The audio here is generated speech. A recorded human voice for this lesson is on the way.
One letter, two main sounds
The letter E makes two sounds that matter most in speech. The short E, in "bed", "red" and "ten", is a relaxed, middle sound: your mouth half open, tongue in the middle. The long E, in "see", "tree" and "these", is the tight "ee": lips spread in a smile, tongue high and forward. The spelling usually tells you which: "ee", "ea" and "e" plus consonant plus silent E are often long.
The trap is that learners either shorten every long E or stretch every short one. "Bed" and "bead", "met" and "meet" are different words, and the length and tightness of the vowel is all that separates them.
Hear the difference
Tap each word. Then test your ear.
"Read" has two pronunciations: "reed" in the present, "red" in the past.
Say it out loud
Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.
Practice · 3 min
Repeat each sentence. Exaggerate the smile on every long E and relax completely on every short E. Record the third sentence and check that "sit", "seat", "rest" and "free" all sound different.
Say it today
Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.