This exercise can be used to improve your ability to correctly differentiate between the /i/ and /ɪ/ vowel sounds in English. Record yourself saying the contrasting word pairs in each exercise. Can you hear a difference between the vowel sounds in the word pairs?
/i/ as in heat
/ɪ/ as in hit
 |
 |
|---|---|
| tongue high-front tense spread lips longer in duration |
tongue high-front/central lax neutral lips shorter in duration |
| beat / beet | bit |
| heat | hit |
| reach | rich |
| week / weak | wick |
| team | Tim |
| feast | fist |
| meat / meet | mitt |
| least | list |
| eat | it |
| teen | tin |
| heel / heal | hill |
| each | itch |
| leave | live |
| bead | bid |
| peach | pitch |
| seat | sit |
| feel | fill |
| sleep | slip |
| feet | fit |
| cheap | chip |
| lean | Lynn |
| cheek | chick |
| deep | dip |
| peek / peak | pick |
Have you read the children’s book “Sheep on a Ship”?
Lynn knit a neat looking wool sweater.
Large bags of chips are cheap at Costco.
He had a big blister on his heel from climbing the steep hill.
The baby chick felt soft against my cheek.