British Vowel Sound Masterclass –...
British Vowel Sound Masterclass – Lesson 3: What & Water Practice - The Short /ɒ/ and Long /ɔː/
British Pronunciation Tips by Lizzie Harris
Dec 12, 2025
06:00
Episode notes

Master the difference between the short /ɒ/ (as in what and hot) and the long /ɔː/ (as in water and talk). In this lesson, you’ll practice mouth positioning, tongue placement, and vowel length through repetition, word pairs, and tongue twisters. Perfect for sharpening your ear and improving your British English pronunciation. Exaggeration techniques included for maximum effect.

Transcript:

/ɒ/- What, hot, not, dog, lot, shop, clock, pocket, follow, hobby, What, watch, want, wallet, wash, wander,

/ɔː/- water, law, talk, walk, warm, thought, short, more, board, quarter, water, walk, talk, warm, wardrobe, warning,

(Minimal pairs 1)

hot — haaaawl,

not — nooorth,

dog — dawwwwrn,

what — waaa-ter,

cot — cooourt

(Minimal pairs 2)

what — water,

dog — talk,

watch — walk,

lo ... 

Keywords
language
english
pronunciation
accent
british pronunciation