Short vowel sound is the name for vowels that do not say the name of the letter (such as "a" in "late"). Even though the name is short vowel, only E, I and U are actually shorter sounds. Generally when there is one vowel in a word, either at the beginning or between two consonants, the vowel is a short vowel.

A as in "cat" -- after, ask, black, fast, happen, laugh, language, math, pattern, travel

A as in "all" -- are, draw, farm, large, part, small, saw, talk, want, water

A with n/m -- am, an, dam, answer, example, can, family, plant, cram, stand

We saw a large cat who sat on a branch above a car. All of a sudden, the branch snapped. That agile cat dashed to safety. The car was not so lucky.

E as in "met' -- bed, best, center, develop, end, forever, friend, help, less, measure

Everyone who entered the entertainment complex enjoyed the complimentary entrees at the cafe. Particularly, those who are hungry!

I as in "sit" -- animal, big, begin, children, fish, figure, give, interest, live, minute

The big cat will lick a chick if it catches it. But, it will hiss at the big hen.

O as in "hot" -- body, common, cross, dog, follow, long, often, possible, rock, strong

Mom got a job at a pet shop. The shop had pups, cats, birds, frogs, and fish. A lot of kids like to run to the shop after class and look at the pets.

U as in "up" -- but, cup, country, corrupt, enough, minute, much, run, study, lucky

Russ has great fun running on country roads. Sometimes when it rains, the roads will turn to mud. Then his mom will have much to do cleaning his muddy clothes.

Discussion Questions:

1. How is this practice helpful to you?

2. What problems, if any, do you think you have in English pronunciation?