The 5 long vowel sounds.

What you learned

British English has 5 long vowel sounds. The symbol ː means “long”. Hold the sound a little longer. Here they are, in the order of the video.

1. 1

   /iː/

   sheep, see, tea, me, eat, green, people, please

   Smile a little. Your tongue is high. It is longer than the short /ɪ/ in ship.

   ▶ sheep
2. 2

   /ɜː/

   bird, work, first, word, girl, learn, shirt

   Keep your mouth relaxed and still. In British English we don’t say the R.

   ▶ bird
3. 3

   /ɑː/

   car, father, start, garden, calm, are

   Open your mouth wide, like at the doctor. Again, we don’t say the R.

   ▶ car
4. 4

   /ɔː/

   door, four, more, water, morning

   Make your lips round. Your tongue is low and back. No R sound.

   ▶ door
5. 5

   /uː/

   moon, food, blue, school, two, soon, you

   Push your lips forward into a small circle. It is longer than the short /ʊ/ in book.

   ▶ moon

English spelling doesn’t show the sound. Look: first, work and learn all have the same vowel. That is why I use the IPA symbols between / /.

Say each sound after me. Not once: every day. That’s the whole trick!