Now that you have attended your first class, listen to the following words and sentences.
Practice pronouncing the vowel sounds as you learned in this lesson.

Please repeat after me…

/a/ Words- Slow Pace

/a/ Words- Normal Pace

/a/ Sentences- Slow Pace

/a/ Sentences- Normal Pace

I thought Mom bought the soft socks.

He did not want to study law in college.

The honest man has gone to his job.

Even though its motto was popular, John thought the hot dog was awful.

Tom taught Rob how to climb rocks.

My father thought the clock had been robbed.

/ae/ Words- Slow Pace

/ae/ Words- Normal Pace

/ae/ Sentences- Slow Pace

/ae/ Sentences- Normal Pace

Dad ran after the happy family and laughed.

We camped in a fantastic castle with our cat.

I have a habit of being sad about past matters.

It doesn’t matter what brand the hat is.

Please hand me the map rapidly.

He couldn’t withstand a hot bath after his nap.

Compare /a/ with /ae/

(Answers below)

A /a/                              B  /ae/

Answers

B  axe

A  fox

A  lock

B  tap

B  map

A  sod

A  slop

A  hog

B  stack

A  cot

B  black

B  ma'am

Practice the /a/ and /ae/ sounds

An /a/ story

Tom and John Foster were brothers who fought a lot and would rarely stop. John would call Tom an awful rotten brat and Tom would call John a monster. To be honest, their father couldn't stand their fighting and often wished he had daughters instead of sons. The boys had lost their mom when they were small and Ron, (Tom and John's father) wondered what he was doing wrong as a parent. One August morning, Tom and John started in with their awful fighting when a coffee pot fell off a tall shelf and hit John on the head. When John didn't move, Tom began to stomp around him. When he still didn't move, Tom threw water on John. When nothing happened, Tom began to think that something was really wrong with John. Tom wanted to get his father, but Ron was already gone. Tom was about to call 911 when John started to talk. "Tom, what happened?" he asked. "Oh John," said Tom, "I thought I had lost you just like we did Mom. I promise to be a better brother to you." When Ron came home he found an awesome change in John and Tom. And they honestly didn't fight again for a long time.

An /ae/ story

Alan Tanner’s dad was visiting from Alaska where he lived in a cabin year-round except for the month of January. Every January, Albert Tanner (Alan’s dad), would travel to Alabama to see his family. He was absolutely ecstatic to see his grandkids this year. He had been planning to take his family to Los Angeles. Since Alan only had a Volkswagen, he had to rent a van.

On Saturday, after the last grandkid had piled into the van, they fastened their seatbelts and happily headed down the avenue when Alan almost ran over a cat. He swerved and hit an advertisement that read Stanley’s Famous Ham Sandwiches.The accident wasn’t that bad because Alan hadn’t been driving that fast. But a man standing at a newsstand ran over to see what had happened.“What’s the matter?” he asked. Alan answered that they were traveling to California, that his family was fine, and that there was no damage to the van. But he said that the man who owned “Stanley’s Famous Ham Sandwiches” was going to be mad because there was a tear in the ad.But luckily the man he was chatting with happened to be Stanley himself. He smiled at the family and said, “I planned to take the ad down this afternoon anyway. So just relax and have a fantastic time in California.”Alan, Albert, and their family were glad to hear that, and once again, they happily headed towards California in their van.

An /a/ vs /ae/ story

This is the story of two siblings named Paul and Anne. Anne was the eldest daughter of the family while Paul was her younger brother by about four years. Like many brothers and sisters, Paul and Anne had their differences. For example, Paul liked to knock a ball around with his baseball bat. On the other hand, Anne preferred to stay indoors and read or go out and shop. Paul and Anne normally got along well enough until it was time to watch TV. Anne liked to watch a cartoon called “Dolls” while Paul enjoyed action and adventure shows. The problem was that Paul and Anne’s mother would only allow them to watch TV in the living room. To make matters worse, the shows they liked to watch were on during the same time slot. One day, Paul got so frustrated during TV time that he threw the remote control at Anne and ran out crying. Anne was quite a bit older than Paul and she was worried a lot about what he might do next. Anne ran out as well in order to find her younger brother Paul. Anne took stock of the situation and thought about where Paul might go next. Meanwhile, Paul had reached the outside of the local toy shop. “That selfish Anne, I should slap her.” Paul thought to himself as he entered the toy shop. Suddenly, a strange man poked Paul from the back. “What’s wrong, son? Here, don’t cry and have a lollipop.” Paul took one look at the man and he was frozen in shock. The man looked terrifying with beady eyes and scruffy hair that looked like a mop. That was when Anne’s voice was heard from the top of the shop. “Stop it, Paul. Don’t take that lollipop!” This startled the strange man who left the shop with a skip and a hop. Paul saw Anne and he ran to his sister while knocking over some boxes. “Anne, you came for me even though I wanted to slap you.” “Of course I did, Paul. You’re my only brother and I’m not about to give you up to some guy giving out strange lollipops.” said Anne as she picked Paul up, “but what’s this about giving me a slap?” “It’s nothing, Anne. Can we go home please? I just want to take a nice long nap.”

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