English Highway Podcast

Pronunciation: The short /e/ (#0260)

Learn the short /e/ vowel sound using vocabulary words and
sentences.
Announcer:

Youre about to listen to an audio lesson from OpenEnglish.com.

Welcome back! Im Andres Moreno, and Ill be your coach for todays
audio lesson. Im excited about this lesson because we will be working on
a very common sound in the English language.
The sound Im referring to is the short e sound. Its in the words: tell
and welcome. Can you hear it? tell welcome.
So repeat after me:
tell
welcome
You got it. Once again:
tell
welcome
Heres a few more words for you to practice. Repeat after me:
bed
And again:
bed
Heres another word. Repeat after me:
bread
And stretch it, come on:
bread
Longer:
bread
Thats it, you got it. One more word for you to practice. Repeat after me:
head
head
head
An original Open English production in association with Cl@se.
Copyright FoxyP2 Inc. and Rainbow Heights International LLC

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head
Way to go! Can you hear it now?
Say:
yes
yes
The word yes contains the short e sound. So repeat after me:
Yes!
Shout it out loud:
Yes!
You got it! Lets keep practicing.
If youre visiting a friends house, what might you see?
Repeat after me:
a television
Once again:
a television
television
Thats right. Television contains the short e sound:
television
Heres another word, telephone.
telephone
Way to go! At your friends house, you could also find a shelf. So repeat
after me:
shelf
shelf
Thats it. Now, lets practice asking some questions. Repeat after me:
Does Jeff have a nice bedroom?
And again, repeat after me:
Does Jeff have a nice bedroom?

An original Open English production in association with Cl@se.

Copyright FoxyP2 Inc. and Rainbow Heights International LLC

Page 2 of 5

bedroom
And again, come on:
bedroom
Now the whole question. Repeat after me:
Does Jeff have a nice bedroom?
Good job! Heres another question. Repeat after me:
May I use the restroom?
restroom
May I use the restroom?
Thats it. Heres another common question. Repeat after me:
Do you need to use the restroom?
Way to go! That was a long one. Lets practice it again. Repeat after me:
Do you need to use the restroom?
Way to go. An answer might be, Ill go after the lesson.
So repeat after me:
Ill go after the lesson.
lesson
Come on, stretch the sound:
lesson
Now the whole sentence. Repeat after me:
Ill go after the lesson.
Way to go. Lets keep practicing. Heres another question. Repeat after
me:
Do you want some bread?
Stretch the word:
bread
Do you want some bread?

An original Open English production in association with Cl@se.

Copyright FoxyP2 Inc. and Rainbow Heights International LLC

Page 3 of 5

Way to go. Heres a common expression that helps you answer that
question. Repeat after me:
Help yourself.
And again, repeat after me:
Help yourself.
That expression means you can go ahead and get some bread.
So youre doing great. Were almost finished with this session. In order to
end this, please shout out:
I get it!
get
Stretch it:
get
I get it!
Way to go! Lets finish by repeating out loud the words we just practiced
with the short e sound. Repeat after me:
Welcome
get
help
bread
lesson
restroom
telephone
You can do it! Come on, put some energy into it:
Welcome
get
help
You can do it, come on. Were almost there. Repeat after me:
bread
lesson
restroom
An original Open English production in association with Cl@se.
Copyright FoxyP2 Inc. and Rainbow Heights International LLC

Page 4 of 5

telephone
Alright, two more. Repeat after me:
television
bed
That was excellent! Congratulations! With every new audio lesson, your
listening and speaking skills are getting better and better. Continue to
listen to these lessons as often as possible because remember, practice
makes perfect!
For additional practice, turn on your computer and go to
OpenEnglish.com. At OpenEnglish, youll find hundreds of interactive
lessons and videos to help you perfect your English. Accelerate your
English today. See you soon.

Additional practice: Short e vowel sound

Words:
tell
welcome
bed
bread
head
yes
television
telephone
shelf
bedroom
restroom
lesson
bread
Sentences:
Does Jeff have a nice bedroom?
May I use the restroom?
Do you need to use the restroom?
Ill go after the lesson.
Do you want some bread?
Help yourself.

An original Open English production in association with Cl@se.

Copyright FoxyP2 Inc. and Rainbow Heights International LLC

Page 5 of 5