Master the difference between the short /ɒ/ (as in what and hot) and the long /ɔː/ (as in water and talk). In this lesson, you’ll practice mouth positioning, tongue placement, and vowel length through repetition, word pairs, and tongue twisters. Perfect for sharpening your ear and improving your British English pronunciation. Exaggeration techniques included for maximum effect.

Transcript:

/ɒ/- What, hot, not, dog, lot, shop, clock, pocket, follow, hobby, What, watch, want, wallet, wash, wander,

/ɔː/- water, law, talk, walk, warm, thought, short, more, board, quarter, water, walk, talk, warm, wardrobe, warning,

(Minimal pairs 1)

hot — haaaawl,

not — nooorth,

dog — dawwwwrn,

what — waaa-ter,

cot — cooourt

(Minimal pairs 2)

what — water,

dog — talk,

watch — walk,

lot — law,

want — warm,

clock — caught,

pocket — board,

shop — short,

follow — fall,

wander — warning,

wash – warm,

wallet – wardrobe,

quantity – quarter,

not — north

(Minimal pairs 3)

dog — dawn,

cot — court,

rot — road,

got — gore,

pop — pour,

shock — shore,

cross — coarse,

body — board,

hobby — hoard,

off — or

(Tongue Twisters)

“Tom’s small shop sold lots of hot chocolate pots.”

“Tall Paul taught four warm dogs to walk by the shore.”

“Wanda watched Walter walk past the shop with a long, warm stopwatch.”

“Short dogs got lost on the long walk to the old forest.”

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