日本語表示
PRONUNCIATION: BASIC SOUNDS
The Other U Sound and the O-O Sound
/ʊ/ and /u/

GOAL

I can make the other U sound and the O-O sound.

TRY IT!

Read the sentence below.

Are you sure you’re cooking Japanese food?

SOUNDS

Learn how to pronounce today's sounds.
Sound Profile

/ʊ/

Voicing

yes

Mouth

slightly open

Lips

slightly rounded + pushed forward

Teeth

Tongue

the back of the tongue raised

Jaw

Steps

  1. Slightly open your mouth.

  2. Slightly round your lips and push them forward. The back of your tongue should be raised.

  3. Make a voiced sound.

Katakana Otoshiana

Because there is no perfect match for the other U sound in Japanese, many English words with that sound are written with u (ウ) in katakana.

 

book ➡ bukku (ブック)

sugar ➡ shugaa (シュガー)

woman ➡ uuman (ウーマン)

 

Be careful to make them the other U sound in English!

/u/

Voicing

yes

Mouth

slightly open

Lips

rounded + pushed forward

Teeth

Tongue

the back of the tongue raised

Jaw

Steps

  1. Slightly open your mouth.

  2. Round your lips and push them forward. The back of your tongue should be raised.

  3. Make a voiced sound.

Katakana Otoshiana

Many English words with the O-O sound are written with a chouonpu (長音符) in katakana.

 

boots ➡ buutsu (ブーツ)

pool ➡ puuru (プール)

room ➡ ruumu (ルーム)

 

Be careful not to hold the sound too long in English.

Steps

  1. Slightly open your mouth.

  2. Slightly round your lips and push them forward. The back of your tongue should be raised.

  3. Make a voiced sound.

Steps

  1. Slightly open your mouth.

  2. Round your lips and push them forward. The back of your tongue should be raised.

  3. Make a voiced sound.

Katakana Otoshiana

Because there is no perfect match for the other U sound in Japanese, many English words with that sound are written with u (ウ) in katakana.

 

book ➡ bukku (ブック)

sugar ➡ shugaa (シュガー)

woman ➡ uuman (ウーマン)

 

Be careful to make them the other U sound in English!

Katakana Otoshiana

Many English words with the O-O sound are written with a chouonpu (長音符) in katakana.

 

boots ➡ buutsu (ブーツ)

pool ➡ puuru (プール)

room ➡ ruumu (ルーム)

 

Be careful not to hold the sound too long in English.

WORDS

Practice today’s sounds in the words below.

/ʊ/

book

cook

woman

push

wood

hook

/u/

two

boot

student

tissue

moon

pool

SENTENCES

Practice today’s sounds in the sentences below.

/ʊ/

  1. The woman is looking for sugar.
  2. Who took the cookbook?
  3. Push the hook into the wood.
  4. Ann should put sugar in her tea.
  5. Your cooking looks good.

/u/

  1. Did you see the new moon?
  2. Sue wants two pairs of boots.
  3. He wrapped the food in tissue paper.
  4. The students moved to a bigger schoolroom.
  5. The blue pool is cool.

/ʊ/ + /u/

  1. You should buy two new hooks.
  2. The food is good.
  3. You could wear boots.
  4. The student bought two books and some food.
  5. Sue put a box of tissues in the baby’s room.

DIALOGUES

Practice today’s sounds in the dialogues below.

/ʊ/

Tutor:

May I look at your book?
Student:

Sure. It’s really good. You should read it!
Tutor:

What’s it about? The woman on the cover looks scary.
Student:

I think you would like her. She has a magic hook and puts magic spells on bad people.

/u/

Student:

I’m moving to a new house next week. My new house is next to the school!
Tutor:

Oh, nice! You won’t have to ride the bus to school.
Student:

Yeah, I can walk to school! By the way, my new house has a pool!
Tutor:

Cool! Can I swim in your pool?
Student:

Of course! I want to have a pool party with everyone from school in June.

/ʊ/ + /u/

Student:

Could you get some new wood for the oven?
Tutor:

Sure. What food are you going to cook?
Student:

I’m going to cook some Japanese food.
Tutor:

But you have sugar. Are you sure you’re cooking Japanese food?
Student:

Yeah. Look at the cookbook – some Japanese food has sugar in it.

TRY IT AGAIN!

Reread the sentence below.

Are you sure you’re cooking Japanese food?