Easy rules for reading English. English transcription: pronunciation of letters and sounds in English

There are 26 letters in the English language. In different combinations and positions they represent 44 sounds.
In the English language, there are 24 consonant sounds, and they are represented in writing by 20 letters: Bb; Cc; Dd; Ff; Gg ; Hh; Jj; Kk; LI; mm; Nn; Pp; Qq; Rr; Ss; Tt; Vv; Ww; Xx; Zz.
In the English language, there are 12 vowel sounds and 8 diphthongs, and they are represented in writing by 6 letters: Aa; Ee; li; Oo; Uu; Yy.

Video:

[English language. Beginner course. Maria Rarenko. First educational channel.]

Transcription and stress

Phonetic transcription is an international system of symbols used to show exactly how words should be pronounced. Each sound is shown with a separate icon. These icons are always written in square brackets.
The transcription indicates verbal stress (which syllable in the word the stress falls on). Accent mark [‘] placed before the stressed syllable.

English consonants

English consonants expressed by letters b, f, g, m, s, v, z, are close in pronunciation to the corresponding Russian consonants, but should sound more energetic and intense.
English consonants are not softened.
Voiced consonants are never deafened - neither before voiceless consonants, nor at the end of a word.
Double consonants, that is, two identical consonants next to each other, are always pronounced as one sound.
Some English consonants are pronounced aspirated: the tip of the tongue must be pressed firmly against the alveoli (the tubercles where the teeth are attached to the gums). Then the air between the tongue and teeth will pass with force, and the result will be a noise (explosion), that is, aspiration.

Rules for reading consonant letters in English: ,

Table of pronunciation of English consonants
Phonetic transcription	Examples
[b]	b ad b ox	voiced sound corresponding to Russian [b] in the word b rat
[p]	o p en, p et	a dull sound corresponding to the Russian [p] in the word n ero, but pronounced aspirated
[d]	d i d, d ay	a voiced sound similar to Russian [d] in the word d ohm, but more energetic, “sharper”; when pronouncing it, the tip of the tongue rests on the alveoli
[t]	t ea, t ake	unvoiced sound corresponding to Russian [t] in the word T hermos, but pronounced aspirated, with the tip of the tongue resting on the alveoli
[v]	v oice, v isit	voiced sound corresponding to Russian [v] in the word V osc, but more energetic
[f]	f ind, f ine	a dull sound corresponding to the Russian [f] in the word f inic, but more energetic
[z]	z oo, ha s	voiced sound corresponding to Russian [z] in the word h ima
[s]	s un, s ee	a dull sound corresponding to the Russian [s] in the word With silt, but more energetic; when pronouncing, the tip of the tongue is raised towards the alveoli
[g]	g ive, g o	voiced sound corresponding to Russian [g] in the word G Irya, but pronounced softer
[k]	c at, c an	a dull sound corresponding to the Russian [k] in the word To mouth, but pronounced more energetically and aspiratedly
[ʒ]	vi si on, plea sur e	voiced sound corresponding to Russian [zh] in the word and macaw, but pronounced more tense and softer
[ʃ]	sh e, Ru ss ia	a dull sound corresponding to the Russian [ш] in the word w ina, but pronounced softer, for which you need to raise the middle part of the back of the tongue to the hard palate
[j]	y ellow, y ou	a sound similar to the Russian sound [th] in a word th od, but pronounced more energetically and intensely
[l]	l itt l e, l ike	sound similar to Russian [l] in the word l Isa, but you need the tip of the tongue to touch the alveoli
[m]	m an m erry	sound similar to Russian [m] in the word m ir, but more energetic; when pronouncing it, you need to close your lips more tightly
[n]	n o, n ame	sound similar to Russian [n] in the word n OS, but when pronouncing it, the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli, and the soft palate is lowered, and air passes through the nose
[ŋ]	si ng,fi ng er	a sound in which the soft palate is lowered and touches the back of the tongue, and air passes through the nose. Pronounced like Russian [ng] is incorrect; there must be a nasal sound
[r]	r ed, r abbit	a sound, when pronounced with the raised tip of the tongue, you need to touch the middle part of the palate, above the alveoli; tongue doesn't vibrate
[h]	h elp, h ow	sound reminiscent of Russian [х] as in the word X aos, but almost silent (barely audible exhalation), for which it is important not to press the tongue to the palate
[w]	w et, w inter	a sound similar to a very quickly pronounced Russian [ue] in a word Ue ls; in this case, the lips need to be rounded and pushed forward, and then vigorously parted
	j ust, j ump	sound similar to [j] in a Russian loanword j inces, but more energetic and softer. You cannot pronounce [d] and [ʒ] separately
	ch eck, mu ch	sound similar to Russian [ch] in a word h ac, but harder and more intense. You cannot pronounce [t] and [ʃ] separately
[ð]	th is, th ey	a ringing sound, when pronounced, the tip of the tongue must be placed between the upper and lower teeth and then quickly removed. Do not clamp the flat tongue between your teeth, but slightly push it into the gap between them. This sound (since it is voiced) is pronounced with the participation of the vocal cords. Similar to Russian [z] interdental
[θ]	th ink, seven th	a dull sound that is pronounced in the same way as [ð], but without a voice. Similar to Russian [s] interdental

English vowel sounds

from other letters standing next to it, in front of it or behind it;
from being in a shock or non-stress position.

Rules for reading vowels in English: ,

Pronunciation table for simple English vowel sounds
Phonetic transcription	Examples	Approximate matches in Russian
[æ]	c a t,bl a ck	a short sound, intermediate between the Russian sounds [a] and [e]. To make this sound, when pronouncing Russian [a], you need to open your mouth wide and place your tongue low. Simply pronouncing Russian [e] is wrong
[ɑ:]	ar m, f a ther	a long sound, similar to Russian [a], but it is much longer and deeper. When pronouncing it, you need to yawn, but do not open your mouth wide, while pulling your tongue back
[ʌ]	c u p, r u n	a short sound similar to the Russian unstressed [a] in the word With A yes. To make this sound, when pronouncing Russian [a], you need to almost not open your mouth, while slightly stretching your lips and moving your tongue back a little. Simply pronouncing Russian [a] is wrong
[ɒ]	n o t, h o t	short sound similar to Russian [o] in the word d O m, but when pronouncing it you need to completely relax your lips; for Russian [o] they are slightly tense
[ɔ:]	sp o rt, f ou r	a long sound, similar to Russian [o], but it is much longer and deeper. When pronouncing it, you need to yawn, as if with your mouth half-open, and your lips tense and rounded
[ə]	a bout, a lias	a sound that is often found in the Russian language is always in an unstressed position. In English, this sound is also always unstressed. It does not have a clear sound and is referred to as an unclear sound (it cannot be replaced by any clear sound)
[e]	m e t,b e d	a short sound similar to Russian [e] under stress in words such as uh you, pl e d etc. English consonants before this sound cannot be softened
[ɜː]	w or k, l ear n	this sound does not exist in the Russian language, and it is very difficult to pronounce. Reminds me of Russian sound in words m e d, St. e cla, but you need to pull it out much longer and at the same time stretch your lips strongly without opening your mouth (you get a skeptical smile)
[ɪ]	i t, p i t	a short sound similar to the Russian vowel in a word w And* t*. You need to pronounce it abruptly
	h e, s ee	a long sound, similar to Russian [i] under stress, but longer, and they pronounce it as if with a smile, stretching their lips. There is a Russian sound close to it in the word poem II
[ʊ]	l oo k, p u t	a short sound that can be compared with the Russian unstressed [u], but it is pronounced energetically and with completely relaxed lips (lips cannot be pulled forward)
	bl u e, f oo d	a long sound, quite similar to the Russian percussion [u], but still not the same. To make it work, when pronouncing Russian [u], you need not to stretch your lips into a tube, not to push them forward, but to round them and smile slightly. Like other long English vowels, it needs to be drawn out much longer than Russian [u]

Diphthong pronunciation table
Phonetic transcription	Examples	Approximate matches in Russian
	f i ve, ey e	diphthong, similar to the combination of sounds in Russian words ah And h ah
[ɔɪ]	n oi se, v oi ce	somehow. The second element, the sound [ɪ], is very short
	br a ve, afr ai d	a diphthong similar to a combination of sounds in a Russian word w to her* ka*. The second element, the sound [ɪ], is very short
	t ow n, n ow	a diphthong similar to a combination of sounds in a Russian word With aw on. The first element is the same as in ; the second element, the sound [ʊ], is very short
[əʊ]	h o me, kn ow	a diphthong similar to a combination of sounds in a Russian word cl oh n, if you do not pronounce it deliberately syllable by syllable (in this case, the consonance resembles ew ). Pronouncing this diphthong as a pure Russian consonance [ou] is wrong
[ɪə]	d ea r, h e re	a diphthong, similar to the combination of sounds in the Russian word such; consists of short sounds [ɪ] and [ə]
	wh e re,th e re	a diphthong, similar to the combination of sounds in the Russian word dlinnosheye, if you do not pronounce it syllable by syllable. Behind the sound resembling Russian [e] in the word uh That, followed by the second element, an unclear short sound [ə]
[ʊə]	t ou r, p oo r	a diphthong in which [ʊ] is followed by a second element, an unclear short sound [ə]. When pronouncing [ʊ], lips should not be pulled forward

We have already mastered it. Today we have a difficult topic: reading rules in English. Why complicated? Yes, because in the English language there are open and closed syllables, several types of reading vowels, special rules for reading double letters and combinations of letters, and many other rules. And there are also exceptions to the rules. Sometimes it is not clear what is more, rules or exceptions. However, you still need to be able to read. First of all, let's look at reading vowels.

Dividing words into syllables

Since reading vowels depends on the type of stressed syllable, this is where you should start. If you understand the types of syllables, then everything will be much easier.

First, let's divide the word into syllables (this applies to polysyllabic words with multiple vowels). The number of syllables depends on the number of vowel sounds in the word. Find all the vowels in the word.

A) If a vowel is followed by one consonant (except – r), then this consonant belongs to the following syllable: сo-lour, fi-nish, e-le-ven.
There is an immediate exception: monosyllabic words with the final unpronounceable vowel e are not divided into syllables: rule, face, take.

B) If a vowel is followed by two consonants, then the first consonant will refer to the first syllable, and the second to the following: doc-tor, sis-ter, fac-to-ry.

C) If a word contains a sonant [l], [m], [n], [r], then the consonant in front of it belongs to the following syllable: ta-ble, cy-cle, no-ble.

D) Combinations of letters ld, nd form a separate syllable: frie-nd, mi-ld, spe-nd.

Syllable types

In English there are four types of stressed syllables.

1. Open syllable. This is a syllable that ends with a vowel: he, no, we.
This also includes words that end in silent - e: time, life, name.

2. Closed syllable. This is the name of a syllable that ends with one or more consonants (except – r):
mend, ten, best.

3. Syllable with letter r. In such a syllable, the letter r, as a rule, is not pronounced: car, mark, start.

4. Syllable with the combination r + e. In it, the letters r and e are also not pronounced: fire, where, cure.

Well, we've sorted out the syllables. Now we mentally divide the word into syllables and learn to read it.

Rules for reading vowels

Depending on the type of stressed syllable, four types of reading vowels are distinguished.

1. First type of reading. In an open syllable, vowels are read in the same way as they are called in the alphabet. This type of reading is also called alphabetic. Let's look at the examples in the table:

2. Second type of reading. Vowels in a closed syllable are read briefly.

3. Third type of reading. The letter r after a stressed vowel is not read, and the vowel sound becomes long.

4. The fourth type of reading. This combination is: stressed vowel + r + vowel

The letter y at the beginning of a word before a vowel is read as the sound [j], for example: yesterday - yesterday.

Reading unstressed vowels

In an unstressed position, vowels are read differently.

The letters e, i, y are read as the sound [i] – elastic elastic distort, distort, heavy [‘hevi] heavy.

The vowels a, o, u are read as the sound [ə] – amaze [ə’meiz] to amaze, develop to develop, successful successful

Combinations of vowels and vowels with consonants

Various combinations of vowel letters, as well as vowels and consonants, have their own reading rules. They will have to be learned separately.

ee is read as a sound – meet
ea is also read as – speak [‘spi:k] to speak
Exception: head head, breakfast [‘brekfəst] breakfast, bread bread
ai gives sound – main main
ay is pronounced as a diphthong – day day
oo before any consonant except k and r is read as – food [‘fu:d] food
Exception: good good, room room
oo before the letter k is pronounced as a short sound [u] – book book
oi is read as [ɔi] – point
oy also gives the diphthong [ɔi] – boy boy
oa read as – coat [‘kout] coat
ou reads like – house
ou in some words of French origin is read as – group group
ou before the letter r is pronounced [ɔ:] – four [‘fɔ:] four
Exception: hour [‘auə] hour, our [‘auə] our
ea before r gives a diphthong – near
air sounds like [ɛə] – chair [‘ʧɛə] chair
eer is read as a diphthong – engineer
ew in most words is read as – new [‘nju:] new
ow under stress in monosyllabic words and in the middle of polysyllabic words sounds like – now [‘nau] now, brown brown
ow at the end of two-syllable words in unstressed position is read as – yellow [‘jelou] yellow
w + or before a consonant sounds like [ə:] – work work
wa is read as if it is followed by a final consonant (except r) or combinations of consonants – want [‘wɔnt] want
al before k sounds like [ɔ:], while l is not pronounced – chalk [ʧɔ:k] chalk
a + s before a consonant is read as – glass glass
o before m and n is pronounced [ʌ] – son son
o + th is read as [ʌ] – mother [‘mʌðə] mother
ig h is read as , while gh is not pronounced – light light

As you can see, the rules for reading vowels in English are not complicated, but there are a lot of them. Do not forget that there are words - exceptions - that are read differently. There are quite a few of them too. We will look at reading consonant sounds another time.

The rules of reading in English cannot be called simple. But you have to understand them at the very beginning of training - otherwise you won’t be able to move forward. Therefore, the rules for reading English for beginners (and for children) are usually presented concisely and clearly - and thank you for that. Transcriptions with examples and other auxiliary materials (tables, exercises) and, of course, constant practice (reading aloud and listening) are very helpful.

Transcription- is the transmission of sound in writing using special symbols. In transcription, each sound has its own special sign.

True, there are features of transcription of reading in English that are difficult for Russian-speaking students. These difficulties are due to objective differences in pronunciation in English and Russian. Our language has simply been “different” since childhood, and relearning is always difficult. Especially when you consider that sounds in English are often pronounced differently from how they are written. Historically, this happened due to the large number of dialects in which the same letters and combinations of letters were read differently. But this doesn’t make it any easier for us.

Rules for reading transcriptions in English

Different English teachers solve this difficult problem in different ways. For example, they use the so-called “English transcription in Russian,” that is, writing English words in Russian letters. To be honest, we do not support this technique. Because it does not allow you to truly learn English pronunciation correctly. It is only possible to very approximately convey the pronunciation of English words in Russian letters. Well, there are no English sounds in the Russian language, and the seemingly similar pronunciation of English and Russian sounds is still different.

Therefore, we are in favor of trying and learning the phonetic symbols with which transcriptions are written from the very beginning. This will help you understand and remember the rules of reading English for beginners. And in the future, English lessons will be much easier. As for the transmission of English sounds in Russian letters, this technique is needed for transliteration (like), but not for training pronunciation.

Rules for reading vowels in English

As we have already noted, letters and sounds in English often do not match. Moreover, there are many more sounds: 44 sounds for only 26 letters. Linguists even joke about this:

“We write Liverpool and we read Manchester”

There is such a big difference between a written word and its pronunciation in English. Well, let's start in order. From syllables that affect the reading of vowels. Syllables in English (as in any other language) are open and closed:

Open syllable ends with vowel. It can be in the middle of a word or be the last word. For example: age, blue, bye, fly, go, etc.
Closed syllable ends with I agree. It can also stand in the middle of a word or be the last in a word. For example: bed, big, box, hungry, stand, etc.

Here is a table that explains how the same letter is read differently in closed and open syllables and in different positions in a word:

Rules for reading consonants in English

Consonants in English are less challenging than vowels. Only some of them (C, S, T, X and G) are read differently depending on their position in the word and neighboring sounds. And for clarity, here is the table again:

How are letter combinations read in English?

So, after vowels and consonants, we get to letter combinations. Now we will talk about the rules for reading syllables, not individual letters. And this is correct - after all, in words, letters are combined, so we rarely have to read individual sounds. And in syllables, sounds influence each other, so the following table contains the basic rules for reading syllables and combinations of consonant letters:

		look, book, cook, good, foot	[lʊk] [bʊk] [kʊk] [ɡʊd] [fʊt]
	pool, school, Zoo, too	[puːl] [skuːl] [zuː] [tuː]
		see, bee, tree, three, meet	[ ˈsiː ] [ biː ] [ triː ] [ θriː ] [ miːt ]
Exceptions:		tea, meat, eat, read, speak	[ tiː ] [ miːt ] [ iːt ] [ riːd ] [ spiːk ]
	bread, head, breakfast, healthy	[bred] [hed] [ˈbrekfəst] [ˈhelθi]
		away, play, say, may	[əˈweɪ] [pleɪ] [ˈseɪ] [meɪ]
		[ɡreɪ] [ˈðeɪ]
		ink, thank, monkey, sink, bank
		telephone, phonetics, phrase
		she, bush, short, dish, fish, sheep, shook
		catch, kitchen, watch, switch, stretch
		at the beginning of function words; between vowels: these, that, there, mother, they, with, them, then
	in combination th at the beginning and at the end of significant words: thick, thin, thanks, three, think, throw, fifth, tooth
		what, why, when, while, white, where
		who, whom, whose, whole, wholly
		write, wrong, wrist, wrap, wrest, wrap

Live and other rules of reading in English

All students have different language and listening abilities. If the rules of reading in English are difficult, use one of the following techniques:

Living rules for reading English. This is a fairly well-known technique for teaching reading and pronunciation in English. It is designed mainly for children, and the rules of English reading are presented in the most accessible way. Memorization is made easier by funny poems and tongue twisters. It makes sense to try to get your child interested in English from the very beginning of learning.
Applications for learning English. We recently discussed a whole series. In most of them you can not only read, but also listen to new words. The same function is available in online translators - use it more often.
Exercises on reading rules. There are many of them, but they all come down to training the skill of distinguishing different sounds. For example:

Given a list of words ( what, who, wrestling, when, why, whose, wrong, where, whom, write, white, which, whole, wrangler). You need to distribute these words into groups with the sound that is pronounced in them: [w], [h] or [r].

Or words from another list ( give, good, cage, ginger, girl, gypsy, gold, grey, grace, beige, gift, gymnastics) distribute into two groups: one with the sound [g], the second - with the sound .

The reading rules exercises may seem complicated, but don't try to do them by memorizing every rule. Better try to understand not the rules, but the principles of reading English sounds. Do several exercises on reading rules to know exactly how to read some of the same type of words. The more you read and listen in English, the easier it will be to remember the correct pronunciation.

So our main advice is universal: practice, practice and once again practice of communicating and reading in English will help you learn the language easily and effectively!

When you study a foreign language, you learn not only a set of vocabulary and grammar, you in any case come across the culture and mentality of the people who speak this language. The best means of learning language and culture is reading in original. And to read in a foreign language, you must first learn to read this language .

You don"t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. You can just make people stop reading them.

But, if at school or university you studied German or French, or your school base turned out to be smaller than you would like, and now you have decided to learn English, then let's start with the most primary and basic and find out several methods of where to start in order to master reading rules.

English alphabet

I think you know that English is different from Russian and German, in which we mainly write and read. In English the system is a little more complicated. The very first thing we need to do is learn the alphabet.

There are 26 letters in the English alphabet, including 21 consonants and 5 vowels. Knowledge of letters and the ability to pronounce them correctly is the key to successful and competent reading in English.

English alphabet with transcription of letter names.

A very easy way to memorize letters visually and aurally is with the help of a song. Watch the video and sing the song until you remember the letters of the alphabet.

You can use the same method to teach the alphabet to your children and sing the song with your kids.

Reading rules in English

After studying the alphabet, we will begin to study the combination of letters and read short words. There are a number of rules in the English language that you need to learn, practice and remember if you want to read English words correctly.

Rules for reading English consonants

Many consonants are read similarly to Russian consonants, for example the letters m, n, l, b, f, z. You can see this in words like mom, lemon, finger, boy, zebra .

Letters like t And d sound similar, but pronounced with aspirated. For example words table, teacher, dad, dirty.

Letter c has two reading options. Before letters i,e,y it reads like [s]- city, face, cyber. And before other vowels it is read as [k]- cat, cake, factory.

Rule with vowels i,e,y also works with letters g. In front of them it reads like - gym, George, giant. Before other consonants the letter is read as [g].

Letter q always occurs in a combination of letters qu and reads like - quick, queen, square.

Letter j always reads like - jacket, jam, joy.

Table of the relationship between consonants and sounds in English.

How to read vowels in English

In English, a word can end in an open or closed syllable, which affects pronunciation. For example words cat, pot, sit end in a closed syllable and have vowels a, o, i give sounds .

Words such as name, home, five end with an open syllable, since there is a letter at the end of the word e, which is not readable. But, thanks to her, the vowels in the middle of the word are read exactly the same way as they are pronounced in the alphabet, that is, the word name read .

Types of reading English vowels in stressed syllables.

Reading vowel combinations in English

There are certain combinations of letters that have established reading rules, although English is a language of exceptions, and when reading more complex words you should consult a dictionary. The table below shows combinations of English vowels with examples how they are read and what sound they make.

Table of vowel combinations in English.

And of course, there are exceptions to all rules. However, don't worry and think that you will never be able to learn it. Everything can be understood, you just need to try and practice a little.

Diphthongs of the English language with transcription

When you study the basic rules of reading, you will see that in English there are diphthong sounds that are quite difficult to reproduce, especially if you start learning the language not in childhood, but in adulthood.

Table of English diphthongs with transcription.

Transcription of sounds in English

Practice shows that when children learn a language, they must definitely study transcription, but adults do not want to learn it and it can be difficult for them.

If you still want to learn how to write and read transcriptions, then great! And if not, then you can use online dictionaries, where the word will be pronounced for you. One of the best dictionaries today is Multitran and the online dictionary Lingvo.

Important!

Remember that you need to use dictionaries, not translators!

Here is an example of reading short words with transcription:

Table of vowel sounds in English and transcription.

Living in the Internet age has some advantages. While sitting at home, you can master various knowledge online. For your attention video lesson, which explains the basic principles of reading. However, even after gaining knowledge through an online lesson, it needs to be consolidated in order for a skill to be formed.

Learn English tongue twisters

Tongue twisters, which are often aimed at practicing one sound, can help you here. Here are some examples you can use.

Tongue twister in English	Translation into Russian
Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather will not. Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot. We"ll weather the weather whether we like it or not.	The weather will be good or the weather won't be good. The weather will be cold or the weather will be hot. We can withstand any weather whether we like it or not.
Three swiss witch-bitches, which wished to be switched swiss witch-bitches, watch three swiss Swatch watch switches. Which swiss witch-bitch", which wishes to be a switched swiss witch-bitch, wishes to watch which Swiss Swatch switch?	Three Swiss witch bitches those who want to change their gender, looking at the three buttons on the Swatch watch. What a Swiss witch bitch those who want to change their gender, looking at what button on the Swatch watch?

Don't worry about tongue twisters! At this stage, when you are just learning to read and practicing sounds, it is important to pronounce them correctly, albeit slowly. You can always speed up.

Learn to hear English speech

After learning the basic, basic rules of reading, you can use the method of repeating after the speaker. Your auditory memory will also work and you will hear how words are pronounced correctly and what intonation is in sentences.

For this, you can use short dialogues and audio books for beginners. At this level, it would be ideal if the text is in front of your eyes, you listen, read and repeat at the same time!

You can use such a great resource as Oxford bookworm Library, which features audiobooks for all levels. You can download the library for free

For those who continue to learn English, we recommend learning the language from films, which you can read about in the article

Work on your pronunciation

Learning to read is only the first step towards learning a language. Just like learning grammar and vocabulary, learning to pronounce and hear correctly is very important if you want to understand what is being said to you and say it so that you are understood. Especially if you speak with a native speaker.

As we said a little above, one of the best ways is listen carefully to native speakers and try to copy their pronunciation and intonation .

Particular attention should be paid to sounds that do not exist in your native language. Often, people learning English have a problem with the ‘r’ sound, since in Russian it is hard, but in English it is more guttural and growling.

There are also difficulties in pronouncing the two sounds that combination of letters 'th'. Students persistently pronounce it as ‘c’ and ‘z’. Although it is worth noting that in words such as this, that, there, this sound is spoken as between ‘z’ and ‘d’. And in words like three, think, thief, it is pronounced as a sound between ‘f’ and ‘s’.

This may seem strange to you, since there are no such sounds in the Russian language, but if you listen to native speakers, you will understand that this is how they speak.

Don't worry if you can't say these words correctly the first time, it just takes a little practice. But, try to learn correctly from the very beginning, because it will be more difficult when you are forced to relearn.

Learn to pronounce phrases in English correctly

In English, words in sentences are not pronounced separately; they often merge as if into one whole, especially if it is a combination of a vowel and a consonant. Watch and practice with these transcription examples.

The same applies to phrases where one word ends with the letter ‘r’, and the next word begins with a vowel. In such cases, the sound 'r' is pronounced. Here are some examples.

This article is for those who only learning to read English. The twenty-first lesson is devoted to the topic "English alphabet", and to remember it better, a video is attached to the alphabet (classic British version).

There are two methods of teaching reading: from sound to letter And from letter to sound. The first twenty lessons of the cycle were based on the methodology "from sound to letter" and now that we've passed all english sounds, you can safely move to another level. Therefore, in the next five lessons we will go "from letter to sound" and today it's time to learn English alphabet.

In Lesson #21 you will learn that

There are only 6 vowels in English;

what is an open syllable?

how vowels are read in an open syllable.

Let's start with the English alphabet. Listen to the song "ABC", watch the video and remember how to pronounce letters in English. Total in English 6 vowels And 20 consonants.

English Alphabet Video ABC Song

(classic British version)

Learned English alphabet? Then let's move on. This is what the alphabet looks like in writing: Rules for reading vowels in English

REMEMBER:

total in English 6 vowels:

Aa —

Ee —

II —

Oo —

Uu —

Yy —

a vowel under stress is read in 4 ways, depending on what type of syllable it is in. In total there are 24 sounds.

Types of syllables in English

Rule (main thing). In an open syllable, the vowel letter is read as in the alphabet.

f a mous = f a-mous

c u cumber=c u-cum-ber

In English there is also conditionally open syllable. These are one-syllable words with an "e" at the end. EXAMPLES. P e te, l a te,c o ke.

Letter e at the end of a word unreadable and called " e-mute". It shows that the root vowel must be read, as in the alphabet. There are a lot of such words in the English language.

How to divide a word into syllables? (repetition)

How to divide a word into syllables? Let's take, for example, the word CUCUMBER (cucumber) and divide it into syllables.

The general rule is this: as many vowels as there are syllables.

C U C U M.B. E R - three vowels, therefore three syllables: C U-C U M-B E R

The first syllable ends in a vowel => it open
The second syllable ends in a consonant => he closed
The third syllable ends in a consonant => he too closed

Parsing:

BER: the letter combination ER at the end of a word is read as [ə]

But don’t worry about it just yet, the most important thing to remember is that vowels in English in an OPEN SYLLABLE they are read as in the alphabet. Therefore, if you have learned the English alphabet (the video, of course, will speed up this process), then you can already read the words with open syllable.

Now let's get started repeating the rules for reading vowels. Let me remind you that there are only 6 of them. Let's take the first letter of the alphabet. It reads "Hey". It's easy to remember if you look at the picture. " Hey, who eats nuts? Find the sound and listen to how it is pronounced -

So, let's move on to reading the first vowel of the English alphabet. Letter A in a stressed syllable denotes 4 sounds. See TABLE below. Moreover, if letter A stands in an unstressed syllable, it is read [ə] .

So before you start reading first vowel of the English alphabet, let's sum it up:

in the first (open) type of syllable (I) all stressed vowels are read as in the alphabet
and in the second (II), third (III) and fourth (IV) - according to the table

Reading the English letter A in four syllable types

So, let's start reading. Here in front of you 4 syllable types (I - open, II-closed, III, IV). The square brackets indicate how to pronounce the letter Aa in this type of syllable UNDER Stress. Phrases are tongue twisters that need to be repeated many times to remember. reading the letter Aa in the appropriate syllable type.

For those who have just joined. A dictionary is connected to the site; click on a word and you will hear its correct pronunciation. To hear how to pronounce the sound in [square brackets], look it up in the phonemic chart.

Reading the vowel Aa in 4 types of syllables. Tongue twisters

1. - This l a ke is a f a mouse pl a ce in W a les. (see Lesson #20)

2. [æ] - Abl a ck c a ts a t on a m a t and a te a f a t r a t. (see Lesson #3)

3. — Thep ar ks, g ar dens and f ar ms are l ar ge and ch ar ming. (Lesson #6)

4. - My p are nts* take c are of r are h are s. (see Lesson #18)

LISTEN to how the sounds are pronounced , [æ], , —

*parents – [`peərənts]

Pronunciation is important! For you, the author's pronunciation lessons:

Phonetic exercises for reading the letter A in open and closed syllables

A(I,II):

lake, jam, apple, famous, name, fan, trade, lamp, maze, batman, gate, stand, to behave, matter, skate, as, cable, take, rabbit, amazing , to decamp, to debate, Danish, raffish, rally, slake, snake, slalom, slam, fate, place, blame, can, rage, frank, splash, spade, damp, African, admiral, age, and, to arrange, to attack;

to is a verb feature. Most verbs have stress on the second syllable

Phonetic exercises for reading the letter A in the third and fourth type of syllable

A (III,IV):

car, large, care, rare, cart, hare, chart, card, stare, dark, market, bare, yard, star, glare, far, bar, apartment, parents, spare, scare, lark, mare, bare, dare, carpet, particle, barefoot, March, larch, square.

Exceptions:
1 – have, vase
2 – any, many [`meni], ate

In an unstressed syllable A is read as [ə]:
a bout, a round, a cross, to a ttack, alpha bet, Africa, to a dvise, to a dress

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Phonetic exercises for practicing reading the letter A with audio recording and answers (closed content)

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Title: Phonetic exercises with audio recording

Description: Access to restricted content *Repeat the rules for reading in English*

So, let's sum it up results of the twenty-first lesson on teaching English reading and pronunciation at the same time:

you have learned the English alphabet;
you learned what an open syllable is in English;
do you know how to read a vowel letter Ahh in an open syllable;
you have consolidated the pronunciation of the English sounds , [æ], , .