To benefit from this exercise, please watch the following videos FIRST:
1) English Pronunciation: Introduction to the Color-Coded System
2) English Pronunciation: Introduction to the Five Front Vowels
3) English Pronunciation: Introduction to /i/ - /ɪ/ Green / Tin Vowels
4) The Color-Coded Exercise for the /i/ - /ɪ/ Green / Tin Vowels
This video exercise helps learners of English to produce the front vowel sounds that we hear in the word GRAPE and the first syllable of YELLOW. Although the /e/ sound is found in many of the world's languages, it is called a monophthong, which means that it is produced by making ONE sound. The tongue moves to the position to produce it and then there is no further movement for that sound. It is /e/ sound we find in languages like Italian and Spanish, and it is SHORTER than the /eɪ/ sound of General American English. This is because /eɪ/ of GA is actually a DIPHTHONG, meaning it is made of TWO SOUNDS, the /e/ being quickly followed by /ɪ/. Therefore, unlike the production of the /e/ sound, where the tongue only moves once, /eɪ/ is produced by starting at the first sound and then moving the tongue up to produce /ɪ/.
Learners who have the /e/ sound in their native language and who wish to acquire the GA /eɪ/ sound need to pay particular attention to the shift and length of the latter sound. Very often, they will produce words like "bake" and "game" as [bek] and [gem], with the sound too short and without a shift, and although native English speakers will usually understand the speaker, it does contribute to the sense of a foreign accent.
As for the second sound, the /ɛ/ of YELLOW, it is not as common in the world's languages, and learners will simply replace the sound with another from their native language. As Jack states in the introductory video, learners should first find the /eɪ/ sound and then lower their tongue to find the lax sound of /ɛ/. However, for learners who already have an /æ/ sound, which is the sound we hear in "cat", it may be easier to do the YELLOW - LAVENDAR exercise first. In this way, the learner can produce /æ/ and then find /ɛ/ by shifting the tongue up.
As Jack states in the Grape - Yellow introductory lesson, be sure to work through the GRAPE exercises even if you believe you already know how to produce the sound. You must do the exercises with your hand on you throat to feel the tension in your muscles while CONCENTRATING on the position of your tongue. In this way, you will know where it SHOULDN'T be to produce the /ɛ/ sound of YELLOW and that you SHOULDN'T be feeling any muscle tension when you produce it.
Finally, learners wishing to successfully add the sounds to their set of pronunciation skills should practice for a few minutes EVERY DAY, as practicing only once per week does not lead to improvement. Of course, if you still need some help after working through the exercises, you can always schedule pronunciation lessons with us at newcastlels.com. Our method has helped many students add the sounds of English to their set of linguistic skills, and we're sure we can do the same for you. Classes may be one-on-one if you like, but we can also accommodate up to 3 students for the price of 1. Additionally, we have classes in Conversational English, Business English, Writing, and we can help you with that TOEFL, TOEIC, or IELTS you may need to pass!
