Many students who take our elocution lessons struggle to distinguish the long /i:/ as in “please” and the short /ɪ/ as in “big”. We found, that the long /i:/ is easier to pronounce for most nationalities.
The difference between these two sounds is in the tongue position. For the long /i:/ the front of the tongue goes up and for the short /ɪ/ the tongue position is only slightly lower. That difference is so slight and there is the difficulty.
It is important that students of English get it right. Below are a few examples that demonstrate the meaning of the word changes if they do not:
Long /i:/ Short /ɪ/
feel fill
leek lick
feet fit
deal dill
peak pick
I think my new shoes do not quite fit my feet.
Often our students ask us how they can know when to use the long /i:/ and to use the short /ɪ/. The first tip is spelling, the long /i:/ is spelt with “ee” and “ea” and the short /ɪ/ is spelt with “i”.
Secondly, students should practice both sounds and then comparison chapters with the books:
Get Rid of your Accent for Beginners, Get Rid of your Accent Part One and Get Rid of your Accent for Business, Part Three., and the apps:
Elocution Lessons, Get Rid of your Accent and Business English Speech.
It is advisable to take a few elocution lessons to make sure you are on the right track.