So, here we are at the last sixth vowel of the English alphabet letter Uu. If you have studied reading rules inEnglish language According to our recommendations, you already have sufficient theoretical knowledge. However, practice is most likely not enough. However, our course in reading does not end there. Practice awaits you ahead. More on this a little later.
In Lesson #25 you will learn:
- how to read a letter Uu in English;
- repeat the pronunciation of sounds , [ʌ], [ə:], .
Rules for reading the English letter U
Here are phrases to help you remember reading the letter U in each syllable type. A dictionary is connected to the site and, if in doubt, click on a word and listen to how it is pronounced.
Reading the English letter U in 4 syllable types. Tongue Twisters
1. : I don’t like u sual t u nes in m u sic. — I don’t like ordinary melodies.
2. [ʌ]: Have l u nch with u s. - Have lunch with us.
3. [ə:]: I have a p ur ple p ur se. — I have a purple wallet.
4. : I am s ure. - I'm sure.
Phonetic exercises for reading the letter U in open and closed syllables
U (I, II):
fun, music, plum, cube, pumpkin, rubber, super, drum, student, stupid, hunting, hungry, tune, tunic, luck, supper, super, to return, curl, sunny, pupil, blue, uniform, summer, suck , unit, due, ugly, mutton, butter, struggle, to construct, to consult, cluster, dub, drunk, true, tulip, use, upland, under, computer, cucumber, buck, must, to amuse, mummy, truth, gum, bubble, much, huge
to– sign of a verb. Most verbs have stress on the second syllable
Exceptions:
1. after letters l, r, j vowel U often read as: blue, true, truth, June, July,
2. after letters b, p, f vowel in a closed syllable U often read as [u]: full, bush, put, pull, etc.
Words to remember:
- busy [‘bizi] - busy
- study [‘stʌdɪ] - to study
- sugar [‘∫ugə] - sugar
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Phonetic exercises for reading the letter U in the third and fourth type of syllable
U (III, IV):
church, turn, burn, to return, pure, curl, curb, fur, hurt, sure, nurse, curse, curt, burning, turning, turkey, lure
In an unstressed syllable U is read as [ə]:
to s u ppose ,`fig u re [‘fɪgə], `maxim u m [‘mæksɪməm]
Phonetic exercises for practicing reading the letter U with audio recording and answers (closed content)
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Reading the letter combination UI:
3. UI read
– in a closed syllable after n,
s: suit - suit, nuisance [‘nju:səns] - annoyance. Exception: suite - hotel room
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Reading the letter combination QU
1. qu read
almost always: qu ick qu ickly qu iet, qu ietly, qu estion, qu iz, qu it, qu ite, s qu irrel, qu ail, qu ill, qu ilt, qu arter
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Don't be confused: qu ite — quite And qu iet - quiet
This was the last lesson of the course "Teaching English reading and pronunciation at the same time." In conclusion, I would like to once again draw your attention to the fact that in the first 20 lessons I relied on reading teaching method "from sound to letter" and in the last 5 lessons on reading teaching method "from letter to sound" and finally the circle is closed. There is an English expression “to round up”. I hope that you now have sufficient theoretical knowledge to, as a reinforcement, study on your own a few more articles, namely:
We continue our lessons on teaching reading in English. On the sign on the left, green arrows indicate sounds that we have already passed. Since we have studied almost all consonants, in this lesson we will repeat 8 studied vowel sounds to consolidate their pronunciation. There are only 4 consonant sounds left. Sounds [ r] And [ w] We go through this lesson, and the sounds [j] and [ŋ] in the next one. So, let's begin!
In Lesson #14 you will learn:
- how to read english consonants Rr And Ww;
- how to read letter combinations wr, wh, rh, er/or,
Let's start with pronouncing sounds, and then move on to reading letter combinations.
So the letter Ww represents a sound in writing [w]. Letter Rr represents a sound in writing [r]. Both sounds are quite complex, because there are no similar sounds in the Russian language.
Mouth exercise which will help you learn to pronounce English sounds [w]: stretch your lips into a tube, as if you want to blow out a candle, and then sharply move the corners of your mouth to the sides, as if in a smile. And so many times: tube - smile, tube - smile, tube - smile...
Pronunciation of the English sound [w]. Now that your mouth is prepared, let's start pronouncing the sound. Pull your lips out for a moment, as if you want to pronounce the sound “u”, and when you begin to pronounce “u”, immediately smile sharply. You will get a sound a little like “v”.
Actually sound [w] The letters “u” and “v” are very often rendered in Russian. Even in official sources the name William is spelled either William or William. Because there is NO such sound in the Russian language.
If you don't quite understand how to pronounce the English sound yet [w] correctly, then pronounce it as a short “u”, but in no case as a “v”.
Please note again that when you pronounce “u” your lips are rounded and NOT touching your teeth, the same position of your lips should be maintained when pronouncing the sound [w].
When pronouncing the sound “v”, the upper teeth touch the lower lip. This shouldn't happen!
How to pronounce the English sound [r] correctly?
I will say right away that this is a very complex sound. At least it was like that for me.
What you need to do to pronounce an English sound [r] correct and How does English [r] differ from Russian “r”?
- When pronouncing a sound [r] can come from sound [ʒ], which you already know how to pronounce. Only the tip of the tongue needs to be bent even further back ring.
- The tip of the tongue when pronouncing a sound [r] located in the back of the upper palate, the tongue does not shake. It looks like a burry “r” sound.
- When pronouncing the Russian sound “r”, the tongue shakes at the upper teeth: “pppp-pp-p...”
Listen to how sounds [w] and [r] are pronounced correctly —
Reading letter combinations with the sound R: wr, rh, er/or
2. Letter combinations er, or at the end the words are read as [ə] : sister, doctor, etc.
3. wr, rh reads like [r]: wr ist - wrist, rh ythm [‘rɪð(ə)m], as well as in such common words that we do not yet know how to read: wr ite (to write), wr ong (wrong)
Reading letter combinations with the sound W: wh
1. wh read as [w]: wh at - What, as well as in such common words that we do not yet know how to read: wh y (why), wh ite (white), wh ile (while).
Exception. Wh before o reads like [h]: wh o (who), wh ose (whose)
2. At the end of a word w unreadable: slo w
Phonetic exercises for practicing sounds [w] and [r] with audio recording (closed content)
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Description: Access to a course of lessons on teaching reading in English and pronunciation at the same time. Author T.V. Nabeeva
Learning correct English pronunciation is another challenge. The first difficulty is mastering the rules of reading, because words in English are read completely differently than they are written. By the way, there is something about this phenomenon. I advise you to look!
The second difficulty: even if the reading rules jump off your teeth, and you know exactly what combination of letters - what sound it means, you need to learn how to pronounce this sound. At the same time, it seems that the most “invincible” sounds for us are those that have no analogues in our language (like /w/, /θ/, /ð/ ).
However, no less difficult are sounds that have “twins” in Russian, because we, willy-nilly, replace them with our own, relatives. In this article we will “polish” the pronunciation of three such sounds: / æ / , / ʌ / , /a:/.
Let's do this according to the following scheme:
- Let's look at pronunciation in detail in theory;
- Let's practice using a special set of words and tongue twisters for the sounds of the English language;
- Finally, let's find an example of using sound in a famous song so that it is forever imprinted in auditory memory.
What's wrong with these sounds?
Why these particular sounds? Because we often replace them with one thing - Russian / A /, what creates our quite recognizable accent (/æ/ can also be replaced by Russian /e/).
Before I start, let me make a reservation right away that I won’t dwell on the rules of reading: the question is quite broad, and the purpose of the article is to “train” the correct pronunciation of the sound itself. Second disclaimer: this article will use British pronunciation words (below I will indicate which words we are talking about).
Sound /æ/ – neither A nor E
It is pronounced in words like man, that, dad etc. This sound is called “frog” or “butterfly” for convenience, but its scientific name is “Near-Open Front Unrounded Vowel”.
How the name is related to the nature of the sound is well explained in the video
The tongue is advanced, the tip of the tongue touching the lower teeth. The middle back of the tongue is slightly curved forward and upward. The distance between the jaws is significant. The throat and tongue are tense. The sound is short.
Possible error: replacing sound / æ / on /e/ or / A /, although this sound is neither one nor the other. If we look for parallels with Russian phonemes, then it is more similar to that sound / A /, which is used by us after soft consonants in stressed position(compare the sound in the word PA people And PI people – agree, the sounds are different!). In this case, the corners of the lips move further apart from each other than for a word P I people(as if you want to smile).
Another tip: prepare your mouth for sound /e/(for example, start saying the word V e uh), hold the speech apparatus in this position, but say the sound / A /.
If it’s still difficult to understand, then I’ll describe another technique: try “pushing” lower jaw down with the tip of the tongue, but at the same time remember about the “impending smile” (the corners of the lips stretched to the sides). Happened? This is approximately the position your articulatory apparatus will have when pronouncing this sound (see the picture).
You will find a very useful video from Rachel's English from which this screenshot is taken.
So, we’ve learned how to pronounce, now we need to consolidate the result. To do this, I propose to speak several dozen monosyllabic words with this sound. We adjust the speech apparatus to the desired position and begin training:
Now practice your tongue twisters. Just in case, the sound /æ/ is highlighted in bold:
- H a rry a nd P a t st a nd h a nd in h a n.d.
- A f a t c a ts a t on a m a t a nd ate a f a t r a t.
- F a tP a t h a s a f a t c a t. P a t's f a t c a t is in P a t's h a t.
- I h a ve to cr a m for my ex a m.
In conclusion, the promised phrase from the song, which will firmly stick in your memory and will always remind you of the correct pronunciation:
I'm the Sc a tm a n!
Sound /ʌ/ – let’s find it in Russian
Pronounced in words like but, love, blood, come etc. Linguistic people call it “lid”, but its full name is “ Open Mid-Back Unrounded Vowel”.
How the speech apparatus works: the tongue is not tense, located in the central part of the oral cavity, slightly moved back. The back of the tongue rises to the front of the soft palate up to half the distance. The sound is short.
This time we were lucky: the sound has an analogue in Russian - thispre-shock/A/ or /O/ in words like P O walked towards A whoa, m A tras etc. (compare the sounds in the wordlo ve And lO in and, or gu n And GO neither, Where /O/is located right inpre-shock positions).
It turns out that we don’t need to learn to pronounce this sound from scratch. Let's consolidate the result and compare this sound with the previous one (so that the information does not get confused in our heads).
Now it's time to practice this sound on a set of monosyllabic words.
such /sʌtʃ/
dull /dʌl/
gun /gʌn/
duck /dʌk/
luck /lʌk/
puck /pʌk/
does /dʌz/
cup /kʌp/
up /ʌp/
bus /bʌs/
bun /bʌn/
cut /kʌt/
fun /fʌn/
nut /nʌt/
hut /hʌt/
sum /sʌm/
numb /nʌm/
thumb /θʌm/
dumb /dʌm/
crumb /krʌm/
nun /nʌn/
done /dʌn/
son /sʌn/
We consolidate the result with tongue twisters:
- D oe s the b u s r u n every o ther M o nday
- Don't tr ou ble tr ou ble until tr ou ble tr ou bles you. It only d ou bles tr ou ble and tr ou bles o thers, too.
- A f u nny p u ppy r u ns in fr o nt of a p u b. A fl u ffy p u ppy r u ns in fr o nt of a cl u b.
Traditionally, a line from a song. In my opinion, Robbie Williams’ composition “Come undone” is perfect for “lid”, where he pronounces this sound 5 times in a row at the end of the chorus:
Because I'm scu m. And I'm yourso n. Ico meu ndo ne.
Find the full lyrics of the song.
Sound /a:/ – showing your throat to the doctor
Long / A: / or " Open Back Unrounded Vowel”pronounced in words likedance, ask, hard. In terms of articulation and sound, the sound resembles the one we make when showing our throat to the doctor.
How the speech apparatus works: from Russian / A / it differs in that the tongue is moved further back and down and lies as flat as possible (imagine the doctor pressing the tongue with a spoon). When pronouncing a sound correctly, you can see the soft palate in the mirror, which is impossible when pronouncing Russian . The sound is long.
Now let's move on to practice on a set of words. Please note that this is where the differences will be observed. between British and American versions pronunciation. As you know, Americans replace sound/a:/ to the sound / æ / in words like dance, ask, class etc.
Another difference: in words likecar, far, star- Americans use a short sound/ A / and say /r/ at the end. For convenience, we will stick to the British version of pronunciation.
car /kɑːr/
star /stɑːr/
far /fɑːr/
park /pɑːk/
dark /dɑːk/
class /klɑːs/
dance /dɑːns/
ask /ɑːsk/
task /tɑːsk/
fast /fɑːst/
last /lɑːst/
half /hɑːf/
bath /bɑːθ/
part /pɑːt/
hard /hɑːd/
glass /ɡlɑːs/
grass /ɡrɑːs/
chance /tʃɑːns/
aunt /ɑːnt/
grasp /ɡrɑːsp/
art /ɑːt/
calm /kɑːm/
laugh /lɑːf/
large /lɑːdʒ/
pass /pɑːs/
arm /ɑːm/
bar /bɑːr/
smart /smɑːt/
Now let’s practice the sound in tongue twisters:
- B a rbara B a rton is a rt and p a rt of the p a rty.
- C a rs c an't be p a rked at the p a rk a fter d a rk
- M a rgaret and Ch a rles a re d a cing in the g a rden under the st a rs.
- M a rk's c a r's f a ster than B a rt's c a r. B a rt's c a r's sm a rter than M a rk's c a r.
As an auditory reminder, let's take a chorus from the unforgettable Beatles:
Baby you can drive my ca
r
Yes I'm gonna be a sta
r
You can find the full lyrics of the song.
Maybe we should start a regular column?
So, I hope these sounds are etched in your memory and will never be confused with each other. By the way, we decided to make such a detailed analysis of similar sounds a permanent blog section. If you are in favor, mark it in the comments to the post :) See you!
The sounds that represent are 44 English phonemes, which are divided into two categories: consonants and vowels. Since sounds cannot be written down, graphemes (letters or combinations of letters) are used to convey sounds in writing.
English alphabet
There are 26 letters in the English language. The standard one starts with the letter a and ends with the letter z.
When classifying alphabetic characters, the following are distinguished:
- 5 pure vowels: a, e, i, o, u;
- 19 pure consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z;
- 2 semivowels: y, w.
Learning the English alphabet requires knowledge of both the symbol that represents each letter and the phonetic sounds associated with that letter. Learning English phonetics is difficult. Only a small number of letters have no exceptions in the basic sound.
In most cases, each letter has several phonemes. The letter B sometimes sounds like bat (bat) or does not sound, for example, in the words crumb (cram), dumb (dam). The letter C sounds like the “k” for cat, or the “c” for ceiling, or the “tch” for church. And the list of exceptions is endless.
Vowel sounds
No homework. No cramming. No textbooks
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Features of English consonants
A consonant combination is a set of two or three consonant letters that, when pronounced, retain the original sound. Such sets occur either at the beginning or at the end of a word. For example, the word brave, in which both “b” and “r” are pronounced, is the initial combination. In the word bank “-nk” is the final combination.
Classification:
- The starting combinations are classified into sets with "l", "r", and "s". In "l" the combination ends with "l". An example would be the letters “bl” in the word blind. In the same way, the final sound in “r” is combined with “r” when “br” and “cr”, for example, in the words bridge, crane. On the contrary, in “s” it begins with s, “st” and “sn” - stap, snail.
- The final combinations are grouped into sets with "s", "l" and "n": -st, -sk, -ld, -nd, -nk. Examples: first, desk, gold, sand, sink.
Digraphs
Consonant digraphs refer to a set of consonants that form a single sound. Some digraphs appear both at the beginning and at the end of a word - “sh”, “ch” and “th”. There are also strict initial and final digraphs – “kn-” and “-ck”.
Examples of digraphs:
| Ch- | -ch |
| Kn- | —ck |
| Ph- | -sh |
| Sh- | -ss |
| Th- | -th |
| Wh- | -tch |
| Wr- |
Features of digraphs:
Table of pronunciation of English consonants
| b | b | bag, band, cab | bag, band, cab |
| d | d | dad, did, lady, odd [ɒd] | grandfather, did, lady, od |
| f | f, ph, sometimes gh | fable , fact , if [ɪf], off [ɒf], photo , glyph | fable, fact, if, of, foutou, glyph |
| g | give, flag | giv, flag | |
| h | hold, ham | hold, ham | |
| j | usually represented by y, but sometimes by other vowels | yellow,yes,young,neuron,cube | yelow, ees, iyang, n(b)yueron, k(b)yu:b - the sound j is similar to the vowel sound i:. |
| k | k, c, q, que, ck, sometimes ch | cat, kill, queen, skin, thick [θɪk], chaos | kat, kil, qui:n, sik, keyos |
| l | l | lane, clip, bell, milk, sould | lane, clip, white, milk, sould – has two sound options: clear /l/ before a vowel, “darkened” /ɫ/ before a consonant or at the end of a word |
| m | m | man, them [ðem], moon | men, zem, mu:n |
| n | n | nest, sun | nest, san |
| ŋ | ng | ring, sing, finger [ŋ] is sometimes followed by the sound [g]. [ŋ] if "ng" is at the end of a word or a related word (sing, singer, thing), in "-ing", which translates verbs into participles or gerunds. [ŋg], if “ng” is not at the end of a word or in related words, also in comparative degrees (longer, longest). |
/ring/, /sing/, /finge/ |
| p | p | pen, spin, tip, happy | pen, spin, type, happy |
| r | r | rat, reply, rainbow, | rat, ripple, rainbow - movement of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge, but without touching it |
| s | s, sometimes c | see, city, pass, lesson | si:, pa:s, lesn |
| ʃ | sh, si, ti, sometimes s | she [ʃi:], crash, sheep [ʃi:p], sure [ʃʊə], session, emotion [ɪməʊʃn], leash | shi:, crash, shi:p, shue, session, imeshn, li:sh |
| t | t | taste, sting | taste, sting |
| tʃ | ch, sometimes t | chair [ʧɛə], nature teach beach | t che e, ney t che, ti: t ch, bi: t ch |
| θ | th | thing [θɪŋ], teeth, Athens [æθɪnz[ | t sing, ti: t s, et sins - voiceless fricative |
| ð | th | this [ðɪs], mother | d zis, ma d ze – voiced fricative |
| v | v, sometimes f | voice, five,of [ɔv] | voice, five, ov |
| w | w, sometimes u | wet, window, queen | u in et, u in indeu, ku in i:n – [w] similar to |
| z | z | zoo, lazy | zu:, lazy |
| ʒ | g, si, z, sometimes s | genre [ʒɑːŋr], pleasure, beige, seizure, vision | genre e, plezhe, beige, si:zhe, vision |
| dʒ | j, sometimes g, dg, d | gin [ʤɪn], joy [ʤɔɪ], edge | gin, joy, edge |
English vowels
Each English vowel is pronounced in three ways:
- like a long sound;
- like a short sound;
- as a neutral vowel sound (schwa).
There are 5 vowels in the English alphabet, but sometimes y becomes a vowel and is pronounced like i, and w replaces u, for example in the digraph ow.
Rules for reading vowels
Short vowels, which are characterized by a "short" sound, occur when a word contains one vowel, either at the beginning of a word or between two consonants. For example, if, elk, hop, fan. The typical short vowel pattern is consonant+vowel+consonant (CGS).
Words are taught as families, which represent groups of words with a common pattern, such as the pattern “-ag” – bag, wag, tag or “-at” – cat, bat, hat.
vowels:
| Sound | Letter | Examples |
| [æ] | a | rag, sag, ram, jam, gap, sap mat |
| [ɛ] | e | hen, pen, wet, bet, let |
| [ɪ] | i | pig, wig, dig, pin, win, tin, tin, bit |
| [ɒ] | o | hop, pop, top, hot, pot, lot |
| [ʌ] | u | bug, lug, tug, hut, but, cut |
vowels:
| Sound | Writing | Examples |
| A | ai, ay, a+consonant+e | name, mail, gray, ace |
| E | e, ee, ea, y, ie ,ei, i+consonant+e | he, deep, beast, dandy, thief, receive, elite |
| I | i, i+gn, igh, y, i+ld, i+nd | mine, sign, high, sky, wild, kind |
| O | o+consonant +e, oa, ow, o+ll, ld | tone, road, note, know, roll, bold |
| U | ew, ue, u+consonant+e | few, due, tune |
The vowel sound in unstressed syllables is expressed by a shortened neutral sound ("schwa"), the phonemic symbol /ə/, especially if no syllabic consonants are used.
For example:
- a in about, around, approve, above [ə bʌv];
- e in accident, mother, taken, camera;
- i in, family, lentil, officer pencil;
- o in memory, common, freedom, purpose, London;
- u in supply, industry, suggest, difficult, succeed, minimum;
- and even y in sibyl;
- schwa appears in function words: to, from, are.
Features of vowel sounds in English
Vowels are classified as monophthongs, diphthongs or triphthongs. A monophthong is when there is one vowel sound in a syllable, a diphthong is when there are two vowel sounds in a syllable.
Let's take a closer look:
- Monophthongs – pure and stable vowels, the acoustic characteristics (timbre) of which do not change during the time they are pronounced.
- - a sound formed by a combination of two adjacent vowels in one syllable. Technically, the tongue (or other parts of the vocal apparatus) moves when pronouncing a vowel sound - the first position is stronger than the second. In diphthong transcription, the first character represents the starting point of the body of the tongue, the second character represents the direction of movement. For example, you should be aware that in the letter combination /aj/, the body of the tongue is in the lower central position represented by the symbol /a/, and immediately begins to move up and forward to the position for /i/.
- Diphthongs are often formed when individual vowels work together in fast conversation. Usually (in the speaker’s speech) the body of the tongue does not have time to reach the /i/ position. Therefore, the diphthong often ends closer to /ɪ/ or even to /e/. In the diphthong /aw/, the body of the tongue moves from the low central position of /a/, then moves up and back to the position of /u/. Although there are also single diphthongs, which are heard as separate vowel sounds (phonemes).
- There are also triphthongs in English.(combinations of three adjacent vowels), including three sound types, for example, fire /fʌɪə/, flower /flaʊər/. But in any case, all diphthongs and triphthongs are formed from monophthongs.
Pronunciation table for simple English vowel sounds
All vowel sounds are formed from only 12 monophthongs. Each, regardless of spelling, is pronounced using some combination of these sounds.
The table shows examples of simple English vowels with pronunciation in Russian:
| [ɪ] | pit, kiss, busy | pete, kitty, bisi |
| [e] | egg, let, red | eg, years, ed |
| [æ] | apple, travel, mad | Apple, Travel, Med |
| [ɒ] | not, rock, copy | note, rock, mine |
| [ʌ] | cup, son, money | cap, san, mani |
| [ʊ] | look, foot, could | bow, foot, cool |
| [ə] | ago, away | hey, hey |
| be, meet, read | bi:, mi:t, ri:d | |
| [ɑ:] | arm, car, father | a: m, ka:, fa: d ze |
| [ɔ:] | door, saw, pause | to:, from:, to:z |
| [ɜ:] | turn, girl, learn | te:n, gyo:l, le:n |
| blue, food, too | blue:, fu:d, tu: |
Diphthong pronunciation table
| day, pain, rein | dei, pein, rein | |
| cow, know | kou, know | |
| wise, island | Visa, Island | |
| now, trout | naw, trout | |
| [ɔɪ] | noise, coin | noiz, coin |
| [ɪə] | near, hear | nee, hie |
| [ɛə] | where, air | uh, uh, uh |
| [ʊə] | pure, tourist | p(b)yue, tu e rist |
Learning transcription of English words
Let's look at some features of English transcription:
There are a large number of videos online to listen to, and you can also practice using exercises.
English is very different from Russian. The difference is not only in the rules for constructing sentences, but also in pronunciation. The pronunciation of English letters has its own specific features, which can be difficult for beginning students to understand. The fact is that the phonetics of the English language is very different from the phonetics of the Russian language. The English language does not have soft sounds, which are abundant in Russian speech. In addition, a foreign language is rich in sounds that are absent in our native language (it is full of combinations of letters, also known as diphthongs). Let's look at the features of the pronunciation of English vowels and consonants, give examples of words as vivid examples, and learn the features of English letter combinations.
English language has only 6 vowels, but they are capable of forming a larger number of similar ones, making speech rich and varied. Important! Please note that letters will be read differently in different words. Rule number one of learning English for beginners is always watch the transcription!
Owl, open, blossom, cotton, bowl - all these words have a component sound [o], only it is pronounced differently. Transcription makes it very easy to read words, so it is highly recommended for beginning students to enlist the help of a dictionary. Look at it whenever you have a free minute. This will only benefit you.
An interesting case with sound [ u]. June, but, Gulliver, music... For children, the features of the English alphabet can be truly incomprehensible. But this is only at first glance. Practice, patience and hard work will reap rich rewards in writing and speaking.
Another striking example is the sound [ at]. In addition to the standard yesterday, yellow, Jelly and Billy, also known are yawn, yogurt, yarn, yacht... Can you pronounce these words correctly without a dictionary? Or will a transcription be needed?
Pronunciation of English letters - vowels
| Transcription of sound in English | Correct pronunciation | Analogy with Russian sound | Phonetics |
| [A:] | The mouth is open almost as for the Russian sound [a], but the tongue should be moved a little back and down. The tongue should lie flat, the tip of the tongue should be pulled away from the lower teeth | [a] => sooo | a rm,f a ther |
| [æ] | The lips are slightly stretched, the lower jaw should be lowered, and the tip of the tongue should touch the lower teeth | [-] => this one | c a t,bl a ck |
| [ɔ : ] | You should proceed from the position of the speech organs when pronouncing the sound [a:], then slightly round your lips and move them forward | [o:] => variety | c a ll, f ou r |
| [ɔ ] | You should proceed from the position of the speech organs when pronouncing the sound [a:], then the lips are slightly rounded | [o] => basketball | a way, cin e m a |
| The tongue is raised, the lips are tense and slightly stretched, the distance between the jaws is small | [-] slightly similar to yo | t ur n, l ear n | |
| [i], [ı] | The tip of the tongue touches the base of the lower teeth | [and] => needle | h i t, s i tt i ng |
| The lips should be stretched slightly and the tip of the tongue should touch the lower teeth | [and:] => Inna | s ee, h ea t | |
| [ə] | All efforts should be concentrated on the stressed vowel | [-] neutral vowel, unstressed sound - final unstressed [a] => room, paper | a way, cin e m a |
| [e] | The tip of the tongue is at the lower teeth, the lips are slightly stretched, the lower jaw should not be lowered | [uh] these, father-in-law | m e t, b e d |
| [ʊ] | The lips are slightly rounded, but hardly move forward | [y] => fog | p u t, c oul d |
| The lips should be strongly rounded, but they move forward much less | blue, food | ||
| [Λ] | The tongue is slightly pulled back, the lips are slightly stretched, the distance between the jaws is quite large | pre-shock [a] => what, gardens | cup, luck |
On a note! To pronounce English letters correctly, you first need to carefully learn phonetics. It is very important to approach the process responsibly, because relearning is much more difficult than learning something from scratch. All sounds must be taught with transcription.
The pronunciation of consonants in English also differs from the pronunciation of most Russian counterparts, especially since a foreign language has letters in its alphabet that are not in our native language. Let's look at the features of reading and pronunciation of English consonants.
Reference: English in tables is simple and easy. Divide the tables into separate topics, and review the material covered every day. And one more thing: the tables are convenient to carry with you to class, using them as cheat sheets.
Pronunciation of consonants in English
| English transcription | How to pronounce English sound correctly | Analogue in Russian | Phonetics |
| [h] | Similar to the sound we hear when we breathe on frozen hands to warm them, exhaling with the addition of a voice | deaf [x] as in the word => bread | how, hello |
| [f] | Pronounced more energetically than the Russian sound [f] | dull [f] hard, as in the word => faction | find, if |
| [l] | The tip of the tongue should rest against the alveoli | voiced [l] => flax | leg, little |
| [R] | Presence of aspiration | dull [n] hard, as in the word => finger | pet, map |
| [v] | We pronounce with more energy than the Russian sound [v] | voiced [in] hard, as in the word => fan | voice, five |
| [z] | The tip of the tongue at the alveoli | voiced [z] hard, as in a word => star | zoo, lazy |
| [w] | Pronounced with only lips, slightly rounded and moved forward | [-] => Williams, hulk | wet, window |
| [t] | dull [t] hard, as in the word => throne | tea, getting | |
| [r] | The tip of the tongue rises to the front of the palate, as when pronouncing [zh], the tongue is motionless | [r] as in word => horn | red, try |
| [m] | You should close your lips and make a sound, exhaling through your nose | voiced [m] hard, as in the word => soap | man, lemon |
| [To] | The sound is dull but energetic. The back of the tongue should be moved towards the throat, blocking the flow of air, and the sound should be pronounced | dull [k] hard, as in a word => com | cat, back |
| [j] | Stretch your tongue along the palate, lips into a smile and when pronouncing the sound [j], as in the word may, return the tongue to its original position without touching the palate | [th] as in words => yorsh, major | yes, yellow |
| [d] | The tip of the tongue rests on the alveoli | voiced [d] hard, as in the word => smoke | did, lady |
| [b] | Labial | voiced [b] hard, as in the word => trampoline | bad, lab |
| [n] | The tip of the tongue rests on the alveoli | voiced [n] hard, as in a word => nose | no, ten |
| [ŋ] | The back of the tongue closes with the soft palate, pronounced “in the nose” with the mouth open | [nn] | sing, finger |
| [ʃ] | [w] softened, as in the word => tire | she crash | |
| [ð] | When the tip of the tongue is between the teeth, Russian is pronounced [z] | [-] | this, mother |
| The tip and front part of the tongue come closer to the alveoli, the middle part is raised towards the hard palate, the teeth are brought closer together | [h] => tea, seagull | check, church | |
| [θ] | th in English is pronounced when the tongue is between the teeth | [-] | think, both |
| [ӡ] | The tip and front part of the tongue come closer to the alveoli, the middle part is raised towards the hard palate, the teeth are brought closer together | [g] as in the word => jelly, liquid, tin | pleasure, vision |
| [s] | The tip of the tongue at the alveoli | dull [s] hard, as in the word => catfish, cheese, glory | sun, miss |
The table shows that consonant sounds can be hard, voiceless and voiced. In this case, one should take into account the fact that in the English language there are sounds that are quite similar in pronunciation, for example, v and w.
But! The sound v is sonorous, it is pronounced much more energetically than the Russian v. In turn, the sound w is pronounced in a completely different way than the sound v => you should slightly round your lips and move them forward.
Let's look at another table where we give examples of consonant letters with their sounds and several examples:
The table shows that transcription plays an important role. This is an important factor that plays a key role during the first stage of learning English. It is he who helps to read the word correctly and learn to pronounce it correctly. With the help of transcription, you can correctly read even the most difficult word.
Pronunciation of English sounds
Correct pronunciation of English sounds is impossible without a correct understanding of the role of the speech organs. When we pronounce this or that sound, a certain organ of speech takes one or another position. To pronounce sounds, we use the entire oral cavity - not only the tongue, as many believe, but also the lips, palate and even teeth. Yes yes exactly. And there is nothing strange about this. Remember: we are talking about a foreign language, and not about our native one, and in other languages there are always many interesting things that are not in our speech.
When we pronounce English sounds, we use not only the tip of the tongue, but also the back of it, along with the root. When the palate is involved in pronunciation, the alveoli play an important role. They are small tubercles behind the upper teeth.
This is interesting! When we pronounce sounds in English, not only the soft palate with the uvula, but also the hard palate is involved in the work. In this case, the speech organs should be controlled so that one sound does not transform into another. And the English language is rich in sounds that are very similar to each other. To pronounce s and z, you must use different pronunciation methods.
What role do the vocal cords play? With their help, we can pronounce dull and voiced sounds. Moreover, to pronounce voiceless consonant sounds, the vocal cords do not need to be strained; they are freely moved apart. But when we strain the ligaments, they are set in motion by the flow of air, as a result of which they begin to vibrate. This vibration is what causes ringing sounds.
Features of the pronunciation of vowel sounds. The role of monophthongs and diphthongs
Unlike the Russian language, English has monophthongs and diphthongs. Monophthongs are vowel sounds, during the pronunciation of which our speech apparatus is characterized by maintaining a certain fixed position. In this case, the articulation will not change throughout the entire sound period.
Diphthongs mean vowel sounds that are formed using two elements, for example, diphthong. To pronounce a diphthong, the speech organs first acquire one position and then another. It should be remembered that the first part of the diphthong, which is also called the core, will have a longer duration of pronunciation and distinctness. As for the second part, it will be less loud and more brief.
Important! You should also pay attention to the length of vowels. In transcription it is indicated by a colon (:). An incorrectly spoken word, or rather, with a broken duration, can lead to a violation of the meaning of an entire sentence.
For example:
- ship [ʃɪ p] - ship And sheep [ʃ iː p] - ram.
If you perceive a sentence with these words by ear, without seeing them, you may misunderstand the meaning.
Features of the pronunciation of consonants
First of all, I would like to note that the consonants of the English language are pronounced more energetically than the consonants of the Russian language. Let's take the sound [m] as an example. To pronounce it correctly, you should close your lips more tightly than if the sound m was pronounced in Russian speech.
On a note! English consonants (voiced) do not need to be deafened at the end of a word, which is typical for Russian consonants. If this factor is not taken into account, the meaning of the sentence may be distorted.
A striking example:
- bad - bad
- bat - bat.
The example shows that if you deafen the last sound, the meaning of the word will be completely different. If a person does not read, but listens, then it is very important to pronounce words correctly. Otherwise, you risk being misunderstood.
Let's sum it up
Pronunciation of English words is an interesting and rather complex topic, especially for beginners. Not only must the alphabet be learned, but one must also learn to pronounce it correctly. Letters and sounds, monophthongs and diphthongs, vowels and consonants... Each item listed has its own rules and pronunciation features. Moreover, it is important to remember that English vowels and consonants form camp sounds. For example, if there are only six pure vowels, then with diphthongs there will be more of them.
Why is it important to learn how to pronounce sounds correctly? So that we can be understood! When the tongue becomes confused, the organs of speech are used incorrectly, and one sound is similar to another, speech turns into mush. Words should be pronounced clearly, correctly, with the correct length. Remember: competent speech gives the impression of an educated and intelligent person. but the main thing is that you can easily communicate with foreigners. You will understand them, and they will understand you. Traveling abroad will become a pleasure, not a punishment. Good luck and new achievements! Remember: luck smiles on those who meet it halfway.
