The vowel sound /3:/ as in “girl”.

• Read the instruction to learn how to make the long sound /3:/.

The tongue is in the middle part of the mouth cavity. It is almost flat and slightly raised. The tip of the tongue is near the lower teeth, the jaw is slightly lowered. The lips are neutral.

• Listen to the target sound and the words and repeat. Look at the mouth diagrams to help you position your lips, tongue and jaw for the target sound. Transcribe the words.

/3: 3: 3:/

Spelling variations for the /3:/ sound.	Highlighted bold letters are pronounced as /3:/.
er ir ear ur or	perjury, commercial, were, verse, infernal shirt, first, stir, girl, Sir, bird yearn, earn, pearl urge, occur, murmuring, burden, furnace, burn work, worse, world, word

• Read these words with the sound /3:/. Transcribe them.

Shirt, word, girl, berth, earn, were, worst, affirm, journal, expert, burn, bird, fur, journey, confer, heard, birth, burn, early, excursion, hurt, her, learn, murder, further.

• Listen to the sentences and repeat. Read each sentence aloud slowly at first, then as if you were telling it to someone in a natural way.

1. The girls in purple shirts were urged not to disturb Sir Cuthbert.

2. This purple shirt is the worst in the world! I have no words!

3. We were working in the World Bank at first; then we were transferred to the Commercial Chambers in Perth.

4. My boyfriend is a perfect nerd who makes his earnings when everyone else is yawning.

5. The girl heard that she came third in the World Championships as a hurdler.

6. Ursula observed that the boy wore dirty purple jersey.

• Listen and copy the intonation and voice modulation on the CD.

When I was a lad I served a term

As office boy to an Attorney’s firm.

The rich attorney was good as his word;

And every day my voice was heard

At the Sessions or Ancient Bailey.

• Read the following sentences. Mind the right articulation of the sound / 3: /.

1. The girl heard the nurse work.

2. It’s the worst journal in the world.

3. I affirm if you learn all words, you become an interpreting expert and earn a lot.

4. Can you confirm early morning’s murder?

5. We were heard talking about journeys and excursions.

• Practice reading the tongue twister as quickly as you can. Be careful not to mispronounce the target sound / 3: /.

A bottle of bottled water held 30 little turtles. It didn’t matter that each turtle had to rattle a metal ladle in order to get a little bit of noodles, a total turtle delicacy. The problem was that there were many turtle battles for the less than oodles of noodles. The littlest turtles always lost, because every time they thought about grappling with the haggler turtles, their little turtle minds boggled and they only caught a little bit of noodles.

• Listen to the dialogues. Intone them. Learn and reproduce, paying attention to the pronunciation of the sound / 3: /, intonation and tempo.

Dialogue 1

- What does Irvine do?

- I’m not certain. But he earns a lot. He has money to burn.

- And Bernard?

- Oh, I prefer Bernard, of course, but…

- What a superb fur coat, by the way?

- As I say, I prefer Bernard, of course, but…

- And what beautiful pearls!

Dialogue 2

- Sh! There's a burglar behind the curtain!

- Are you certain, Bertha?

- Don’t disturb him! He might hurt us – or worse, he might even murder us!

- But are you perfectly certain it’s a burglar?

- Perfectly. Only a burglar would hide behind a curtain in that way.

- Oh, Bertha – do you remember Percy Turner?

- Sh! Gertrude! We’re not the girls we were thirty years ago, you know.

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Learn the following graphical rules:

Vowel / 3: / is represented in spelling by:

1. The letters “e, i, u, y” followed by “r” /third syllable –type/ (term, bird, fur)

2. “ear” + a consonant (earth, heard) BUT: heart, hearth /a: /

3. “wor” (work, word)

4. “our” (journal, journey)

14. Find Ukrainian equivalents to the proverbs and sayings. Learn them:

11. Murder will out.

12. It’s an early bird that catches the first worm.

13. First come, first served.

14. Live and learn.

15. As is the workman, so is the work.