This video explores pronunciation differences in American English words, particularly the ‘E’ versus the ‘I’ sound.
Many students, especially from Latin America and Europe, have difficulty pronouncing similar words like:
Ship, Sheep.
Chip, Cheap.
Rich, Reach.
Slip, Sleep.
Still, Steal.
Pill, Peel.
Hit, Heat.
Say those words aloud. Can you hear the difference?
For example, ship has the soft ‘I’ sound, like in ‘sick’, but sheep has the hard ‘E’ sound, like in ‘me’.
A good practice exercise is to record yourself saying the above words, and then compare your voice with a native speaker. Is it close? Try to mimic the native speaker’s intonation and pronunciation.
And remember, the word ‘beach’ has the hard ‘E’ sound ☺
