A problem with short i

Question

I can't repeat short i when I'm hearing it (I currently use long e instead of short i). How do I learn that or may that be impossible for me?

Answer 1

/i:/ is the vowel that we find in the word FLEECE. I put that word in capitals because that is how that vowel is often referred to by linguists: the fleece vowel - or FLEECE for short. (This is not random, the word was specifically chosen for a number of specific reasons.) It is the vowel sound at the end of the word guarantee. In transcriptions of British English it has a colon [ : ] in the symbol to describe the length.

/ɪ/ is the vowel in the word KIT. It is known as the kit vowel - or KIT for short. It is the vowel we find in prefixes and suffixes, the bits we stick onto the beginnings and ends of words. So, for example it is the vowel we hear in --ing verb endings. We can also hear it in the words will, sit and with.

If you say the < y > sound that we find in the word yes, and then say the < e> we find in the word end, the kit vowel is somewhere between the two sounds. This is the first vowel in the word infinitely. This word would sound very odd to a native speaker if it was said with a fleece vowel, /i:/! It would sound like a made-up word: eenfinitely.

One way to try and make a good KIT vowel is to try to make a sound that's half way between the /i:/ in seat and the /e/ in set. If you aren't used to making the KIT vowel, it should be difficult to tell whether the word you're making sounds like /i/ or /e/. If it sounds a bit like both, but not very like either one then you're on the right track.

Another trick is to say the sound /i:/ for a very long time, maybe for five seconds or so. Now do the same with the vowel /e/. Now do the same thing again but change the vowel very slowly so that it starts on /i/ and ends on /e/. You need to do this very, very slowly so that you can only just hear the vowel changing. After you've done this a couple of times, stop half way through and listen to that sound. Try and hold that sound for a few seconds. Next, listen to this video from BBC learning English. Does the speaker's KIT vowel sound sound more like an /e/ than yours? If so, you need to make it more /e/-like. If it sounds more /i/-like, then you need to make ours more /i/-like too.

One last tip: very often, but not always, learners find it difficult to say the KIT vowel when it's the main vowel in the word, but they say it very well in prefixes and suffixes in English. So if your KIT vowel in interesting is different from your kit vowel in sit, the vowel you are making in interesting is the one you want to use in the word sit. If these vowels are the same for you, then try the vowel at the end of interesting. If that vowel is different from the vowel you use in sit, try using that vowel in the word sit instead. Try using this vowel when repeating the words on the linked-to video.

Remember, there's nothing like frequent practise for improving your ear. Keep listening to videos like the one I linked to. Record yourself and listen back. Do this frequently, but not for long periods of time (otherwise you'll get very bored!).

Good luck!