Vowel Sound / ɛ / as in "bed" - American English Pronunciation

Learn how to pronounce the vowel sound /ɛ/. Practice the /ɛ/ vowel in words like "get," "best," or "friend" recorded by a professional speech therapist. Improve your American accent with phonetics exercises for the /ɛ/ sound. Find out about the most common spelling rules for the /ɛ/ vowel sound. There may or may not be a bonus at the very end of the video :). By the way, here's our website: https://soundsamerican.net/ Quick links: • Vowel sound /ɛ/, as in "bed:" 00:00 • How to make the /ɛ/ sound: 00:58 • Pronunciation exercise: 02:19 • Spelling for the sound /ɛ/: 04:31 Related videos: #AmericanPronunciation #VowelSounds #FrontlVowels ► Interactive Vowel Sounds Chart: American English Pronunciation https://goo.gl/IwiOIn ► Vowel sound /æ/, as in "cat":    • Vowel Sound / æ / as in "cat" - American E...   ► Vowel sound /eɪ/, as in "make":    • Vowel Sound / eɪ / as in "make" - American...   ► Contrasting sound /ɛ/ vs /æ/, as in "bed" and "bad":    • Bed or Bad? Head or Had? Men or Man? Ameri...   [THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, SPANISH, JAPANESE, CHINESE, VIETNAMESE, KOREAN, RUSSIAN, AND PORTUGUESE SUBTITLES] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIPT Hello there! This is the "Sounds American" channel. In this video, we"re going to talk about the American vowel sound /ɛ/, as in the word "bed." You can also hear this sound in words like "get," "head," "many," or "friend." We"ll be using a special phonetic symbol - /ɛ/ - for this sound. Let"s check if you can recognize the /ɛ/ sound. Listen to these words: "bed and bad." If they sound the same to you or if you"re not sure about it, this video might help you. Keep watching, and let's find out how to make this vowel sound. OK, to pronounce the /ɛ/ sound, you should focus on the correct position of your tongue and jaw. Partially open your mouth, slightly spread your lips, and relax them. Push your tongue to the front of your mouth and relax it. Raise the middle of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. The tip of your tongue can be lowered just behind your bottom front teeth. Remember, the /ɛ/ is a relaxed sound, so your tongue and lips should be relaxed. Your jaw should be partially lowered. Now, let's try saying it: /ɛ/, /ɛ/, /ɛ/. [Pronunciation exercise] Now, let's practice this sound in some words. You'll see a word on the screen and hear its pronunciation. Like this: [bed] You'll have a few seconds to pronounce the word if you want to. Let's begin. • beg • bell • belt • bench • bend • bent • best • bet • blend • bless • bread • breadth • breast • breath • cell • cent • check • chef • chest • crept • dead • deaf • death • debt • deck • delve • den • depth • desk You're done! Congratulations! Did you know that the /ɛ/ sound is written as the letter 'e' 92% of the time? A bit more on the topic of spelling: usually, this sound is written with the letter 'e,' as in "bed." In the rest of the cases, it can be spelled with the combination of letters 'ea,' as in the word "head;" And with the letter 'a,' as in the word "many;" or by a combination of the letters 'ie' as in the word "friend." Thanks for watching! Hope you find this video useful. Stay tuned on our Sounds American channel!