Make the sound
®
DVD
Vowel grid reference: 2
This vowel is short.
1 Relax your tongue and allow the tongue tip to rest just behind your bottom front teeth.
2 The back of the tongue is high for this sound.
113
Q
114-116
When do I use this sound?
Spelling	Examples
U	put, pull, butcher
00	foot, stood
ou	could, would, should
0	wolf
Now try it!
Say each of these words and sentences aloud. Then compare your pronunciation with the model on tracks 114-116.
fij.II       pudding        pushed       sugar good waif      hooded could footstep cushion
1 This sugary pudding is full of goodness.
2 Wouldn't it be better if you looked for new wool socks?
3 Put the book on the shelf by all the other cookbooks.
book would
Section B: The sounds of English
Work on your Accent FOOT
C Wolves
Wolves used to be a common sight in the British countryside, but they're now extinct in the UK and wolf populations worldwide are generally on the decline. Europe used to be full of wolves, as was a good part of the United States. It was a normal sight to see large groups of wolves running through forests and woodlands. Wolves are cousins of the modern dog, and therefore look quite similar. Wolves have a strong connection with the full moon, and it often puts them in the mood to start howling. The reasons for this are not fully understood. Humans have always had an unusual relationship with wolves. There are lots of books about wolves, and references to them in folklore - like werewolves which could only be killed with a silver bullet, or the story of Little Red Riding Hood, in which a woman is eaten by a wolf. Over the years, there have been a few examples of wolves attacking humans, but it's more common for them to be a threat to livestock, such as sheep, which are farmed for their wool.
Am I doing something wrong?
Making the same vowel sound in the words GOOSE and FOOT. You are probably rounding the lips too much and holding the tongue too high.
Bring the back of your tongue down a little and don't push it out too far. Look on the Vowel positioning diagram (page 53) and compare the shapes of these vowels. The'foot' vowel sound is shorter than the'goose'vowel sound.
Watch the DVD to see and hear the difference between the two sounds.
Try the exercises below:
In a mirror, try swapping between the FOOT and GOOSE vowels quickly. Look for the movement of your tongue.
Look at the difference between the lip shapes. Feel how the back of the tongue moves slightly between each sound.
u h-ooooo-u h-ooooo-u h-ooooo-u h-ooooo-uh-ooooo u    u:    u     u:    u    u:    u    u:    u u: Then compare your own sound to the one on the audio track.
Now try swapping between some words which have the sounds, like FOOT and GOOSE or:
put-who put-who put-who
took-two took-two took-two
Notice how the /u:/ is longer and stronger, whilst the /u/ is light and bouncy.
The following sentence contains both /u:/ vowel sounds (in CAPrTALS) and /u/ vowel sounds (in italics). Say the sentence, and compare the two.
The rUde and mOOdy dUke could be reduced to a pussycat by the good woman's bEAUtiful mUsic.
Learning to hear the difference between the two sounds will help you to correct the problem.