I love Lucy. English Pronunciation

Next week we will be having a quick look at diphthongs. You may think that  words with "ou" may be pronounced /aʊ/ like in 

ground /ɡraʊnd/ 

 plough /plaʊ/  

or /əʊ/

 like in though /ðəʊ/ 

soul  /səʊl/

If you are in trouble, just let me tell you you are not the only one. Have a look at this segment from a popular sitcom from the 50' that shows how complicated this can be.

Some of the words  ending in "ough"  Ricardo has problem with are:

 

  bough   /baʊ/     pronounced like  ground /ɡraʊnd/  or plough /plaʊ/  

  rough   /rʌf/       pronounced like  tough  /tʌf/  or enough /ɪˈnʌf/

  through  /θruː/   pronounced like  queue  /kju:/or true /tru:/    

  cough  /kɒf/       pronounced like   cost  /kɒst/  or because //bɪˈkɒz/

Do you think that is all?

He could go on reading the story and find more examples like the ones below:

brought /brɔːt/ like thought /θɔːt/ or caught /kɔːt/

though /ðəʊ/  like  shoulder  /ˈʃəʊldə(r)/  or owe  /əʊ/ 

If we only take "ou" the variety of sounds is even bigger:

would /wʊð/    

journey /ˈdʒɜː(r)ni/

tourist /ˈtʊərɪst/

soup   /su:p/

all of them with the  same spelling but different pronunciation.

You may agree with Ricardo and think you have had enough  /ɪˈnʌf/ but Won't you stay for a couple of minutes and play with sounds before leaving?

How about going on playing?