R-Colored Vowels (the Easy Way) - Part 1 | American English Pronunciation and Ear Training

[@earthur715]

I love this is detailed, well explained, I can feel how you put yourself in your students boots, first time I find such a clear lesson. Thank you man !

[@rebeccadelagarza3615]

Awesome method of teaching r controlled or r colored vowels...

[@Ill733]

Omg. I love ur videos. Thank you sooo much! Imma go to the US soon and u rly help me improving my english skills and make me feel so much more comfortable while speaking:) thanks!!❤ keep these up!

[@Jasshcsm]

So how do you pronounce 'call' and 'caller' with the cot/caught merger? Do they sound like in 'saw' or 'store'?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

They use the AW vowel like "saw". If I tried to use O, it would be coal and coaler

[@Jasshcsm]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Thank you, I appreciate it!

[@Jasshcsm]

@@NativeEnglishHacks And one more related question: so "caller" and "collar" sounds pretty much the same?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

@Jasshcsm exactly the same

[@Jasshcsm]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Brilliant, thanks!

[@wigenlevasseur9789]

Thank you so much for this lesson!

[@sucreke8497]

Hi coach, I can understand r color vowels in the situation like car ear,because r is in the end. But in the word carry,or error,r is in the middle, I treat it as a consonant, why should it interfere the vowel before it❤

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter how you classify it. I look at it a certain way that makes the most sense to me, that I think is most objectively accurate, and that I think is the easiest way to learn it. That being said, you could make your same argument if you say, "car is". It works exactly the same as inside a word like "error", meaning that R-colored vowels wouldn't exist at all from that perspective. I discussed the linking of R in the lesson 4 big exceptions to the 4 general rules of linking.

[@dotdot7911]

So if I understood correctly, r colouring only refers to ipa symbols and its not the same thing as postvocalic r right?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Absolutely not. The IPA symbols don't matter at all and I recommend that you ignore them (I include them in certain places only for reference for those who are familiar with them). Post-vocalic R is the same as R-coloring, but with one major weakness based on what I see about it online: it seems the way many talk about this "post-vocalic R" doesn't stress the fact that spelling and sound aren't always the same. For example, "fir" is spelled with "ir", but is simply pronounced with the regular ER vowel, not an R-colored vowel. When a language doesn't have a phonetic script (including if you try to substitute that script with IPA), the sounds, not the letters/symbols, are always primary (they're actually primary regardless, but more so with a script that's not phonetic). This is one of the single biggest flaws with the way English is taught by most people. There's too much emphasis on the written language and not the actual sounds. Spelling patterns can be useful, but there are always exceptions and the student should develop their ear first more than anything. And I also recommend that you not get too caught up in most of the technical terminology (like "post-vocalic R"), bc a lot of it isn't at all useful for actual skill-building/learning

[@dotdot7911]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Thank you for reply! you really helped me a lot !

[@Josephsmith-p4h]

It's amazing how much you know about the American pronunciation. Is this something one can learn in school or did you learn it on your own?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

I started teaching myself Spanish about 10 years ago and a lot of what I know is by becoming conscious of my own language in comparison with Spanish, playing with things, and seeing how I naturally produce my native language. A few things I learned through looking things up and a few things I became aware of through student/subscriber questions. But 95% has just been paying attention and relying on what I naturally do as a native speaker, so it's less about "learning" and more about becoming conscious of what I already do unconsciously. That's the best starting point when learning a new language 🙂

Would say that /ɔr/ actually becomes /or/?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Yes

Thanks so much.

[@englishchannel59]

In your dialect merry/marry/Mary sound /ɛr/. Would you please tell me if (carrot, paragraph, barrel, carry, narrow, married, barrier, carry-on) sound /ɛr/ too? my ear says yes but IPA says it is /ær/, maybe in your dialect /ær/ and /ɛr/ are merged.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Yes. I'll make a follow-up short video about this a little later. And it's not just my "dialect". This is a common thing for various speakers across the country, just not all speakers. Remember that the IPA refers to the idealized, semi-fake accent that most teachers teach

[@englishchannel59]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Thank you. I'm following my ears, but in some cases I need the IPA to break the use of Spanish sounds in English words

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Great! No worries, the IPA can be useful as a rough guide and occasional reference, so it sounds to me like you're using it correctly since you're focusing more on your ears 😀 Keep it up!

[@liangxu530]

How should we differentiate “father” vs. “farther” ; “potty” vs. “party”? Is it possible to make an video about it like mini pairs. Thanks.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Good idea! I'll make that one soon ☺ Note that in British English, these pairs are the same (or almost the same). In American English, they sound completely different!

[@liangxu530]

English Hacks - Learn English Better, thanks. Also bone vs born, for (not reduce) vs. four.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Yes, we'll explore all the R-colored vs regular pairs. But "for" (not reduced) and "four" are pronounced exactly the same. "Fore/before" also ☺

[@stupiditydeliveryservice1599]

Hey, Josh. That's another amazing video you've got there. I've been straggling with those "i" sounds for months now and I've always had that feeling the picture isn't quite full. I'm so relieved to see you can pronounce "we're" and other words both with i and ɪ sounds. It's very hard to hear any difference between them for me, especially given my first language in which the ɪ sound is always unstressed and my mind just keeps rejecting the fact it can be anyhow stressed. I can hear the difference between them only when they're pronounced very clear and when I hear it that's mostly due to palatalization the tense i sound brings with it (or also it's easy to hear when it's the ɪi diphthong). I'm pretty much sure sometimes the tense i sound is replaced by the lax ɪ and vice versa, especially in the flow of fast speech, and that sometimes people pronounce the word "leave" with a long lax ɪ or some bad words my comment might be banned for with a strong i, especially when they're angry and their face is tense. You're absolutely right that any sound is a range of different sounds, but is this range anyhow shared by these two i sounds this time? I'm pretty much sure there is a big part of this question I completely overlook. All I know is that some Americans pronounce the close "e" sound instead of the lax ɪ (which is called Pin-pen Merger if I remember right) and that in American English the tense i is always pronounced at the end of pretty much any word (which is Happy Tensing). But there's still got to be something else. Am I anyhow close to the truth? Can you give me any hint or maybe name any literature so I can read about it some more? I'm just glad there's someone into these details I can ask, it's only such a pity you're the only one around. Fighting an accent is hard. I'll be much obliged for any info, cheers

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

This is a bit involved, so I'll answer this at the start of the next live stream. I also forgot to mention that I answered your previous question near the start of the last live stream, so you can go check that out 🙂

[@fayewu7505]

Great!

[@bayanmallasi9167]

The word ‘manure’ doesn't sound exactly like /u/ (ooh), but rather more like /ʊ/ or at least (o). same in the word (sure). Any chance it could be both? Btw thanks for the great lesson :)

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

"Manure" can be pronounced with U+small W+ER, so a regular U is fine. "Sure" has several possible pronunciations, but the two most common are probably just ER (SHER) and with an U before the ER (blended or not)

[@laracroftvideos]

Pikachu in the background, Who's That Pokémon? reference, love it! And hands down the best video on this topic on KZbin. Well done! Btw, 7:58 I think the R-colored /ɑ/ can be transcribed as /äɹ/ where /ä/ is just a phonetic notation for the difference in sound you mention: "R" causes /ɑ/ to move forward in the mouth just a tiny bit (on its way to & in preparation for the "R") and it gets centralized because that's where the consonant resonates -- in the center of the mouth. In my native language, the letter "A" always makes this centralized open vowel (also in Japanese, Korean...) [ Wikipedia link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel ]. Some people may find this helpful. /ɑɹ/ is simpler tho and that's the English Hacks way ❤

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Thanks for the endorsement, as well as for posting that info! I'm sure other learners will appreciate it, too ☺ And I'm glad you like the Pokemon stuff. I've had that Pikachu for 20 years! 😱 Thought the background was a but plain, so spiced it up haha

[@laracroftvideos]

@@NativeEnglishHacks You're welcome, your content is amazing and I'm so happy I can support you in some way. I love the Pokemon stuff haha. I do miss that iconic Bruce Lee painting / photo, however!

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

@@laracroftvideos Huh, I liked it, too, but I also felt it was out of place and a bit tacky. Either way, I'm using the empty brackets on the wall as a holder for my big whiteboard (I like to be able to take it down), so I don't have room for the Bruce Lee picture anymore 😞

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

@@laracroftvideos And thanks for the support! It means a lot 💙

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

Hey man what's up? What's your first language? I am curious.

[@ahmedyamani7388]

IH vowel when it’s followed by an R it doesn’t sound like a pure vowel - it definitely sounds sth closer to an EE than IH in this video. Do you agree?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Yes, if you pronounce the IH+R combination, it will naturally sound more like an EE compared to a normal IH without the R. Just remember, it's really a range between the two (EE and IH). As long as you don't go lower than IH, you'll sound fine.

[@ahmedyamani7388]

@@NativeEnglishHacks okay, thanks Josh!

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

I am watching this video again. I still think some people pronounce the (third vowel + r) as 'ei+r'. For example 'air'. Haven't heard many people saying it as 'E+r' but more as 'ei+r'. Why does that happen? More words like chair, fair, bare etc.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Yes, there are plenty of people who pronounce ei+r as distinct from e+er (I actually use both, whichever comes out, but more often for me it's e+er). But remember, I'm teaching the easier way, which allows English learners to avoid having to learn yet another sound combination and which words use which combination when it's not necessary. Also, it can be extremely difficult to hear the difference between e+er and ei+er, even for me sometimes. This particular point really doesn't matter that much. If you prefer to use ei+er for words that can use it, go for it ☺

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

@@NativeEnglishHacks thanks ... The reason why I prefer ei+r is because when I try to make e+er it sounds more like fourth vowel + r ... Hahaha

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Lol, yeah, that can happen! But there are words, like error, where you should be using e+er. Both arer (4th vowel) and eirer (diphthong ei) don't work, at least according to my ears. Either way, whatever works best for you is what you should do

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

Awesome video 👌👍👏!! I always watch your videos multiple times. I didn't hear any difference when you pronounced 'ear', 'clear', etc. words with the first two vowels on the vowel chart. Probably because these words are stressing the vowel so it sounds more like 'i' vowel sound(the first vowel sound). The vowel sounds that are most confusing for me are ' second vowel sound ' as in the word 'kid' and 'high schwa' as in the word 'pull'. In my own language we pronounce the second vowel 'I' as a short version of the first vowel 'i' ( unstressed). So in words like 'kid', 'bit', 'america', we use the short version of 'i'. By short version I mean we just reduce the length of the vowel (it's kinda a unstressed i sound). And for the high schwa sound we use unstressed 'u' sound. So basically, first two vowels 'i' and 'I' are pronounced in my language as ---- 'i' - stressed 'i' sound. 'I' - unstressed 'I' sound. And same goes for 'u' - stressed u sound High schwa - unstressed u sound. What do you have to say about this? And thanks once again for editing this video and adding those words. Thannnnnksss !!!! 😁😁😁😁😁

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

No problem, and thanks for the comment ☺ As for the the differences in sounds between English and your native language, I'm not surprised, especially with the high schwa. Most English learners replace this with the "u" sound because it's the closest thing. When it comes to stress, that's a whole other topic lol. 1) if your language isn't stress-timed, then that probably explains it; otherwise, I'd need to know more about the specifics of your language, but in the end, it doesn't really matter. The language happens to be that way for whatever reasons.

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

@@NativeEnglishHacks as you mentioned in the video about 'u' coloring. Does that also apply when you say the word 'during'? I say this word as 'du-ring'.

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Is it ok to use a schwa sound instead of 'I' as in 'kid' sound in longer words like 'america'? Because it's kinda difficult to move from r' sound to I' sound.

[@laracroftvideos]

@@siddhantkapoor8079 Hey! I hope you don't mind if I chime in here and give you my two cents. Josh will surely give you an answer too, but I felt inclined to reply to you because -- funnily enough -- I've asked a native speaker the exact same question. I've been told that pronouncing "America" as /ə'mɛrəkə/ instead of /ə'mɛrɪkə/ (a transcription that seems to be favored by online dictionaries for whatever reason) is completely ok and in fact, many Americans can't even hear a difference between an unstressed /ɪ/ and /ə/ since they both kind of blend into one indistinguishable sound for many people (when they're not stressed). So it's completely fine to use the schwa there.

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

@@laracroftvideos thanks man!! This is what I thought too and I believe it is called vowel reduction. I appreciate you helping me out. Now let's see what Josh has to say. 😁