This document provides a pronunciation lesson on the vowels /æ/ and /ɛ/ and the consonants /n/, /l/, and /ŋ/. It discusses sounds that are commonly confused for each letter, how to produce the sounds in the mouth, individual practice sentences, and additional practice sentences combining the sounds.

1. /æ/ vs./ɛ/ and
/n/ vs. /l/ and /ŋ/
Pronunciation Lesson
Ms. Quiñones

2. VOWELS

3. Sounds of the day
Vowels
 /æ/ as in apple, bad, and math
 /ɛ/ as in end, bed, and slept

4. Commonly Confused Sounds
 /æ/ and /ɛ/ are commonly confused with each other.
 Ex. “bed” vs. “bad” or “pedal” vs. “paddle”
 /æ/ can be confused with other vowels, like /ai/
 Ex. “mite” for “mat” or “find” for “fanned”
 /ɛ/ is often confused with /ai/ or /I/
 Ex. “sighed” for “said” or “bide” for “bed”
 Ex. “bid” for “bed” or “wit” for “wet”

5. Vowels of the day: /æ/&/ɛ/
 /æ/
 Pronounced with the lips pulled back and teeth open, the
tongue forward and low in the mouth
 /ɛ/
 Pronounced with the lips relaxed, but open; the tongue is
forward and at middle-low position in the mouth

6. Individual Practice
 /æ/
 The mad man sat in the sand and clapped as the bad
band was canned.
 /ɛ/
 The best bellboy at the hotel went to send the letter to the
red-headed director, who was said to be better than his
dead friend.

7. Put it together
 Even the best bed went bad when ten tall friends spent
time adding to the heavy load it had held haphazardly.
 When the bad bed fell, the ten had to take a bath to
deaden the headache that threatened their fun fad of
setting pads on the bad bed.

8. Additional Practice
1. The mad men mentioned that Ted and Tad had been
bad before bed.
2. Sally sells ads in Harry’s magazine which is sent to ten
addressees in Harrisburg.
3. Ben can bend metal better than Barry.
4. Malory bet Melanie that the men could pedal
paddleboats faster than the women could paddle rafts.

9. CONSONANTS

10. Sounds of the day
Consonants
 /n/ as in nail, dinner, and pain
 /l/ as in leave, mellow, and yell
 /ŋ/ as in finger, brung, and sang

11. Commonly Confused Sounds
 /n/ is often confused with /l/ or /ŋ/
 /l/ for /n/ = “lay” for “nay” or “low” for “no”
 /ŋ/ for /n/ = “sing” for “sin” or “fang” for “fan”
 /l/ is often confused with /n/ or /ð/
 /n/ for /l/ = “nern” for “learn” or “known” for “loan”
 /ð/ for /l/ = “they” for “lay” or “though” for “low”
 /ŋ/ is often confused with /n/ or /nk/
 /n/ for /ŋ/ = “run” for “rung” or “thin” for “thing”
 /nk/ for /ŋ/ = “sink” for “sing” or “hunk” for “hung”

12. Production
 /n/
 Pronounced with the tongue pressed behind the
teeth, forcing air through the nose, lips open, vocal cords
vibrating.

13. Production
 /l/
 Pronounced with the tip of the tongue pressed behind the
teeth, lips open, the air is forced around the sides of the
mouth, vocal cords vibrating.

14. Production
 /ŋ/
 Pronounced with the back of the tongue pressed against
the roof of the mouth, forcing air through the nose, lips
open, vocal cords vibrating (tip of tongue loose)

15. Practice
 /n/
 Naomi needs a nifty nook to nap in. Then she can make
dinner for Nancy and Sandi.
 /l/
 Let Lee leave his yellow pail in your sailboat. He’ll call Al
to clear up all the leftovers later.
 /ŋ/
 Norma sings as she brings the rings for the wedding.

16. Put it together
 Neal never nails his songs. Norma thinks Neal’s singing
stinks because he nips ginger ale and snacks on
vanilla wafers all the time. Neal is not thin.
 Under the lever is a client’s number. Can Nelly bring
the client’s number to Norman and Sally’s new office?
Please notify Nelly not to bring the wrong thing.

17. Additional Practice
1. Never nap on Neptune. Nero left laws outlawing
Neptunian naps.
2. Sing a song about a silly sink.
3. Melly, lean on Nelly if you need relief from hanging
nets tonight.
4. Tonight, twilight will leave a little light for nightlife.
5. Ron runs up the rungs nightly, ringing bells to let them
know the tank is low.