Caught and cot

Do you pronounce ''caught'' and ''cot'' the same? I do [ka:t].

No, I say
caught /ko:t/
cot /kot/

No.

speaking vowels, how which of the following are pronounced with same vowels and which aren't in your accent?

1. past /p@st|pa:st/
2. palm /pa:m/
3. pom /pom/
4. bought /bo:t/
5. port /po:rt|po:t/

typo.
wrong: ...how which of the...
i meant to say "which of the..."

My pronunciation of these words.

past [p@st]
palm [pa:m]
pom [pa:m]
bought [ba:t]
port [po:rt]

I pronounce 'caught' and 'cot' the same. I've heard that Americans mean something different when they say 'cot'.

Here in the Northeast we pronounce them differently.

Steve, thanks for your answer... so are words "balm" and "bom" exactly the same in your accent??

to everyone... do you think we, as ESL learners, should make a distinction between the "ah" sound and "aw" sound? For those who differenciate these sounds, do you understand it if someone doesnt make a distinction between these sounds? does it sound strange if I dont make a distinction?

Yes, the words ''balm'' and ''bomb'' {and I think you mean ''bomb'' not ''bom'' are pronounced the same in my accent. I think most Americans are used to the fact the some people don't make a distinction between the ''ah'' and the ''aw'' sound and can understand you if you don't make the distinction.

Sometimes when Britons say ''party'' the Americans think they are saying ''potty''.

But we usually just adjust our ears when we're speaking with a Briton, Australian, etc. as we do for the various American accents. I can't see anyone making this mistake if they're aware of who they're speaking to.

As to "palm" and "balm", am I the only one who pronounces the "l" in these words? I've heard them pronounced without, but I wasn't aware that that was the primary pronunciation. For me, both "palm", "balm", and "calm" as well, have a distinct "l" sound. Any thoughts?

Here's what dictionary.com says:

palm - (päm)
balm - (bäm)

Steve, how about the following words?

draw
drawer
drawing

for some reason the word "drawer" sounds like it rhymes with "war"(i mean to me it sounds like /dro:r/) is it supposed to be pronounced (or do you pronounce it) like /dra:r/ if the word draw is pronounced /dra:/?

Alice, how about words like "talk" and "walk"? Do you pronounce the l's in these words too?

Once when this american guy, a british guy and I were talking, the word "hotter" said by the American guy apparently sounded like "harder" to the british ear and the conversation was really confusing to me... its something similar to "potty" and "party", i guess.

mjd, it's interesting that you native speakers can adjust your ears according to the person you're talking to. that's the kind of skill