English separates many words by vowels that differ in both LENGTH and QUALITY: "ship" and "sheep", "full" and "fool", "live" and "leave", "sit" and "seat". Most Indian languages also have short and long vowels, but their pairs differ mainly in length. So many Indian speakers keep English pairs apart mostly by length, with a smaller difference in quality. What you will learn: • Two ways to separate a vowel pair • What research shows • Pairs separated mainly by length • Pairs that may come very close for some speakers • Cot and caught: a familiar merger • Let grammar and meaning choose • Long vowels sound clearly long • Practice: decode the sentence • Listening strategies • Self-check questions to test your ear Level: B1–B2. Self-study: listen, then take the quizzes. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.