General Characteristics: middle vowel: the tongue has no arch but remains flat on the floor of the mouth

Words to practice:

• strut
• mud
• blood
• love
• tub
• rub
• under
• come
• flood
• up
• but
• double
• trouble
• country
• cus
• plucker
• understand
• hum
• cut
• bug

Short and Long Vowel Oppositions /æ/ - /ʌ/:

• cap – cup 
• hat – hut 
• track – truck
• ban – bun
• ankle – uncle
• bat - but
• swam - swum
• bank - bunk 

Tongue Twisters:

 1. You cuss, I cuss, we all cuss, for asparagus!

2. Double bubble gum, bubbles double.

3. I'm not the fig plucker,
    nor the fig plucker's son,
    but I'll pluck figs
    till the fig plucker comes.

4. If you understand, say "understand".
   If you don't understand, say "don't understand".
   But if you understand and say "don't understand". 
   how do I understand that you understand. Understand!?

5. Buckets of bug blood, buckets of bug blood, buckets of bug blood.

6. I'm a sock cutter and I cut socks.

7. Shut up the shutters and sit in the shop.

8. Come, come,
   Stay calm, stay calm,
   No need for alarm,
   It only hums,
   It doesn't harm.

9. Rugged rubber baby buggy bumpers.

10. Don't trouble trouble, until trouble troubles you! If you trouble trouble, triple trouble troubles you!

Phrases:

• Everybody loves vocation at a southern country club.
• Tension in the tongue muscle can be an obstruction to wonderful pronunciation.
• Mushrooms and onions were baked in the oven with a crumbly, buttery crust.
• The cold gust of wind on the subway platform was numbing.
• He odered a dozen fresh buns and some plum jelly.
• Who among us doesn't fundamentally prefer comfort?
• The stunt driver plunged the car into the Hudson River.
• Eating junk food often upsets my stomach.
• An abundance of love and money made Chuck a lucky young sculptor.
• Monday morning come much too early.
• Justin justified multiple deductions.