Chapter One · The Vowel Sounds
/ʊ/ as in good
Page 14
Word Pairs for Practice
Make sure that the two words in each pair are pronounced with different vowel sounds: /ɑ, ɔ/ or /oʊ/.
- old law
- odd boat
- not home
- walk slowly
- those dogs
- only daughter
这一部分继续复习 /ɑ, ɔ/ 和 /oʊ/ 的区别。
/ɑ/ 和 /ɔ/ 是比较稳定的后元音;
/oʊ/ 是双元音,有从 /o/ 向 /ʊ/ 滑动的感觉。
比如 old law 里,old 是 /oʊ/,有滑动;law 是 /ɔ/,声音更稳定。
not home 里,not 是 /ɑ/ 或接近 /ɔ/,home 是 /oʊ/。
不要把 law 和 low、not 和 note、walk 和 woke 读成一样。
/oʊ/ 要有圆唇和滑动;/ɑ, ɔ/ 更稳定。
/ɑ, ɔ/ = 稳定后元音。
/oʊ/ = 圆唇双元音,有滑动。
练习时重点感受:old law、not home、odd boat。
/ʊ/ as in good
Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.
— Hermann Hesse
Lips: Very rounded.
Tongue: Relaxed, the back is raised, slightly higher than for /oʊ/.
/ʊ/ 是 good, book, foot, could 里的音。
它像一个短而放松的“乌”,但不是中文里很用力、很饱满的“乌”。
发音时嘴唇是圆的,但整体要短、松。
/ʊ/ 像 good,短、松、嘴唇圆但不特别紧。
/u/ 像 too,更长、更紧,嘴唇更明显地圆起来。
所以 good 和 food 不能读成一样。
不要把 book 读成 boot,也不要把 foot 读成 food。
/ʊ/ 的重点是短而松;/u/ 的重点是长而紧。
Common Spelling Patterns for /ʊ/
- oo — good, look, childhood, understood
- u — push, full, pull, sugar
- oul(d) — would, could, should
- exception: woman sounds like “wumun”
/ʊ/ 最常见的拼写之一是 oo,比如 good, look, book, foot。
但 u 也可以读 /ʊ/,比如 push, full, pull, sugar。
还有非常高频的 would, could, should,也读 /ʊ/。
oo 不一定都读 /u/。
比如 food 是 /u/,但 good 是 /ʊ/;
boot 是 /u/,但 book 是 /ʊ/。
这些词最好直接记住。
/ʊ/ = 短、松、圆唇。
典型词:good, book, look, foot, pull, push, would, could, should。
Word Pairs for Practice
- good book
- sugar cookie
- took a look
- push and pull
- good looking
- wool pullover
- fully cooked
- wooden hook
- shook his foot
- good childhood
这些词组集中训练 /ʊ/。
读的时候声音要短,嘴唇圆但不要太紧。
比如 good book、took a look、push and pull 都适合反复练。
可以重点练这些词:
good, book, took, look, cooked, shook, foot, sugar, cookie, push, pull, wool, pullover, wooden, hook, childhood。
词组练习的目标是让你习惯 /ʊ/ 的短促感。
不要把 good book 读成接近 food boot。
Sentences for Practice
- Would you help me look for my book?
- The sugar cookies taste good.
- The butcher is a good cook.
- He would read the book if he could.
- Butch visited his old neighborhood in Brooklyn.
这一组句子把 /ʊ/ 放进自然句子里。
重点词包括:
would, look, book, sugar, cookies, good, butcher, cook, could, Butch, neighborhood, Brooklyn。
would, could, should 这些词非常常见,但容易被读得太长。
它们不是 /wuːd/、/kuːd/、/ʃuːd/,而是短松的 /wʊd/、/kʊd/、/ʃʊd/。
第一遍慢读,专门找 /ʊ/。
第二遍跟音频读,保持短、松、圆唇。
第三遍自然速度读,但不要把 /ʊ/ 拉成长 /u/。
/u/ as in too
If you could choose one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
— Jennifer Jones
页面底部开始进入新的音:/u/,也就是 too, food, school, blue 里的长“乌”音。
它和本页主要练的 /ʊ/ 不一样:/u/ 更长、更紧,嘴唇更圆。
/ʊ/ 像 good:短、松。
/u/ 像 too:长、紧。
下一页会继续学习 /u/ 的具体拼写和练习。