/aʊ/

Start with your mouth wide open and your jaw dropped low, as if you're saying "ah" like at the doctor's office. Your tongue should be low and relaxed in the center of your mouth, with the tip resting behind your lower front teeth.

Now here's the movement: glide smoothly from that open position toward a rounded, closed shape. Your jaw rises, your lips come together and round forward, and the back of your tongue lifts toward the roof of your mouth. You're ending in a position similar to the "oo" in "put" (not the long "oo" in "boot").

The key is a continuous, fluid motion - not two separate sounds, but one smooth glide. Think of it as a journey from wide-open "ah" to rounded "oo."

The /aʊ/ sound appears in two main spelling patterns:

• ou: house, out, about, sound, mouth
• ow: how, now, cow, down, town, brown

A helpful pattern: "ow" at the end of words usually makes this sound (cow, now), while "ow" can also make /oʊ/ in other positions (know, show).

Watch yourself in a mirror. You should see dramatic movement: your jaw drops wide, then your lips push forward into a small round shape. If your mouth isn't moving much, you're probably not hitting both parts of the diphthong. Exaggerate the motion at first - open wide like you're yawning, then snap to a kiss shape.