The Vowel /æ /:

This podcast teaches you how to pronounce / æ / correctly with a standard American accent and offers practice expressions, idioms and words that contain the vowel.

     In today’s podcast, we’re going to learn an important vowel in English: the vowel /æ/.

The focus of today’s lesson is:

• learning how to pronounce /æ / like a native speaker.
• practicing /æ / in words, expressions and idioms.

How to articulate / æ / correctly:

tongue: low, flat, forward, spread sides

lips: spread

jaw: drops, lowers

This sound requires a lot of movement. It’s important to flatten your tongue, lower your jaw and spread your lips. Feel the sides of your tongue spread out. Don’t be shy about opening your mouth. This is the right way to pronounce / æ /.

I recommend that you use a mirror to check the position of your mouth.

If you watch television news anchors, you’ll notice they move their mouth a lot; their jaw drops and their lips spread.

Exercise: Listen and repeat /æ /.

Exercise: Listen and repeat the following words containing /æ/ :

cat… tan… gas…band…dance…have… answer…passport… challenge…program

Exercise: Listen and repeat the following expressions and idioms
which contain /æ/:

Do you have a passport? .
That guy has an attitude. (is hostile and arrogant)
I’ve got your back. (I’m protecting you, will help you if neccessary)
His new girlfriend’s a total catch. (has all the positive qualities you want in a girlfriend)
I can multi-task. ( do several things simultaneously)

Just Ten Minutes a Day Can Make a Difference! :
Hearing and prounouncing /æ/ often takes time, practice and patience but with practice,it will become easier and feel more natural!
The more you practice and repeat the exercises, the more you’ll develop muscle memory- -the ability to so something without thinking- automatically.

Think of dancers, athletes and musicians- how do they get so good at what they do?

Practice, repetition- training

They practice their routines until it becomes automatic habit, muscle memory.

The same is true for accent reduction and English pronunciation !

Looking for more practice? Try  Best Accent Training mp3s!

Any questions, comments or suggestions ? Contact us at:  contact@englishpronunciationpod.com

Thank you and see you next time!