Choose the vowel
Which vowel sound do you hear in cat?
A) /ʌ/
B) /æ/
C) /e/
B) /æ/
Which word contains /æ/?
A) map B) moon C) food
A) map
What if you pronounce "ship" with /iː/ instead of /ɪ/? What word do you get?
You get "sheep" — a different word
What is a short vowel?
A vowel sound pronounced with less length and a more relaxed tongue position.
How many letters are in the English alphabet, and how many vowel letters?
26 letters, 5 vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u)
Which vowel sound do you hear in bed?
A) /e/
B) /ɪ/
C) /æ/
A) /e/
Which word contains /ʌ/?
A) sun B) seat C) bed
A) sun
What if you pronounce "fit" with /iː/ instead of /ɪ/? What word do you get?
You get "feet" — a different word!
What is a minimal pair?
Two words that differ in only ONE sound: ship — sheep.
Which English short vowel is the most common sound in the whole language?
/ə/ (schwa) — почти каждый безударный слог
Which vowel sound do you hear in cup?
A) /æ/
B) /ʌ/
C) /ɒ/
B) /ʌ/
Find the word with a different vowel sound: cat — map — bed — black
A) cat B) map C) bed D) black
C) bed — /e/, остальные /æ/
What if a Russian speaker replaces English /æ/ with Russian /e/? Which two English words become identical?
man and men sound the same.
What is /ə/ (schwa)?
The most common English vowel; unstressed, central, relaxed.
English has 5 vowel letters but how many vowel sounds?
A) 5 B) 12 C) 20+
20+ (включая краткие, долгие и дифтонги)
Which vowel sound do you hear in book?
A) /uː/
B) /ʊ/
C) /ɪ/
B) /ʊ/
Which word does NOT contain /ʊ/?
A) book B) foot C) food D) good
C) food — /uː/, остальные /ʊ/
What if a Kazakh speaker pronounces "pull" with /uː/ instead of /ʊ/? What English word do they accidentally say?
They say "pool" — the meaning changes completely.
What does tense vs lax mean in vowels?
Tense = longer, tighter muscles (/iː/, /uː/); lax = shorter, relaxed (/ɪ/, /ʊ/).
This English word has no vowel letters but still has a vowel sound:
A) fly B) rhythm C) sky
B) rhythm — /ɪ/ без буквы гласной
Listen to full — fool. What makes their vowel sounds different?
A) length only
B) /ʊ/ vs /uː/
C) stress only
B) /ʊ/ vs /uː/
Which pair demonstrates a vowel contrast?
A) bad — bed B) sit — seat C) full — fool D) all of the above
D) all of the above
What if English had no /ə/ (schwa)? How would "banana" and "computer" sound?
Every syllable would be fully pronounced — speech would sound unnatural, over-articulated, and lose its natural rhythm.
What is vowel harmony (сингармонизм)?
A rule in Kazakh (and other languages) where all vowels in a word must be front or back.
In this famous sentence, all vowels are replaced by /ə/ — what happens? "I love you"
A) It sounds romantic B) It sounds like mumbling C) It sounds like singing
B) It sounds like mumbling — без чётких гласных речь теряет смысл