RP English Vowels - Practice Sentences
Here is a free practice sentence for every one of
the vowel sounds in RP English. There are 20 of them. A vowel
is a sound made with open space in the mouth.
There are several different ways of grouping the vowels.
At Speak Easily, we group them through similar movements or
Shapes- this is to fasttrack the retraining of your
muscles. In this way there are those vowels with Strong
muscular movements, those with Soft movements,
two which are Neutral (no movement) and the
Diphthongs which shift from one movement
to another.
Another useful way of dividing the vowels is how long they
are. There are the vowels which take stress on the vowel itself
which tend to be very long. These are often known as Long
vowels. Most of the Strong vowels
are also Long.
There are also those which are always followed by a strongly
stressed consonant which cuts the vowel short. These are often
known as Stopped or Short
vowels. All the Soft vowels are also Short/Stopped.
And again, there are the Diphthongs. Length
of vowels is very important - but it is also quite unstable,
it alters depending on the position in the sentence or what
consonant follows the vowel.
Below we organise the vowels by shape as it is more stable
factor.
All of these free materials are strictly copyright to Morwenna
Rowe and Speak Easily and are offered as a resource to our clients
and website visitors. They may not be reproduced in any way.
They may not be used for any purpose other than individual personal
practice and information. The 3D Vowel System (Vertical/Sagittal/Horizontal
etc) is a Speak Easily innovation and may not be quoted or used
without permission.
NEUTRAL VOWELS
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1.
Neutral Short - the 'Schwa'
I discovered a famous actor hidden under the covers
of the second bedroom of a particularly puritan bishop.
2. Neutral
Long
The first person on the surface of the world heard the
birds and learned to work the earth from birth.
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STRONG VOWELS - MOSTLY LONG
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3.
Vertical Long - cart
The last class asked for an example of the answers,
as the tasks were hard and they were far from a star
mark.
4. Sagittal
Long - food
Too few rules for school food and the usual, loose,
soupy stew is produced in June for new groups to consume.
5. Horizontal
Long - feed
Each week he has seen three deep green machines leaving
the fields as the people sleep freely beneath the trees.
6. Vertical
Sagittal Long - cord
Of course, we are always short of warm water in the
morning, as the bored northern walkers order more and
more.
7. Horizontal
Vertical Strong (mostly Short) - cat
The sad animal carried the fat family man on its bad
back, as he happily travelled back to his land, map
in hand.
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SOFT/STOPPED VOWELS
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8.
Vertical Short - cut
My mother's fun-loving young cousin won a fund of money,
running in the country on Monday.
9. Sagittal
Soft/Short - put
The good-looking woman stood looking at the wooden hooks,
she couldn't or wouldn't put in her bedroom.
10. Horizontal
Soft/Short - sit
The king sits in the middle of his big, busy ship as
six, quick, pretty women bring fish to him in the middle
of the river.
11. Vertical
Sagittal Soft/Short - dog
The dog often hopped off the hot rock and crossed the
common to watch the strong swans, as he wanted to scoff
the lot.
12. Horizontal
Vertical Soft/Short - pet
The press left together as his many friends leant against
the end of his empty bed and read his best letters to
remember him.
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DIPHTHONGS
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13.
Neutral Diphthong - go
It's so cold, only those close to home don't go, though
most notice the old, slow road is showing no snow and
is open not closed.
14. Horizontal
Vertical Strong Diphthong - cow
Now they've found around about a thousand pounds out
in the grounds of our mountain house south of town.
15. Vertical
Sagittal Diphthong - boy
The boys pointed joyfully at the choice of toys, raising
their voices in a joyful, boisterous noise.
16. Vertical
Diphthong - fly
I try to fly as a line of white fire, a mile high
and five miles wide, lights the night sky behind the
right side of my tiny island.
17. Horizontal
Vertical Soft Diphthong 1 - say
May I say what a great waste of paper takes place,
as they daily change the pages that contain names,
ages, tables and dates.
18. Horizontal
Diphthong - ear
It was a weird idea for a fierce, bearded dear to
appear near the pier this year.
19. Horizontal
Vertical Soft Diphthong 2 - air
Where there are scarce and rare bears, it is fair
to share the pears, to care for their wear and tear.
20.
Sagittal Diphthong -
pure
During the curious tour, the rescuer was sure that
the security vacuum would endure around the valuable
jewel.
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If you find this useful - you might
wish to take more of our Accent
Reduction training.
Try the other free resources on this page,
look out for our soon to be available downloadable Ebook,
and Book and CDs. Or come and be taught in person by our fabulous
coaches. We run Evening
Courses in Accent Reduction for all the major accent groups,
and offer private tuition in Central London.
Happy practising!
The Speak Easily Team
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