A or O? Hat & hot (/æ/ vs /ɒ/)

Objective & content

This Sound Check video (about 2 minutes 30) fixes one pair of vowels: the wide a of hat and the round o of hot. Freya (British) and Cody (American) show the mouth shapes. For hat, spread your lips like a smile and drop your jaw. For hot, round your lips into a circle. Mixing them changes the word: cat and cot, rack and rock, lack and lock. Students repeat words and one sentence, The cat sat on a hot cot, then play a three-round game: which word did you hear?

Pedagogical guide

In many languages one open vowel covers both sounds, so hat and hot sound the same. French, German, Spanish and Italian speakers often use one central a for both. The video teaches the shape of the lips, not the length of the sound: wide, then round. Both accents keep hat and hot apart. The only difference is small: the o of hot is rounder in British English and more open in American English. The game tests listening only: check the speaking yourself.

Suggested procedure

1. Before (2 min). Write hat and hot on the board. Ask students to say both. Do they sound different?
2. Watch (3 min). Play the video once. Students repeat aloud when the hosts say "Try it with us", "Say them with me" and "Now a sentence, with me".
3. Game (2 min). Play the game again. Pause after a host says "Listen..." and the word, before the other host gives the answer. The class votes: wide or round?
4. After (3 min). In pairs, one student says hat or hot, cat or cot, rack or rock. The partner shows a wide smile or a round mouth.

Materials & prerequisites

• The video, a screen and sound for the whole class.
• The example words are at about A1+ level. No symbols needed.

Assessment & extensions

Say hat, rock, cot, lack and lock in random order. Students show a wide smile or a round mouth.