Good cooks took a good look at the cookbook.
Six words in this sentence share one short vowel sound. It is a relaxed, quick oo, and it is easy to replace with the long oo of food or moon without noticing.
👅 Sounds to Practise
- Short OO /ʊ/, as in good, cook, took, look, book. Your lips are only slightly rounded, your tongue is relaxed and a little lower than for the long OO, and the sound is short. It stops quickly.
- Long OO /uː/, as in food, moon, cool. Your lips round more tightly, your tongue is higher, and the sound is held for longer.
Quick test: say pull and then pool. Feel your lips round more in pool? That is the difference between the two sounds.
🐢 Start Slow
Say each chunk slowly. Keep every oo short and relaxed.
Good cooks
took a good look
at the cookbook.
Now say it in two halves: Good cooks took a good look … at the cookbook.
🚶 Normal Speed
Say the whole sentence at a natural speed, as if you were reading a recipe aloud to a friend:
GOOD COOKS TOOK a GOOD LOOK at the COOKbook.
Keep the vowel short each time. Don't let it stretch into food.
🚀 Tongue-Twister Mode
Ready? Say it three times in a row, as fast as you can:
Good cooks took a good look at the cookbook.
If the vowel starts to stretch, slow down for one round and make each oo quick.
🤯 Why Is This So Difficult?
English uses OO for two different sounds, and the spelling gives you very little help.
- In good, cook and book, the OO is short. In food, moon and boot, it is long.
- The spelling is the same, so your eyes can't tell you which sound to use. You have to learn each word.
- In a fast sentence, your mouth wants to stretch every oo to the long sound, because that is the one you see most often.
The twister shows you that the vowel does not come from the letters. It comes from the word.
👀 Words to Notice
These pairs use the two OO sounds and differ in one vowel:
- pull / pool
- full / fool
- wood / who'd
- look / Luke
- could / cooed
Try each pair slowly, then quickly: pull, pool, pull, pool.
🏆 OddLingo Challenge
- Round 1: say it slowly, with each oo short and quick.
- Round 2: say the whole sentence once at normal speed.
- Round 3: say it three times fast without stopping.
Bonus round: make a new sentence using only the short OO words: Good cooks put a book on the good shelf.
🔗 Related Practice
- The Tutor Who Tooted: the long OO sound, with to, too and two.
- The Tough Dough: the many ways English spells the same sounds.