What is the /aʊ/ Sound?
First, let's look at a few examples of words with the English /aʊ/ sound:
- out
- owl
- tower
- about
- now
- brow
According to Baruch College's Tools for Clear Speech, the /aʊ/ sound is made by doing the following:
"/ɑʊ/ is a diphthong, which is like a combination of two different vowel sounds. To begin, place your tongue low in your mouth, and shifted toward the back, to say
/ɑ/. Then, as you vibrate your vocal cords, lift your tongue high in the mouth, but keep it shifted toward the back, to say /ʊ/. The transition between these two positions should be very quick."
If you need more help articulating the /aʊ/ sound, check out this video to learn the correct tongue and mouth placement.
Practicing the /aʊ/ Sound
Everything you need to pronounce the English /aʊ/ sound correctly is on this page. Just follow the instructions.
What do you have to do?
Practice for 5 minutes a day for 7 days.
That’s it.
Your goal is to pronounce the /aʊ/ sound clearly and easily by the end of day 7.
Let’s do it!
This guide to the American English /aʊ/ sound is full of useful information. Click the link below to jump to the part you are looking for:
- Day 1 of the /aʊ/ sound
- Day 2 of the /aʊ/ sound
- Day 3 of the /aʊ/ sound
- Day 4 of the /aʊ/ sound
- Day 5 of the /aʊ/ sound
- Day 6 of the /aʊ/ sound
- Day 7 of the /aʊ/ sound
- Additional /aʊ/ sound resources
- PDF download of the /aʊ/ sound
Day 1: The /aʊ/ Sound
If you are ready, let’s start with the practice for day one.
It’s pretty simple.
Watch the video and follow along.
Listen and repeat.
🔊 Click here to listen to the audio version
Minimal Pairs
Your Goal: To feel the difference between the /aʊ/ sound and similar sounds like /əʊ/.
- now - know
- rout - wrote
- doubt - dote
- sow - sew
Vowel Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while also improving your pronunciation of the English vowel sounds.
- now - new - near - no
- bout - boat - bite - bought
Syllable Stress Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while also developing a better understanding of proper syllable stress.
- turnout
- thousand
- downhill
- output
Reduced Sounds Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while also working on linking words and phrases together.
- What did you think about the turnout?
- There might have been four thousand, and even more outside.
Tongue Twister Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while improving your speaking speed and enunciation.
- The cow bowed now through the plough.
- The outside cow is allowed to frown.
Day 2: The /aʊ/ Sound
Just like day one, except simpler.
Watch the video and follow along.
Listen and repeat.
🔊 Click here to listen to the audio version
Minimal Pairs
Your Goal: To feel the difference between the /aʊ/ sound and similar sounds like /əʊ/.
- crown - crone
- bout - boat
- blouse - blows
- arouse - arose
Vowel Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while also improving your pronunciation of the English vowel sounds.
- loud - lid - lord - lead
- down - done - Dan - Dean
Syllable Stress Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while also developing a better understanding of proper syllable stress.
- amount
- disallow
- somehow
- outstanding
Reduced Sounds Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while also working on linking words and phrases together.
- I bet you it is all downhill from here on out.
- We really want a brown cow.
Tongue Twister Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while improving your speaking speed and enunciation.
- They never sound down nor frown.
- How now, brown cow?
Day 3: The /aʊ/ Sound
Today will be the last day you only listen and repeat.
Tomorrow, you will have to start to speak.
But let’s focus on today.
Just like yesterday, watch the video and follow along.
Listen and repeat.
🔊 Click here to listen to the audio version
Minimal Pairs
Your Goal: To feel the difference between the /aʊ/ sound and similar sounds like /əʊ/.
- bound - boned
- clown - clone
- doubt - dote
- sow - sew
Vowel Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while also improving your pronunciation of the English vowel sounds.
- couch - catch - coach
- town - tune - teen - torn
Syllable Stress Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while also developing a better understanding of proper syllable stress.
- outline
- outer
- around
- anyhow
Reduced Sounds Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while also working on linking words and phrases together.
- Should he set a different amount?
- What are you doing right now?
Tongue Twister Collection
Your Goal: To practice the /aʊ/ sound while improving your speaking speed and enunciation.
- Clowns around town never frown even when they're down.
- Somehow owl plowed downtown with cow.
Day 4: The /aʊ/ Sound
Time to speak.
You will notice that these are the words, phrases, and sentences you repeated on day one.
Today, your job is different.
Open up a Google Doc, enable voice typing and speak.
Watch the video to see how it works.
- now - know
- rout - wrote
- doubt - dote
- sow - sew
- now - new - near - no
- bout - boat - bite - bought
- turnout
- thousand
- downhill
- output
- What did you think about the turnout?
- There might have been four thousand, and even more outside.
- The cow bowed now through the plough.
- The outside cow is allowed to frown.
Day 5: The /aʊ/ Sound
Let’s revisit the words, phrases, and sentences you practiced on day two.
Just like yesterday, open up a Google Doc, enable voice typing, and get ready to speak.
Let’s do it!
- crown - crone
- bout - boat
- blouse - blows
- arouse - arose
- loud - lid - lord - lead
- down - done - Dan - Dean
- amount
- disallow
- somehow
- outstanding
- I bet you it is all downhill from here on out.
- We really want a brown cow.
- They never sound down nor frown.
- How now, brown cow?
TIP*** Are there some words that the computer does not understand no matter how many times you say them? No worries, just skip it and move on. No one is perfect.
Day 6: The /aʊ/ Sound
You are so close to day 7.
Be proud that you have made it this far :)
In today’s lesson, let’s circle back to the words, phrases, and sentences you repeated on day three and practice saying them aloud.
- bound - boned
- clown - clone
- doubt - dote
- sow - sew
- couch - catch - coach
- town - tune - teen - torn
- outline
- outer
- around
- anyhow
- Should he set a different amount?
- What are you doing right now?
- Clowns around town never frown even when they're down.
- Somehow owl plowed downtown with a cow.
Day 7: The /aʊ/ Sound
Congratulations!!!
You have made it to the very last day of this /aʊ/ sound practice course.
Do you feel like your pronunciation of this sound is improving?
Let’s finish with a simple, but challenging exercise.
Just like you did on days 4, 5, and 6, open up a Google Doc and enable voice typing.
This time, try to get the technology to recognize these six tongue twisters.
- The cow bowed now through the plough.
- The outside cow is allowed to frown.
- They never sound down nor frown.
- How now, brown cow?
- Clowns around town never frown even when they're down.
- Somehow owl plowed downtown with a cow.
Now, turn voice typing off and try to say each tongue twister as fast as possible.
Watch the video to learn how to go through this exercise.
Additional Resources: The /aʊ/ Sound
Words with the /aʊ/ sound
| Beginning | Middle | End |
| out | power | wow |
| owl | tower | bow |
| ouch | about | now |
| ounce | loud | cow |
| outcast | turnout | pow |
| outcome | found | how |
| outreach | brown | brow |
| outside | bound | plow |
| outline | mouth | allow |
| outlook | couch | sow |
| outstanding | pound | somehow |
| outdoor | down | plough |
| hour | town | eyebrow |
| outcome | south | anyhow |
| outside | house | frau |
| outer | sound | endow |
| outfit | thousand | bough |
| output | downhill | thou |
| outsider | amount | know-how |
| outbid | around | disallow |
Minimal Pair Collection
Minimal Pair /əʊ/ and /aʊ/ know now
now - know
rout - wrote
doubt - dote
sow - sew
crown - crone
bout - boat
blouse - blows
arouse - arose
bound - boned
clown - clone
Vowel Collection
now - new - near - no
bout - boat - bite - bought
loud - lid - lord - lead
down - done - Dan - Dean
couch - catch - coach
town - tune - teen - torn
Syllable Stress Collection
- turnout
- thousand
- downhill
- output
- amount
- disallow
- somehow
- outstanding
- outline
- outer
- around
- anyhow
Reduced Sounds Collection
- What did you think about the turnout?
- There might have been four thousand, and even more outside.
- I bet you it is all downhill from here on out.
- We really want a brown cow.
- Should he set a different amount?
- What are you doing right now?
Tongue Twister Collection
- The cow bowed now through the plough.
- The outside cow is allowed to frown.
- They never sound down nor frown.
- How now, brown cow?
- Clowns around town never frown even when they're down.
- Somehow owl plowed downtown with cow.
Additional Activities for All Sounds
Practice Three Words
Answer the following question:
What do you like to do in your free time?
Pick one, two, or three words from the word bank and include them in your response. If it helps, you may write out the example sentences with the word in context first.
Youglish Research
Visit the Youglish website. Pick a word or phrase you would like to practice. Enter it into the Youglish search bar. Find three examples of the word or phrase in context to shadow.
Teacher Time
During your next English speaking practice session with a teacher or conversation partner, have a list of three to five words you would like to use. Give yourself a point every time you use the word correctly in context and it is understood. Aim to score 5 points within the first 10 minutes (so the rest of the time you focus just on communicating).
Voice Typing
Write out three sentences with challenging words or phrases. Use Google Docs or any other software with the ability to turn speech to text. Read these sentences aloud and check to see if your pronunciation is correct.
***There are a ton of possibilities. These are just a few ideas. Use the word bank, tongue twisters, example sentences, and other resources on this page to continue to work on this sound.
If you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments below. I read and respond to all of them.
Download the PDF version of this 7-day mini-course.
Plus the PDF-version of every single English sound for free.
