Diphthong Sound /ɔʊ/

The /oʊ/ diphthong: from a mid o into rounding

The /oʊ/ starts in a mid-back position with the lips already rounded, then glides slightly upward toward /ʊ/. It's the back-vowel counterpart of /eɪ/: the English o doesn't stay still either.

How it's made

• 👄 Mouth: lips rounded at the start, closing a little further by the end.
• 👅 Tongue: back and mid at the start, rising slightly at the end.
• 🔊 Voice: voiced and long, with a smooth continuous movement.

You hear it in: go · boat · foam · no · home

⚠️ The typical Spanish-speaker mistake: using the short, motionless Spanish o. That makes go sound Spanish and strips boat of its American sound entirely.

By the end you'll be able to: turn every long o into a movement rather than a fixed vowel.