Verified answer

Try this

- you need Flashplayer (if you want to hear the vowels sounded out) but you can download off the site (if you don't already have it). It gives the positions for pronouncing vowels and some of the dipthongs and tripthongs inn English and American English

http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/charts.html

This explains the terms used in the chart

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel

The letter O

Say "dough".

As a spanish speaker, it's going to be tempting to shorten the vowel so it sounds like "doh". This method incorrectly cuts off the vowel to early, and leaves it sound like the word hasn't finished. In reality, the word should end with a consonant "w" sound. Nearly every single English word that ends in an O or A sound, is actually supposed to slur into a soft consonant to end the tone and make the word sound completed. The vowel ends to words are usually a diphthong (one vowel changing into another vowel).

Crow (Oh-oo)

Sew (Oh-oo)

Comando (Oh-oo)

Make the O very bright sounding, by lifting the top lip and the bottom lip apart, like a fish mouth. Here's something harder to understand, but I want you say "dough" and spit the "d" consonent up and out, and so the voice is bright and high for the "O" sound, and then starts to sink. Send the sound of voice up more through your nose, possibly even higher in pitch. The jaw will drop down on the "d" to make the lips taller like the fish mouth, and the jaw will close while still voicing the "O", to shorten the vowel sound to an "oo".

"Doh" - Tall mouth, open jaw, high voice up through the nose.

"Oo" - Lift jaw, shorten mouth, press lips without completely closing, send voice down towards the chin.

The correct pronunciation is more like "dOh'w",

Another challenging vowel is the "ee" sound.

Tiki (Tee Kee)

Tepee (Tee Pee)

Streak (Streek)

Peak (Peek)

Spanish speakers tend to weaken this vowel, and to an English speaker it only sounds like a weak "ih" sound, making "peak" sound more like "pick". The "ee" sound must be exaggerated. Smile, and lift your cheeks out, so that the sides of your lips are as wide as possible. Now say the say "peek", and leave the mouth wide as you say the "K" sound.

The Aw sound is another problem vowel. A Spanish speak tends to flip the tongue on the consonant right before the vowel, and then lets the "Aw" vowel sound like it's clipped short. Instead, and English speaker hold the consonant long enough to load the vowel, and release it fully. The makes the voice shrink into the consonant, and then explode into the vowel, until the voice dies when the breath runs out.

Draw (Bad sound: "dlah") (Good sound: "Drrraahhww")

Flaw (Bad sound: "flah") (Good sound: Flllaahhww)

Law (Bad sound: "lah") (Lllaaahhww)

Straw (Bad sound: "st-lah") (Ssstrraahhww)

Ask me if you have any more pronunciation questions.

It's hard to explain over the internet but try this website:

http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Eacadtech/phonetics/english...

Or search for others that have a visual. You'll want to try dropping your jaw and moving your tongue back and forth.

A = aaaa, or ehhh

e = eeeeeee

i = ay

o = ooooo

u = you

A- ei

E- i

I - ai

O -ou

U - iu

Y - uai