Hello! I'm John Russell.
大家好!我是约翰·拉塞尔。
Vowel sounds are very important in American English.
元音在美式英语中非常重要。
We use 14 or 15 vowel sounds depending on how you count them.
我们使用14或15个元音,这取决于你如何计算它们。
If your goal is to improve your pronunciation, you will need to develop a strong sense of the differences between vowel sounds.
如果你的目标是改善发音,你需要培养强烈的元音发音差异意识。
You can start by developing your ability to recognize the sounds.
你可以从培养识别音素的能力开始。
If you can't recognize the differences between sounds, then you will have difficulty producing the different sounds.
如果你无法识别音素之间的差异,那么你就很难发出不同的音素。
So, let's do a quiz.
我们来做一个小测验。
We will explore two different vowel sounds that are easy to mix up.
我们将会探索两个很容易混淆的不同元音。
The first one is written like this in International Phonetic Alphabet (or IPA): /ou/.
第一个元音在国际音标中写成这样:/ou/(正确写法见视频)。
This vowel sound appears in words such as "no" or "road".
这个元音出现在诸如“no”或“road”这样的单词中。
The second vowel sound is written like this in IPA: /a/.
第二个元音在国际音标中写成这样:/a/(正确写法见视频)。
This vowel sound appears in words like "dog" or "father."
这个元音出现在诸如“dog”或“father”这样的单词中。
So, we have our two vowel sounds: /ou/ and /a/.
因此,我们有了两个元音:/ou/和/a/(正确写法见视频)。
You will now hear one word.
现在你将会听到一个单词。
Which vowel sound do you hear? Bought.
你听到了哪个元音?Bought。
Let's listen one more time. Bought.
让我们再听一遍。Bought。
The answer is /a/。
答案是/a/(正确写法见视频)。
The word is "bought."
这个单词是“bought”。
Now let's try another word.
现在让我们试试听另一个单词。
Which vowel sound do you hear? Boat.
你听到了哪个元音?Boat。
Let's listen one more time. Boat.
让我们再听一遍。Boat。
The answer is /ou/.
答案是/ou/(正确写法见视频)。
The word is "boat."
这个单词是“boat”。
That's all for today! Keep up the good work!
今天就到这里吧!继续努力!