Practice three key British vowel sounds: /ɒ/, /əʊ/, and /ɔː/. Improve your pronunciation with clear examples and focused contrast exercises.

Transcript:

/ɒ/ — octopus, on, olive, lot, stop, dog, clock, box, shop, pocket, orange, problem, bottle

/ɔː/ — door, floor, more, short, born, or, ornament, four, core, store, before, score

/əʊ/ — open, ocean, oak, go, home, nose, road, stone, hope, boat, don’t

/ɒ/ and /ʌ/: cot - cup, cot – cut, not – nut, lock – luck, stock – stuck, cop – cup, pot - putt, rock - ruck, sock - suck, mock - muck, dock - duck, rob - rub

/ɒ/ and /ɔː/: cot – caught, stock – stalk, cod – cord, collar – caller, pot - port, shot - short, flock - fork, wok - walk, Don - dawn, not - nought, cot - court, stop - stork

/əʊ/ and /ɔː/: so – saw, no – nor, go – gore, toe – tore, load – lord, bow - bore, low - law, row - roar, show - shore, code - cord

/əʊ/ and /ɒ/: no – not, go – got, code – cod, hope – hop, load – lot, rode – rod, robe – rob, choke - chock, toad - Tod

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In this episode, we focus on three key British vowel sounds linked to the letter O that learners often confuse: /ɒ/ (as in octopus), /əʊ/ (as in go), and /ɔː/ (as in door).

You’ll learn how to clearly distinguish these sounds by focusing on mouth position, length, and movement—not just how they sound, but how they feel when you produce them.

We break down:

• The difference between /ɒ/ and /ʌ/ (e.g. cot vs cut)
• The contrast between /ɒ/ and /ɔː/ (e.g. cot vs caught)
• How to correctly produce the diphthong /əʊ/ and avoid flattening it
• Key distinctions between movement vs stillness and length vs glide

You’ll also practise with clear minimal pairs to build awareness and control.

By the end, you’ll have a simple framework:

• /ɒ/ = short and open
• /ɔː/ = long and rounded
• /əʊ/ = moving from neutral to rounded

In the next episode, we’ll focus on practice to help you build consistency and accuracy.

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https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/9446274

In this episode, you will learn the main sounds of the letter O in British English and how to produce them clearly. We focus on mouth position, sound length, and the small differences that change meaning. This is a practical introduction to help you recognise and pronounce these sounds with more confidence.

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https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/9446274

You may have noticed that British speakers often say tuna with a “ch” sound, while Americans say it with a clear t. Why is that? In this episode, we’ll look at why this difference in pronunciation happens and explore the pattern behind it. You’ll also hear how this sound shows up in connected speech

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https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/9446274

In this episode, we focus on one of the most powerful spelling patterns in English: the Magic E. Adding a silent e at the end of a word can completely change the vowel sound—from short to long.

Through a series of minimal pairs like cap–cape, fin–fine, hop–hope, and cub–cube, you’ll practice hearing and producing the difference between short and long vowels. The goal is not just accuracy, but awareness—training your ear and mouth to clearly feel the contrast.

Listen and repeat, exaggerate the vowel length, and strengthen one of the core pronunciation patterns that appears everywhere in English.

Transcript:

a + consonant + e:

cap - cape, tap - tape, mat - mate, hat - hate, can – cane, pan – pane, man – mane, mad – made, fad – fade, dam – dame, Sam – same, rat – rate, fat – fate, wag – wage, plan – plane, tap – tape

i + consonant +e:

fin – fine, pin – pine, win – wine, kit – kite, bit – bite, rid – ride, hid – hide, dim – dime, Tim – time, pip – pipe, rip – ripe, sit – site

o + consonant + e:

Hop - hope, cop - cope, mop - mope, pop - pope, not - note, rob - robe, cod – code, nod – node, lob – lobe, con – cone, ton – tone, Jon – jone

u + consonant + e:

cub - cube, tub - tube, us - use, hug - huge, cut - cute, tun – tune, dun – dune

Practice sentence examples:

He fixed the tap with some tape.

Tim didn’t have time.

Don’t mope when you mop.

I would love a huge hug.

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https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/9446274

In this episode we continue exploring the famous Magic E rule. We look at how a silent “e” can change the pronunciation of vowels in words with a, o, and u, and why the rule doesn’t always behave the way learners expect. By examining patterns and exceptions, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of how this spelling rule actually works in English.

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https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/9446274

Why does time follow the rules, but give and machine don’t? In this episode, we unpack the truth behind the magic e rule, explain why some words only look predictable, and give you a simple way to approach i-e pronunciation with confidence in real English.

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https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/9446274

In this practice episode, you’ll train the main vowel sounds represented by the letter I in British English. Through guided repetition, minimal pairs, and sentence-level contrasts, you’ll learn to hear and produce the difference between tense and relaxed vowels — including sounds like /iː/, /ɪ/, /ə/, /ɜː/, /aɪ/, and /ɪə/. This session focuses on clarity, accuracy, and avoiding common pronunciation mistakes that can lead to confusion or awkward misunderstandings. Ideal for learners who want to sharpen their British pronunciation through focused, practical training.

Transcript:

/iː/ — machine, police, magazine, sardine, routine, vaccine, marine

/ɪ/ — sit, bit, give, live, village, image, engine

/ə/ — possible, family, pencil, medicine, original

/ɜː/ — bird, first, girl, shirt, third, skirt, dirty, birthday, thirteen, confirm

/aɪ/ — time, fine, like, nine, side, bite, mine, pipe, drive

/ɪə/ — ear, hear, pier, tier, weird, fierce, bier, experience, idea, theatre

Minimal pairs:

ship /ʃɪp/ — sheep /ʃiːp/

bit /bɪt/ — beat /biːt/

live /lɪv/ — leave /liːv/

fill /fɪl/ — feel /fiːl/

slip /slɪp/ — sleep /sliːp/

bin /bɪn/ — bean /biːn/

sin /sɪn/ — seen /siːn/

rid /rɪd/ — read /riːd/

lick /lɪk/ — leak /liːk/

tin /tɪn/ — teen /tiːn/

Mix up:

machine — sit — possible — bird — time — ear police — bit — family — first — fine — pier marine — give — pencil — shirt — like — weird routine — live — medicine — dirty — nine — fierce vaccine — village — original — thirteen — side — experience

Sentences:

“I live here.” “I leave here.”

“Did you fill it?” “Did you feel it?”

“He bit the rope.” “He beat the rope.”

“I didn’t slip.” “I didn’t sleep.”

“Can I have that seat?” “Can I have that sit?”

“He gave me a leak.” “He gave me a lick.”

“She threw a pitch.” “She threw a peach.”

“It was very cheap.” “It was very chip.”

If you found this episode interesting, follow this podcast for more tips. And if you would like to work on your accent one on one book a lesson with me on italki.

https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/9446274