Improve your British English Pronunciation: The Vowel in Boat / əʊ /

Pronunciation Activation Pack 19
Boat / əʊ /
In this Pronunciation Activation Pack we will be looking at the seventh gliding vowel / əʊ /.
We will look at the letter combinations that give the / əʊ / sound.
We will look at lots of words which have the / əʊ / sound in them.
Finally, we will activate your ability to hear and produce the / əʊ / sound correctly.
Letter Combinations for / əʊ /
This gliding vowel sound has these letter combinations:
O, OE, OW, OA, and OU,
and rarely
OUGH, and EAU.
Practice
Though old, this sparrow owns the plateau.
/ ðəʊ əʊld / ðɪs ˈspæ.rəʊ əʊnz ðə ˈplæ.təʊ /
Practice
What fellow wrote such a gross adagio for oboe?
/ wɒʔ ˈfe.ləʊ rəʊt sʌtʃ ə ɡrəʊs ə.ˈdɑː.dʒiəʊ fər ˈəʊ.bəʊ /
Practice
This photo shows a yoga pose on elbows.
/ ðɪs ˈfəʊ.təʊ ʃəʊz ə ˈjəʊɡ.ə pəʊz ɒn ˈel.bəʊz /
Practice
You know I told you I had a photo of a soul? It was a hoax!
/ ju nəʊ ˈaɪ təʊld ju ˈaɪ həd ə ˈfəʊ.təʊ əv ə səʊl / ɪt wəz ə həʊks /
Problems for Students
There are two other vowel sounds which cause confusion with the / əʊ / sound. These are the / ɔː / and the / ɒ / pure vowel sounds.
I looked at the minimal pairs / ɔː / vs / əʊ / in Pronunciation Activation Pack 8 – the Vowel in Horse, so I will not cover it in this lesson.
As I promised in Pronunciation Activation Pack 12 – the Vowel in Clock, I will look at the / ɒ / vs / əʊ / minimal pairs in this lesson.

Resources and Activators
As with all of my English Activation Packs, this Activation Pack has valuable resources to help you activate the language in this lesson.
Download the resources from the link at the top left.
You will also find the Activators at the end of the Pack.
These will give you plenty of exercises to help you make the language in this lesson part of your active vocabulary.