Pronunciation - V & W

“Do you know how to say the ’w’ sound in English correctly? A lot of students mix up the ’v’ and ’w’ sounds in English. It’s a problem, because it will sound like you are saying completely different words, and people won’t understand you! For instance, ’west’ is a direction, but a ’vest’ is something you wear. Learn how to say V and W correctly in this pronunciation lesson. TRANSCRIPT Hello. Welcome to -- not “EngWid“. Today, I’m going to teach you the difference in pronunciation between a “V“ and a “W“. That’s “U“ times two. In some parts of America -- I don’t know which parts, which states -- I know people say “double yah“. We don’t actually say “double yah“ in Canada; it’s “double U“ versus the “V“. Now, this goes out to all of my friends who speak Chinese, Farsi, Arabic, German, Polish, Slovak, Czech, Slovenian, Russian, Ukrainian: As far as I understand, all of these languages have problems with the “V“ and the “W“. “Double yah“! The “double U“. Let me help you out. The easiest way to get this down straight is when you say the “V“ sounds, you’ve got to stick out your two front teeth and go “vuh“, “vuh“, “vuh“. No. 1 rule: When you want to say the “V“ sound, you have to stick your big front teeth out of your mouth over your bottom lip -- “vuh“. Your bottom lip is going to make the air come out, and it’s going to make the sound of “vuh“. If you look at this word, it’s “visor“, “visor“. You always need to put your teeth out like a beaver. The other letter is “W“. When we actually make the “W“ sound, you’re going to make like you’re going to kiss someone. “Wuah“, “wuah“, “wuah“. As you can see -- “V“, “wuah“ -- your mouth does a completely different thing with the two sounds. “V“, “wuah“, “wuah“. So let’s try -- let’s practice, first of all, making the “V“ sounds with some words. The first one is “visor“, “visor“. “Visor“ is the top part of a baseball cap that keeps the sun out of your eyes. The next one we have is “veil“. A “veil“ can be worn at a wedding. It covers the bride’s face, and in many countries around the world, women wear veils to hide their beautiful eyes. So “veil“ is a face covering -- “veil“. The next word is a “vest“, “vest“. “Vest“ is usually an article of clothing worn by a man. Women can wear vests as well, and it’s part of a three-piece suit: You have a tie, a shirt, a vest, and an over -- a suit jacket. I’m going to draw a vest. It’s going to be funny-looking. If you guys have ever seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I think the Oompa-Loompas wear a vest. And then you would have your shirt here. So the vest is, basically, like a jacket with no arms -- “vest“. The next one is a kind of car -- a very fast car -- and also a snake. This is a “viper“, “viper“. And the last “V“ sound for you today is “verse“, “verse“. “Verse“ we use in writing songs or poetry, and it’s a stanza of music or words that’s broken down into different parts of the song. “Verse“, “viper“, “vest“, “veil“, “visor“. Now -- hold on -- we’re going to go into the “W“ -- “double yah“ -- the “W“ sound. As I told you, once you -- when you say the “W“ sound, you’re going to make like you’re going to kiss someone. So Ronnie’s going to pretend she knows how to draw. These are lips and they’re going “wuah!“ They’re blowing you kisses or besos. The first “W“ word is “wiser“, “wiser“. The next one is “whale“, “whale“. “Ronnie, what’s a whale?“ A “whale“ is an animal -- a really, really big animal -- is it a fish? Is it an animal? I don’t know -- that lives in the ocean. And they like to eat peanuts. What? Yeah. “Wiser“ means someone is smarter than you. Maybe you are smarter than me because you know that whales don’t eat peanuts at all. The next one is “west“, “west“. “West“ is a direction. We have north, south -- oh, I hope I get this right --east, and west. This guy right here is “west“. If you are the fan of a band called “The Clash“ -- my favorite band ever -- they have a song that’s called “Gates of the West“. You don’t want to make a mistake and say, “Gates of the Vest“ because people think, “What? Okay, so you have a vest and then a gate. Gates with the vest. Oh, I don’t get it.“ So the song is “Gates of the West“. The next word is “wiper“, “wiper“. A “wiper“, you have -- if you have a car, I hope you need them. They are on your windshield, and they go, “wicky, wicky, wicky, wicky, wiper.“ They help to clear the rain or the other dead animals that fall onto your car off of your windshield so you can see when you’re driving. And the last “wuah“ word is “worse“. “Worse“ means “bad“, so “worse“. Now is the fun part, the exciting part, the challenging part: We have to contrast the “V“ and the “W“ with these words together. Ready? “Visor“, “wiser“. Now be careful: “Vooh“, “Wooh“. Give it a try. “Visor“, “wiser“. “Visor“, “wiser“. Okay. The next one: “Veil“, “veil“, “whale“, “whale“. “Veil“, “whale“. “Vest“, “vest“, “west“, “west“.