How to make English words of one syllable the correct length.

The Challenge   

Years ago I met a man who had just moved to the United States from an Asian country.

Marc (not his real name) moved here because he married an American citizen. He spoke very little English when he got here.

Marc worked in the restaurant business in his home country. He soon found a job in a restaurant here. He also attended night school regularly so he could learn English.

Marc had a hard time learning English. The alphabet, sounds, grammar, and music of English were completely different from his native language.

Marc studied English in night school for years. He also had to speak English at his job. So he gradually was able to do okay.

But Marc was always frustrated. Even after years of working on his English, people often did not understand him. They often asked him to repeat himself. But when he did, people still could not understand him.

I felt badly seeing Marc struggle with English. Eventually I volunteered to help him with his speech.

Of course, I coached him in the quickest ways to improve his English. If you read my blog, you already know what they are:

• Use good body language at all times.
• Speak English with a relaxed jaw.
• Speak English with the correct language music.
  
  

Learning English language music was especially hard for Marc because it was so different from the music of his first language. He spoke his first language very quickly. That is also why he spoke English very quickly.

I taught Marc some skills that helped him make English vowel sounds the correct length. These skills helped him speak English more slowly. It also helped him speak with the correct English language music.

Over time, Marc’s English became much clearer as he learned these skills. This reduced his stress a lot—at work and in his life as well. And he felt much better about himself. I was especially glad to see this, as Marc was always very critical of himself.

Marc was a very hard worker. Learning how to speak with the music of American English made him better at his job and much happier in his life. Eventually, to his great surprise, they made him a supervisor at his job. This was a real boost to his self-esteem and confidence.

What is a skill Marc learned that made his English much easier to understand?

The Solution

He learned how to make English vowel sounds the correct length.

In many other languages, the vowel sounds are all short, so many of the words in that language are very short and spoken very quickly.

A big problem may non-native speakers have is they make English vowel sounds too short and as a result speak English too quickly.

In the English language, vowel sounds:

• May be short, medium, or long.
• May be different lengths depending on where they are in a word or sentence.
• Carry most of the sound of spoken English.
• Help create the music of English.
  
  

If you make English vowel sounds too short:

• People cannot hear you very well.
• People do not know which word you are saying.
• You are speaking English too quickly.
• You are speaking English with the wrong music.
  
  

If the vowel sounds in your first language are short, then it can be hard to learn correct English vowel length.

The best way to learn correct English vowel length is by hearing, seeing, saying, showing, and feeling it whenever you practice or speak English.

So now let’s practice this skill.

Note:

• Some English consonant sounds come in pairs
• We make both of them the same way with our mouth (example: s and z).
• The sound (s) is voiceless; our vocal cords do NOT vibrate.
• The sound (z) is voiced; our vocal cords DO vibrate.

Rule:

If a one-syllable word ends in a voiceless consonant sound (like s), the vowel sound is shorter.

If a one-syllable word ends in a voiced consonant sound (like z), the vowel sound is longer.

Word Practice

• Say these words out loud.
• Make the words ending with the voiceless sound s
• Make the words ending with the voiced sound z
• Show vowel length with your hands as you say these words. (Hold your hands close together for the shorter words, then farther apart for the longer words.)
  
  

1. Bruce – bruise
2. bus – buzz
3. close (adjective) – close (verb)
4. dose – doze 
5. gross – grows
6. ice – eyes
7. loose – lose
8. loss – laws
9. pace – pays
10. pierce – peers
    
    

Sentence Practice

• Say these sentences out loud.
• Make the words ending with the sound s
• Make the words ending with the sound z longer (they are underlined).
• Show vowel length with your hands as you say these words.

1. Bruce got a bad bruise.
2. The electric bus is buzzing.
3. I’m not close enough to close it.
4. This extra dose will help you doze.
5. It’s gross how fast my ear hair grows.
6. His blue eyes were like ice.
7. You’re going to lose that loose wheel.
8. We took a loss under the new tax laws.
9. It pays to keep a steady pace.
10. She wants to pierce her ears like her peers.
    
    

The Takeaway

Making one-syllable English words the correct length is an essential skill. Why? Because English speakers recognize a word not only by its sounds but also by its musical form and length.

Making the vowel sounds in all one-syllable words the same length is like selling shoes that only come in one size—small. You are forcing feet of different lengths into the same small space.

Words, like feet, come in different shapes and lengths.

Transform your English and your life with Speak Excellent English.