London Speech Workshop

This page offers a taste of some of the exercises we do at The London Speech Workshop, to help you master specific sounds.

As well as exercises like the one shown below, there are also games, pair work, and listening and recognition exercises. Students will also record themselves speaking sentences containing the sounds.

SAMPLE SOUND:     OR as in HORSE

POSITION:     THIS IS A LONG VOWEL. THE LIPS ARE  VERY ROUND, AND THE JAW IS SLIGHTLY DOWN. INSIDE THE MOUTH, THE TONGUE IS DOWN, AND THE SOUND IS MADE IN THE BACK OF MOUTH. 

CHECK THIS POSITION IN A MIRROR.

This sound often gets confused with its shorter neighbour, the sound ‘O’ as in Pot. The two sounds must be distinct or else can lead to misunderstanding. Try the following words. The word in capital letters is your target sound.

 n.b The jaw is slightly lower for ‘O’ and the ‘O’ sound is much shorter!

Shot   SHORT   

Pot   PORT

Cot    CAUGHT

Wok   WALK   

LISTEN AND REPEAT:

(Ask someone English – whose accent you like!- to say the following words for you. Record a few of them onto your mobile and practice at home. Use a mirror and keep aiming for the correct position. Notice – there is no ‘r’ sound! )
 

OR WORDS:

Storm, naughty, prawns, caution, organic, law, fork, war, mortified, daughter.

Make a list of the spellings you can see here. Next time you read a newspaper or document, see if you can pick out words you think have the target sound. Check them with a friend. How did you do?

SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT THE TARGET SOUND IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES. PRACTICE SAYING THEM OUT LOUD.

•  Norah was horribly bored by the awful talks about caution on mountain walks.
• Lord Broughton called for changes in the law when he saw a pauper ask for more water.

NOW FOR THE RECOGNITION CHALLENGE:

Below are a list of words, see if you can find all the words containing the target sound. There are 14 in total

Quarter            naughty         doll                 corset            stalk               guarded        order 

Lawn             dog                  door                mock              cough              founder      ghost

Bore                favorite         cautious          laugh             taught               four            walk

porridge         shopping         loaf                 Paul              yawn            lawyer           toast

 

Well done. You have completed some exercises from The London Speech Workshop. You are on your way to mastering English Pronunciation!

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