The document provides a short lesson on the pronunciation of the vowel sounds /ɪ/ as in "ship" and /i:/ as in "sheep" in English. It explains that /ɪ/ is a shorter, more relaxed sound, while /i:/ is longer. Example words containing each sound are given. Readers are asked to think of vocabulary from their field of study containing the sounds.

1. /ɪ/ ‘ship’ and /i:/ ‘sheep’ in English
A short lesson and practice

2. /ɪ/
ship
This sound is relaxed and short.
It’s easier to pronounce if you
keep the front of your mouth
slightly open, and relax your
tongue.
• trip
• this
• pit
• hill
Some example English words
that have this sound:
Do you know more?
• fish
• chips
• rich
• with

3. /i:/
sheep
This sound is longer than the
/ɪ/ sound in ‘ship’. It’s the
same as the name of the
letter ‘E’ in English. It also
helps to smile while you say
this sound.
• mean
• these
• team
• sheet
Some example English words
that have this sound:
Do you know more?
• beach
• creek/creak
• neat
• seem/seam

4. Practice with
‘minimal
pairs’
/ɪ/ in ‘ship’ /i:/ in ‘sheep’
sit seat
fit feet
live leave
hit heat

5. Key terms
from your
field
Can you think of
English vocabulary
words from your field
of study that have
these two sounds?
/ɪ/ in ‘ship’ /i:/ in ‘sheep’