Bottle or battle?

Hear the vowels /ɑː/ and /æ/, then try two blind listening trials.

Watch the board, hear the explanation and the examples, and choose before each answer appears. Pause to think or say the words aloud. Captions include the spoken answers; turn them off for the listening challenge. Narration and examples use General American English, synthesized with the Andrew voice.

General American English. The narration and the spoken examples are synthesized with Microsoft Azure Speech, the Andrew voice. No music. Captions include the answers; leave them off for the listening challenge. About our audio.

Full lesson text and spoken examples · English captions

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Full lesson text and spoken examples

The listening answers appear in this text. Try the video first if you want to test yourself.

  1. Bottle or battle? One vowel changes the word.
  2. Spoken example: bottle
  3. Bottle, mouth wide open, tongue low and back.
  4. Spoken example: battle
  5. Battle, jaw down, tongue low and forward.
  6. In both words, the middle t is the same quick tap.
  7. So listen to the first vowel, back or forward.
  8. Ask for a bottle with the wrong vowel, and you might start a battle.
  9. Your turn, bottle or battle?
  10. Spoken example: battle
  11. Spoken example: battle
  12. Battle, tongue forward.
  13. Again, bottle or battle?
  14. Spoken example: bottle
  15. Spoken example: bottle
  16. Bottle, tongue back.
  17. The same change, in more pairs.
  18. Spoken example: hot
  19. Spoken example: hat
  20. Spoken example: top
  21. Spoken example: tap
  22. Back for bottle, forward for battle.
  23. Practise in the minimal pairs game, and choose the word you hear.

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