AAV_Module_5_Dips

In Module 5 of All-American Voice, we're learning about diphthongs and triphthongs. Video 1 explores diphthongs, Video 2 focuses on diphthongs with the American R sound, and Video 3 covers triphthongs. The American R sound can be strong or weak, depending on the position of the tongue tip. We then learn about the five diphthongs in the All-American accent: a, i, oy, o, and ow. Each diphthong involves a glide from one sound to another. We practice pronouncing words and phrases with each diphthong. Welcome back to All-American Voice and we are here in Module 5, which is all about mastering the American diphthongs and triphthongs. And we're going to go even further along in our understanding of the pronunciation for this accent. So let's get going. So let's have a look at our roadmap for today. So this module is all about the diphthongs and triphthongs, and I have broken down this module into three videos. So first up in video number one, we're going to be exploring the diphthongs of the All-American accent. Next, in video number two, we're going to dive into the American R's as we explore the diphthongs plus R coloring. And finally, in video number three, we will explore the triphthongs of the All-American accent, the completion of those American R's to really help strengthen your accent. So this is a really important module here to take our accent to the next level. And just to review briefly, in the last module, we went over the beginning of our pronunciation as we explored the front, mid, and back vowels for the All-American accent. And today we're going to continue with our pronunciation exploration as we look at more sounds for this accent. So I'm going to jump in front of the screen now to guide you through this module. Okay, so I want to talk about a potential roadblock we might encounter in this module, and that is the American R. How do we keep those R's nice and strong? Well, it's all about the tongue tip. So if your tongue tip is broad and flat, it's kind of like this, then you get a softer version of the R sound. So it sounds like this, ah, ah, right? So you can kind of hear an R, but it's very subtle, or ah, ah, a little bit stronger, but still not strong enough. Now, if your tongue tip is curled and it's tense at that tongue tip, you'll get a stronger R. So it sounds more like this, R, R, R. Now, things you want to look out for, watch that the tongue isn't trying to pull back into the mouth. So it might sound more like this, R, R. You can hear how it kind of closes off the throat. So make sure it's the tongue tip that's doing all the work to achieve that sound. Okay, so let's get started with our diphthongs. Now, remember that a diphthong is a gliding action from one sound to the next, but it happens so quickly that it actually sounds like one sound. You'll notice with the phonetic symbols that there's a small arc above the second symbol, and that basically means that that is the weaker of the two sounds. The strength is in the first sound. For example, as in the word ow, as in now, you hear the strength in the beginning of the diphthong, and then it weakens off into the second sound, ow. Now, as we did in the last module, I still want you to be consciously aware of your placement. So considering what are my lips doing, what's my tongue doing, and what's my jaw doing for each diphthong and triphthong sound. Still focusing on keeping that soft palate raised as well. Okay, so let's go through our diphthongs. We have five diphthongs for the general American accent. We have a as in sail, I as in my, oy as in toy, o as in boat, and ow as in now. So our target sentence is sail my toy boat now. So now let's break down the diphthongs. The first one is a as in the word sail, a. Now, these are two front vowels. However, the first sound we actually don't use on its own for the American accent, but we use in this diphthong, and the sound is eh, eh, eh. So then we add in ih as in is, and we get the diphthong ay, ay. So putting all the momentum in the front part of the body of the tongue. So it starts with a slightly lower arch for that first sound, and then the arch raises for that second sound. Give it a try, ay, ay. Now, the second sound is I as in my. So again, this involves two front vowel sounds. Again, ah as in pas isn't a sound that we use in the general American accent, but we use for this diphthong sound. So that arch in the front part of the body of the tongue drops for the first sound, and then it raises for the second one, ay, ay, my. Remember to keep that tongue tip placed behind the bottom teeth, and really lift that soft palate. Give it a try, ay. Now, progressing into our next diphthong sound, we've got oy as in toy, oy. So this one's a bit different because we're traveling to a back vowel and then carrying the momentum to a front vowel. So you've got to really work that activity in the tongue. So that first sound is like ah as in call, and then we carry that momentum forward, oy, oy. So feel that jaw drop, keeping that tongue tip placed behind the bottom teeth. Feel that tongue arch in the back, pretty low, so it's almost flat, before it then propels forward for that second sound, that front vowel with that high arch. Now, remember to keep that soft palate lifted as well. Give it a try, oy, oy. Really helpful to keep that soft palate raised and focus on that tongue tip being forward. The next sound is oh as in boat, and this involves two back vowel sounds. You have that short oh we were talking about before, and then that arch raises a little bit more for uh as in should, oh, oh. Make sure that tongue tip is still behind the bottom teeth, and make sure you're really rounding the lips to shape the sound, soft palate lifted as well. Oh, boat. Give it a try, oh. And then our last sound is ow as in now, ow. So again, two back vowels. We're starting with the most open sound we have, which is ah as in father, and then raising that arch for that second sound, oh, as in should. So tongue flat at the start, and then raises in the back. Tongue tip still behind the bottom teeth, soft palate lifted, rounding and shaping those lips. Ow, ow, now. Give it a try, ow. So let's get started with our diphthongs, the first one being a as in sail. So just remember that with this sound, that that focuses on the front part of the body of the tongue. The arch of the tongue is raising forward for a, a, with the tongue tip placed behind the bottom teeth, and focusing on that soft palate lift throughout. You can see it in words such as change, or sail, play, or even fillet, or ballet. So now let's focus on some practice words for a as in sail. I'll say the word for you, and then you can repeat. Anchorage. Acorn. Babe. Bakersfield. Cicadas. Cape Cod. Daytona. Favor. Game. Hate. Jail. Kale. Later. Main. Neighbor. Pale. Quakers. Railing. Sailor. Trailer. Vacay. Waiter. Zany. Practice phrases. We've got baked potato. Cray cray. Pay station. See you later, alligator. Practice sentences. We drank lemonade in the shade as we ate a tray of grapes, dates, raisins, and bacon flavored bagels. Maybe it's a little cray cray that Tracy wore the same bathing suit every day in Daytona. David complained when Tuesday's debate got delayed. It's insane he trained only 88 days to win the skating race in the Olympic games. Now let's have a look at the diphthong I as in my. Now this involves two front vowel sounds. The first one we don't use in general American would be ah as in pause, but we say pass, but we're going to use that sound ah. And then the second one is that ih as in is. So again, we're focusing all the attention in that front part of the body of the tongue. So the tongue is flat at the beginning and then arches for that second sound. The jaw opening is really open for that first sound and then closes up for that second sound. Still focusing on that tongue tip being placed behind the bottom teeth. I, my. And here we can see some common spellings for I as in my. There's slide, fly, and thigh. Now let's move on to practice words. Repeat after me. Miami. Bible. Cry. Dial. I. File. Giants. Hide. July. Kind. Lively. Miami. Nice. Pineapple. Rival. Stripes. Tribal. Vibe. White. Practice phrases. Bribe the brides. Nice try. I spy with my little eye. The father of the bride smiled with pride and delight as the bride and groom walked down the aisle side by side. It's time you stop lying and abide by my rules. Violet tried to dial 9-1-1 at the sight of nine crocodiles smiling on the side of the road. Brian despised the sight of papaya and pineapple fried rice. Now let's have a look at the diphthong oy as in toy. Now there's a big progression here as we start with the back vowel and then travel into a front vowel. So that back vowel is that vowel that we used in all as in all and then traveling to ih as in is. Oy. Oy. So you notice that the jaw is really open to start and then closes up. That tongue arch is really flat pretty much flat in the back and then arches for that second sound. Oy. Now this sound can be lengthened but the strength comes from that first sound. And with common spellings we've got two here we have oi as in the word oil and oy as in the word boy. So let's have a look at some practice words for oy. Broil. Coil. Detroit. Enjoy. Foil. Groin. Hoist. Illinois. Joyful. Loyalty. Moist. Annoy. Oyster. Point. Royal. Soil. Toy. Voice. Practice phrases. Soybean oil. Loyal employee. Enjoyable noise. Practice sentences. The employees were paranoid that the boysenberries were poisonous. The boys avoided the oysters at the broil. I am disappointed and annoyed you aren't loyal to Illinois. She boycotted the appointment and avoided the ointment despite having disjointed joints and a voiceless voice. Now let's focus on the diphthong o as in boat. Now this diphthong involves two back vowels. A short o which we don't use for the general American vowels because we tend to lengthen this sound into the diphthong. And the weaker sound is uh as in should. So the actions in that back part of the body of the tongue are just slightly lower for that first sound and then a little bit lower for that second sound. So let's go ahead and practice the diphthong o as in boat. Now this diphthong involves two back vowels. A short o which we don't use for the general American vowels. And the weaker sound is uh as in should. So the actions in that back part of the body of the tongue are just slightly lower for that first sound and then raises for the second sound. The lips are nicely rounded. The jaw opening slightly more open at the start and then closes being uh as in should. And for common spellings you'll notice it in a couple ways. The short o in the word cold or oa as in coat. Practice words. Bowl. Coal. Chosen. Donut. Focus. Go. Goalie. Hold. Jello. Local. Molar. Microphone. Noble. Owner. Poker. Roller. Sold. Cilantro. Told. To go. Though. Voter. Woke. Yosemite. Zip code. Practice phrases. Bingo bango. Broken toes. Chicago brownstone. Gold token. Idaho potatoes. Practice sentences. The coach asked the bowlers The coach asked the bowlers if they enjoyed bowling for the gold trophy in Oklahoma. Oh no, I won't buy oregano, cloves, and soda at the grocery store. The toads croaked and the locals moaned as Owen played his banjo over by the oak tree in Oak Point Park. I don't know why Mona drove to Daytona for Coca-Cola and hoagies. The lonely Eskimo moved from his igloo in Juneau into a condo in Idaho. Now let's focus on our last diphthong which is ow as in now. Now this involves two back vowels ah as in father and uh as in should. So we start with ah as in father so the jaw is really open to start and then closes up. You also notice that arch in the back part of the body of the tongue is flat at the start and then raises for that second sound. This sound can be lengthened but remember that strength is in the first sound that ah as in father and then weakens for that second sound uh as in should. And let's have a look at some common spellings for this sound. We have ow as in brown or ou as in house. Now let's have a look at some practice words for ow as in now. Bow, cow, chow, down, found, gown, howl, jowl, loud, mouth, now, ow, ow, pout, rout, scowl, take out, thousand, vowel, wow, practice phrases, bow down, clown, clown around downtown, how now brown cow, practice sentences, we found the crowd cowering around the seer's tower while downing Mountain Dew. All the brownies and Girl Scouts went house to house selling cookies around town. The owls howled at the fowls and sows lounging around the farmhouse. I somehow found myself growling as she loudly mispronounced vowel sounds and compound nouns. The lousy brown cows lounged outside with open mouths on the lookout for sprouts. Now let's have a look at some sound comparison of our diphthong sounds which are a, i, oi, o, and ow. So I'll say the words and you'll repeat after me. So let's get started. Bay, by, boy, boat, bow, cow. Cave, kite, coy, coat, cow. Change, chai, choice, chose, chow. Day, die, doily, go, down. Fray, fry, foil, foe, found. Gray, guy, groin, go, gown. Hay, high, hoist, hoe, hound. Jay, giant, join, joe, jowl. Late, light, loin, low, loud. May, my, moist, mow, mouth. Nay, night, noise, know, now. Pay, pie, poise, pull, pow. Ray, rye, roid, roll, row. Stay, stye, soil, sow, south. Tray, try, toy, tow, town. Vase, visor, void, vote, vow.