Liz Explains: How to pronounce ALLOW

Japanese speakers often mispronounce the word “allow.” That’s because “OW” can have 2 very different pronunciations! Click the video to watch on YouTube! (Or read the article below!)

Hi, it's Liz Bigler with Bigler English Coaching, and I want to talk to you today about a very simple thing that a lot of Japanese speakers have a problem with when it comes to pronunciation. (You can watch this video on YouTube by clicking the video image!)

If you saw the two letters “OW”, what sound would you say they make? The answer: it’s kind of a trick question because the combination of these two letters can make two very different sounds, and they’re both very common.

If you’ve been studying with me, you know about the Color Vowel Approach ®, and the way we use it to categorize sounds. With the letter combination, “OW,” one of the sounds is the ROSE BOAT sound. (The same sound as the sound you hear in the word “rose” and in the word “boat.”) . The "ow" makes the "ROSE" sound in words like "snow," "grow," "below," “known,” or "throw."

The other (very different!)) sound it makes is what we call the BROWN COW sound, the sound that you hear in the word "brown," "now," "tower," or "crowded."

These are very different sounds, and they’re both spelled the same way. That’s why I love to have my private students use the Color Vowel ®l chart, so we can talk about the sounds, regardless of how they are spelled.

The mistake that people often make is that when they see a word like "allow," they think the sound is the same as in "low" (ROSE). While it’s true that "low" uses the ROSE color sound, "allow" actually uses the BROWN sound.

For example, Japanese speakers might pronounce "allow" more like "hello," but it’s hard for American speakers to recognize that word if you pronounce it with that vowel sound. To make it easier to remember, think of the BROWN COW sound for "allow." Even though it contains the word "low," remember that it's pronounced with the BROWN sound.

I hope this is helpful! Please leave comments below and let me know if you have any other questions. I’m here to help! Also, if you are interested in studying privately with me, please contact me through my website www.BiglerEnglishCoaching.com.

Thanks, and bye!

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