Free practice · for my video

All 44 sounds of British English.

You watched my video about the 44 sounds of English. Now let’s practise! First, all 44 sounds, so you can listen again. Then three small practices. It takes about 15 minutes.

The video: “Master All 44 British English Sounds”. Watch it on YouTube ↗

What you learned

English has 26 letters, but 44 sounds. Here they are, in the same groups as the video: 7 short vowels, 5 long vowels, 8 diphthongs and 24 consonants. Press ▶ to hear me say each key word.

Skip to the practice ↓

1
/ɪ/

ship, it, did

Short vowel. Short and relaxed.
2
/e/

bed, get, ten

Short vowel. Open your mouth a little.
3
/æ/

cat, had, bag

Short vowel. Drop your jaw a lot.
4
/ɒ/

hot, box, top

Short vowel. Round lips, jaw down.
5
/ʌ/

cup, but, bus

Short vowel. Mouth relaxed and a little open.
6
/ʊ/

book, good, could

Short vowel. Lips a little forward.
7
/ə/

about, away, doctor

The schwa. The most common sound in English. Small and relaxed.
8
/iː/

sheep, see, tea

Long vowel. Smile a little.
9
/ɜː/

bird, work, first

Long vowel. Mouth relaxed. No R sound.
10
/ɑː/

car, father, start

Long vowel. Open wide. No R sound.
11
/ɔː/

door, four, more

Long vowel. Round lips. No R sound.
12
/uː/

moon, food, blue

Long vowel. Lips in a small circle.
13
/ɪə/

here, clear, idea

Diphthong: /ɪ/ then /ə/.
14
/eə/

chair, hair, where

Diphthong: /e/ then /ə/.
15
/eɪ/

day, name, rain

Diphthong: /e/ then /ɪ/. The name of the letter A.
16
/aɪ/

my, time, nice

Diphthong: open, then /ɪ/. The name of the letter I.
17
/ɔɪ/

boy, toy, enjoy

Diphthong: round lips, then /ɪ/.
18
/əʊ/

go, home, phone

Diphthong: /ə/ then /ʊ/. The name of the letter O.
19
/aʊ/

now, how, house

Diphthong: open, then round lips.
20
/ʊə/

tour

Diphthong: /ʊ/ then /ə/. Rare. Many people now say /ɔː/.
21
/p/

pen, pay, happy

Unvoiced. Lips together, then a puff of air.
22
/b/

bad, big, job

Voiced. Like /p/, but use your voice.
23
/t/

tea, ten, cat

Unvoiced. Tongue behind your top teeth.
24
/d/

dog, did, bed

Voiced. Like /t/, but use your voice.
25
/k/

cat, cup, book

Unvoiced. The back of your tongue goes up.
26
/g/

go, get, big

Voiced. Like /k/, but use your voice.
27
/tʃ/

chip, cheese, watch

Unvoiced. Like /t/ and /ʃ/ together.
28
/dʒ/

jam, job, page

Voiced. Like /tʃ/, but use your voice.
29
/f/

fan, five, off

Unvoiced. Top teeth on your bottom lip. Blow.
30
/v/

van, very, have

Voiced. Like /f/, but use your voice.
31
/θ/

think, three, thank, mouth

Unvoiced. Tongue between your teeth. Blow.
32
/ð/

this, that, there, mother

Voiced. Like /θ/, but use your voice.
33
/s/

sun, see, bus

Unvoiced. Like a snake: sss.
34
/z/

zoo, is, nose

Voiced. Like a bee: zzz.
35
/ʃ/

ship, she, wash, fish

Unvoiced. Lips forward. Like “be quiet!”
36
/ʒ/

vision, usually, television

Voiced. Like /ʃ/, but use your voice. Quite rare.
37
/h/

hat, how, house

Just air from your throat.
38
/m/

man, me, home

Lips together. The air goes through your nose.
39
/n/

no, name, ten

Tongue behind your top teeth. Air through your nose.
40
/ŋ/

sing, thing, long

The back of your tongue goes up. Air through your nose. Don’t say a /g/ after it.
41
/l/

leg, like, tell

The tip of your tongue touches behind your top teeth.
42
/r/

red, rain, very

Your tongue doesn’t touch anything. In British English we only say R before a vowel.
43
/j/

yes, you

Like a very short /iː/.
44
/w/

wet, we, water

Round your lips, like a small /uː/.

Voiced or unvoiced? Put your fingers on your throat. Say /v/: you feel a buzz. That is voiced. Say /f/: no buzz. That is unvoiced. Many consonants come in pairs like this: /p/ and /b/, /t/ and /d/, /s/ and /z/.

My advice: don’t just watch. Pause, repeat, copy. Your mouth is a muscle. The more you copy, the faster it gets better.

Practice 1 of 3

Listen and choose the sound

Press ▶ and listen to me. Look at the coloured letters. Which sound do they make? Choose one.

1 did
2 father
3 blue
4 phone
5 house
6 mouth
7 mother
8 watch
9 page
10 usually
11 thing
12 very

Practice 2 of 3

Which word has a different sound?

Two words have the same sound. One word is different. Press ▶ to hear a word. Then tap the different word.

Practice 3 of 3

Say it and compare

These sentences have the tricky sounds from the video. Press ▶ and listen to me. Then press Record and say it. Then listen to me and to you. Do you sound the same?

1 /θ/

No ice for me, thank you.
2 /ð/

There are six apples in the bag.
3 /ʃ/

I wash my hands before lunch.
4 /tʃ/

Would you like some cheese and crackers?

crackers = thin, dry biscuits. We eat them with cheese.
5 /r/

The rain is very heavy today.

We say the R in rain and very, before a vowel.
6 /ə/

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

An old saying: fruit is good for you.

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Keep going with me

Every week I send one new word, in my voice. It is free and short.

Words to practise next

Hear me say these tricky words, normally and slowly.

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