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Pronunciation 怎样区分/ʌ/ 和/a:/

Pronunciation 怎样区分/ʌ/ 和/a:/

Hello. My name is Danny. I find it difficult to tell the difference between the sound / ʌ / and the sound /a:/. Obviously, one is a short vowel, and the other is a long vowel. But when it comes to listening and speaking, the difference is not that obvious to me. So, is there any other way to distinguish these two sounds? I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

Danny from Tianjin

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Can you pronounce the two sounds /ʌ/ and /a:/ well?

Here are some examples: 'hut' and 'heart', 'cut' and 'cart'.

The two vowels are very similar, though one is short and the other is long. If you mispronounce them you might cause confusion when you speak English.

Today, Rob and Wang Fei explain how to pronounce /ʌ/ and /a:/well.

/ʌ/ 和/a:/ 对部分中国英语学习者来说是比较困难的两个发音。如何发好这两个音呢?在今天的节目中你可以边听边练。

Here are some examples for practising /ʌ/ and /a:/sounds. Practise your pronunciation while you are listening to the programme. Try to find out which words Rob reads in the programme.

hut and heart

Pronunciation 怎样区分/ʌ/ 和/a:/

Hut and heart, can you pronounce them well?

cut and cart

stutter and starter

lust and last

If you have a question about the English language, email us at chinaelt@bbc.co.uk.

We might produce a programme about your question.