Ms. Poms pioneered the accent-reduction program at the Hearing and Speech Center of Florida and has provided accent-reduction training for many performers. One of her more famous students is Julio Iglesias, who received diction and pronunciation coaching from her. | PRONOUNCING u Eips Relaxed and slightly parted Jaw Slightly lower than for u Tongue High but lower than for u Remember NOT to protrude your lips and tense them as you would for u . u is a short quick sound your lips should barely move while saying it. Practice u as you should and you ll be understood Practice EXERCISE A Listen and repeat. Remember to relax your lips and jaw as you produce u . u In the Middle of Words cook shook foot full push brook book could hood good put sugar stood wood woman look took cushion The vowel u occurs only in the middle of words in English. u Spelled u oo OU pull wool could put wood would push hook should îîÿr . bullet good pudding cookie note A less frequent spelling pattern for u is the letter o. wolf woman 111 Lesson 8 37 hint The letters oo followed by d or k are usually pronounced u . hood good wood book look cook The letter u followed by sh is usually pronounced u . bush push cushion exercise b Listen and repeat. Pay attention to the u sound in the boldfaced words. 1. Look out 2. Take a good look. 3. It s good-looking. 4. He couldn t come. 5. Should we go 6. Who took my book 7. Put the wood away. 8. He took a look at the crook. 9. The woman stood on one foot. 10. Could you eat ten sugar cookies CHECK YOURSELF 0 Listen carefully to the following sentences. Some words that should be pronounced with u will be said incorrectly. Circle C if the pronunciation of the words in the sentence is correct. Circle I if the pronunciation of the words in the sentence is incorrect. For answers see Appendix II page 275. EXAMPLES You hear I was fool after eating. You circle C T You hear The cushion is soft. You circle c I 1. C I 2. C I 3. C I 4. C I 5. C I 6. C I 7. C I 8. C I 9. C I 10. C I 38 Part 1 Vowels More Practice EXERCISE A . . . JJ Read aloud the paragraph about Little Red Riding Hood. Pay attention to the boldfaced words containing the vowel u . Remember to relax your lips as you say u . Little Red Riding Hood One of our favorite .
