Hadar Shemesh teaches the long O sound in words like go, show, and only. It's a diphthong that glides from open O toward a slight W or OO ending, not the AW sound many English learners use instead.
Here we have the 'o' as in 'go.' Now this is a neutral 'o' sound, and that actually does not exist in American English. So there is no 'o' in English. There are similar sounds. There is the 'aw' sound that is a bit more open, but a neutral 'o' does not exist. So a lot of times when people try to make that 'o' diphthong as in 'go' and 'show' and 'only,' they end up saying something like 'only' and 'go' and 'show,' right? So they don't round the lips at the end to an 'oo' sound. And you may even want to think about it as if you're adding a 'w' at the end, right? 'Oh,' 'only,' 'don't.' A long vowel, a changing vowel, and you're transitioning from the 'o' to the 'oo.' only. Hotel. Not hotel. Definitely not hotel. Show. Okay, so that's the long O as in goat.
Read Out Loud with me! Dare to Lead by Brené Brown | Pronunciation & Vocabulary practice
