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The purpose of this study is to see what problems a native speaker ~f English might have in producing portuguese vowels. More specifically it is to compare the open and closed vowels of non-native speakers of Portuguese with those of native speakers. A brief review of the vowel sounds in Portuguese and in English may help to introduce this study. Portuguese has seven vowel phonemes in tonic position. They are Iii, lei, Itl, lal, I~/, 101, and luI. The schwa lal is also found in atonic position. Enalish has eleven vowel phonemes. They are IiI, III, leI, 1£1, lal, I ~ I, lal, I:JI, 101, NI, and luI. Table 1 dis-plays these vowels on a chart to make them easier to read