The main thing to remember is that /iː/ is longer and more tense than /ɪ/, which is closer to the schwa.
Audio for section 4
/iː/
/piːg/, /biːg/, /tiːp/, /giːg/ are not words.
The others are: peak/peek, beat, bead, deep, deed, keep, keyed, geek.
/ɪ/
/gɪk/ is not a word.
The others are: pick, pig, bit, bid, big, tip, dip, did, kip, kid, gig.
Notice that the /iː/ spelling is usually a two-letter combination like EE, EA, IE, EI etc. whereas the /ɪ/ spelling is usually a single letter I.
Audio for section 6
Audio for section 7
The letter R creates the different vowel sounds.
Exercise:
clear - read - spin - rid - speak - clean - live - leave - tear (crying) - beer - bid - beard - bead - need - neared - knee - knit - neat - feared - dear - deer - give - steer - stick - fin - feet - fit
Answers:
Audio for section 8
The main thing to remember is that /uː/ is longer and more tense than /ʊ/, which is closer to the schwa.
Audio for section 10
/uː/
/puːt/, /buːk/, /tuːk/, /kuːk/, /guːd/ are not words.
The others are: boot, cooed (past of coo).
/ʊ/
/bʊt/ is not a word.
The others are: put, book, took, could, cook, good.
Audio for section 11
Exercise:
food - foot - full - neighbourhood - look - move - afternoon - pool - pull - push - shampoo - rude - room (slow, then fast) - bathroom (slow, then fast) - soon - should - too - understood - would
Answers:
The word ROOM can be said carefully as /ruːm/ or quickly as /rʊm/.
Audio for section 13
You might think these words should have the same /uː/ sound, but in fact, in my accent, the /uː/ in FOOL is said with the tongue pulled further back in the mouth. This is because of the dark L in FOOL. In the dark L, the back of the tongue is raised and this has the effect of pulling the /uː/ further back.
Audio for section 14
These words can be said both ways:
poor /pʊə/ /pɔː/
pure /pjʊə/ /pjɔː/
cure /kjʊə/ /kjɔː/
tour /tʊə/ /tɔː/
Europe /ˈjʊərəp/ /ˈjɔːrəp/
Audio for section 15
oo = /uː/
boot - boost - choose - cool - food - loo - loose - mood - moon - pool - roof - room* - root - school - shoot - soon - stool - too - tooth - zoo - zoom - afternoon - shampoo
oo = /ʊ/
book - cook - foot - good - hood - look - room* - stood - took - wood - wool - bathroom - bedroom - neighbourhood - understood
oo = /ɔː/
door - floor
oo = /ɔː/ or /ʊə/
moor - poor
For this spelling I think the easiest thing to do is:
- Think of the OOR words (door, floor, poor, moor) as one group, all pronounced /ɔː/.
- Memorise the /ʊ/ words - notice that 99% of OOK words (book, cook, look etc.) are /ʊ/.
- Assign all other OO words to /uː/.