Freediving with an amazing Dolphin off the West Coast of Ireland!
31 May 2026 #accents #phonetics #vowelsound
/iː/ (widely known in phonetics as the FLEECE vowel) is generally classified as a long, close/front, monophthong in Standard British English, and this is how it appears in dictionaries. But how far is this true?
In this video I explore how the sound behaves in different contexts including its surrounding sounds, its level of stress, and its variations in different accents throughout the UK and Ireland.
Some academics would go so far as to reclassify the sound as a diphthong to join the /eɪ,ʌɪ,ɔɪ/ group; I explore the pros and cons of this approach from a teaching perspective.
CONTENTS:
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Mouth Movements & Pronunciation
01:56 Length & Clipping
02:38 Is it a Diphthong?
04:37 Weak /i/
05:56 Accent Tour (UK & Ireland)
07:45 Summary & Tips for Learners
#phonetics #vowelsound #accents
[…]
It’s not just you. Sizes are hard.
Like… what size am I? In some brands I am a 12, in some I am an 8, I have even been—get this— a size 2.
But it’s not simply a matter of “Vanity Sizing.” Sizing is actually an incredibly complex art. And it relies on fit models, like Brit and Zac, who try on all your clothes before you do.
Brit Dunlop with the mannequin that shares her exact measurements for the standard size 4
In fact, their job is trying on clothes all day. (There’s always so much more that goes into clothing manufacture than I could ever imagine)
continue reading : https://articlesofinterest.substack.com/p/sizes
22 May 2026 #languagelearning #linguistics #english
Have you ever thought about how language shapes the way you think? I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently and wanted to share my thoughts! It’s particularly interesting between languages that are so different like Chinese and English, but I’d love to know what other details you have noticed in different languages.
[…]
msamba 