Open vowels

Open your mouth and give every stressed vowel its full shape. Lesson 28 of 70: Articulation, every level.

Open your mouth

• Many unclear speakers barely move their jaw: the vowels come out flat and squeezed, and everything sounds mumbled. Let the jaw drop on open vowels (the a in “father”, the o in “hot”), spread the lips for “ee”, round them for “oo”. Stressed vowels get their full shape and length; unstressed ones relax to schwa.
• Father, hot, saw. (Jaw down)
• See, need, keep. (Lips spread)
• Food, true, new. (Lips rounded)

Long and short, stressed and unstressed

• Make the long vowels long (see, food, car, saw, bird) and the short ones short (sit, good, cat, cut). Then let the unstressed vowels go small: “about” is uh-BOUT, “today” is tuh-DAY. Full stressed vowels and small unstressed ones together are what give English its rhythm.
• I need a good cup of coffee. (long ee, short oo, schwa)
• Tip: Watch yourself in a mirror saying “see, saw, soo”. If your mouth barely changes shape, open it more.

Lines to have ready

• How are you today? (Open “how”, round “you”)
• That’s a great idea. (Long “great”, open “idea”)
• I see what you mean. (Spread “see”, long “mean”)
• Food for thought. (Rounded long “oo”)

Your turn to speak

• In front of a mirror or the camera, read a paragraph aloud with your jaw deliberately more open than usual. Then read it normally. Record both and compare.
• My mouth visibly changed shape on each vowel
• Stressed vowels were full and long
• The open version was clearer, and still natural

Watch your video back for

• Eye contact: on the camera, not the screen or the floor
• Posture: upright and still, shoulders down
• Hands: visible and open, moving with the words
• Face: it shows what you mean, and smiles where it should

Related

• Lesson 27: Crisp consonants
• Lesson 29: Pace
• The whole English course

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