and 'ae'- as in 'cat'
'long ah' - as in 'car', 'short ah' - as in 'got'
'long uh' - as in 'put', 'short uh' - as in 'up', 'oo' - as in 'through'

Diphthong Sounds

'ay' - as in 'day', 'ai' - as in 'sky'
'ou' - as in 'home', 'ow' - as in 'mouse', 'oi' - as in 'boy'
'ieh(r)' - as in 'near', 'ehi(r)' - as in 'hair'

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