Digraphs in English language is a pair of letters used to represent one phoneme in writing language. The following article provides definitions, information, and ideas for teaching letter combinations in English. This article is suitable for both children and adults, as it is written in simple language. In addition, you can listen to audio and listen to how words and digraphs are read in English. Let's start learning the rules for reading letter combinations in English.
How to learn digraphs
Letter combinations in English are very common and therefore it is necessary to study them at the first stage of learning, for both adults and children. Many sites write that it is difficult even for an adult to understand how digraphs are read. We don't agree with this. Remember, anyone can learn a language, you just need to try hard and pull yourself together. Therefore, we want you to believe in yourself and forget words like: “I am not able to learn a language because I am not inclined towards foreign languages.”
The first thing you need is to read our article to the end. Second, learn several consonant digraphs and practice them by reading words and short stories. In this article you will become familiar with only consonant letter combinations in order to gradually study each digraph, and in the next article we will introduce you to vowel combinations.
Definition of digraphs
What are digraphs?
Digraphs or digraphs in English are two letters that have the same sound. Digraphs can consist of vowels or consonants. Digraphs are different from blends. While blend is a group of letters in which each letter represents an individual sound such as b-l in the word bloom or s-t-r in the word street. Let's find out what digraphs there are?
Reading and pronunciation of letter combinations in English
In this section you will learn how to read letter combinations in English.
The letters in brackets are sounds written in the International Phonetic Alphabet. First, listen to the audio and pay attention to the transcription and remember the combination of letters.
Combination of consonants in English:
- sh [ш] [ʃ] —
Examples:
1. Sh ed [ʃed] [shed] – Barn
2. Shelf [ʃelf] [shelf] – Shelf
3. Brush [brush] - Brush
- th [SS] [θ]
Listen carefully to how the combination th is read in English.
This sound needs to be given great attention, since in our native language there is no such sound. This phoneme is called interdental [SS]. You need to put your tongue between your teeth and pronounce the unvoiced V English transcription she looks like this [θ] .
Examples:
- Th ick [θɪk] [SSik] - Thick
- Th rust[θrʌst] [SS(r)ast] – To thrust
— Th ug [θʌɡ] [ССаг] – Hooligan
- th [ЗЗ] [ð]– letter combination th in English it is pronounced like the previous one, but it is voiced.
Examples:
- Th is [ðɪs] [ZZis] - This is
- Th ey [ðeɪ] [ZZey] - They
- Weath er [ˈweðə] - Weather
- th – [t]— Sometimes this letter combination is pronounced like [t]:
- Th ailand [ˈtaɪ.lænd] [Thailand] - Thailand
th the combination in English may seem difficult, since there is no such phoneme in the Russian language, but in fact our organs, in this case the tongue, can learn to pronounce such phonemes. You need to listen to foreign speech more. For example, British Radio. Go to the BBC radio 4 Extra website and you'll find plenty interesting stories from comedy to horror. Listen and practice English speech.
- ch [h]
The combination ch in English has several variants, so remember the pronunciation of words written with this digraph.
Examples:
1. Ch ess [chess] – Chess
2. Bench [bench] - Bench
3. Rich [rich] - Rich
- ch – [k] [K]– This letter combination in English is sometimes pronounced with the sound [K], as in the word [Cat]
Examples:
- Ch orus [ˈkɔːrəs] [koores] - Choir
- Ach e [eik] - Pain
- Ch ristmas [ˈkrɪsməs] [krismes] - Christmas
- ch – [ʃ] [w]- In some cases, the same letter combination is read as [w].
- Mach ine [machine] - Mechanism, machine
- Mach ete [masheti] - Machete
- Ch icago [ʃɪˈkɑ.ɡoʊ] [shikagou] – Chicago
- ph [ph] [f]
- Neph ew [ˈnefjuː] [nephew] - Nephew
- Dolph in [ˈdɒlfɪn] [dolphin] - Dolphin
- Phonetics [phonetics] - Phonetics
- wh [ў] [w]
Examples:
- Wh ack [ўek] - Hit
- Wh eel [ўIL] - Wheel
- Wh ite [ўight] - White
- If after the letter combination wh followed by a letter o, then the letter w unreadable:
- Who - Who
- Letter combination ck – [k]– reads like [k]
- Truck [truck] - Truck
- Neck [neck] - Neck
- Puck [pack] - Puck
- dg – [j] [j]
Example:
- Grudg e [ɡrʌdʒ] [graj] - Resentment, anger
- Budg et [ˈbʌdʒɪt] [bajit] - Budget
- gh - [f] [f]
In English the digraph gh is read as [f] in the following words:
- Cough [coff] - Cough
- Laugh [laf] - Laughter
- Rough [rough] - Difficult
- gh – [g] [g]- the same letter combination has a second sound [G]
- Gh ost [ɡəʊst] – Bringing
- gn – [n] [n]
- Gn ome - Gnome
- Gn at - Midge
- Gn aw - Gnaw
- kn – [n] [n] letter combination or digraph kn used in the following words:
- Kn ife [knife] - Knife
- Kn ight [night] - Knight
- Kn ot [notes] - Knot
* Compare: kn ight – n ight [night] - pronounced the same, written differently and translated differently. Night - night.
- lk – [k] [k]– letter L not pronounced.
- Walk [walk] - Walk
- Talk [current] - Talk
In these examples we see another letter combination al before the letter k reads like sound [ɔː] , that is, a long sound [O].
- Chalk - Chalk
- Mn – [m] [m]
Mb [m] [m]
Words that end with (mn, mb) the last letter in this combination is not pronounced.
In combination mn, 'n' not pronounced.
In combination mb, 'b' not pronounced.
Look at the examples:
- Autumn [ˈɔːtəm] [ootem] - Autumn
- Column [ˈkɒləm] [kolem] - Column
- Hymn [chem] - Anthem
- Read now the examples with letters mb :
- Climb [climb] - Climb
- Thumb [θʌm] [SSam] - Thumb
- ng – [ŋ]
The letter combination ng at the end of a word is read as [ŋ] , but this sound is not pronounced like [n], / ŋ / is a nasal sound made in the same position as / k/ And / g/, so the tongue rises from behind, touching the soft palate, and the noise is released through the nose. Try again!
Example:
- Thing [θɪŋ] [SSin] - Thing
- King [kin] - King
- Letter combination nk reads like a sound combination [ŋk], For example:
- Ink [ɪŋk] [ink] - Ink
- wr – [r] [(р)]
Letter W at the beginning of a word before the letter R unreadable:
- Wr ite [right] - Write
- Wr ap [rap] - Wrap up
— Rh etoric [ˈretərɪk] – Rhetoric
— Rhino [ˈraɪnəʊ] – Rhinoceros
Letter combination table in English
Having carefully studied the combination of English letters, you can save the table and use it as a mini-hint.
Reading English letter combinations of vowels and consonants
- igh - [ay]
Letter combination igh reads like [ouch] for example, in these words:
- Light t [light] - Light
- Righ t [(r)ayt] - Faithful
- Nigh t [night] - Night
- Wor When pronouncing, you must ensure that [w] did not soften and did not replace the sound with Russian [O] or [e].
Listen to how to pronounce it correctly
— Wor k — Work
- Wa The letter combination wa is read as [oo], if followed by either a final consonant (except r), or combinations of consonants:
- Wa nt [want] - Want
- Wash [wash] - Wash
- qu –
- Qu een [queen] - Queen
- Qu ick [quick] - Quick
- ew - [yu]
Letter combination with vowel and consonant ew in most words it is read as a sound combination .
- New [new] - New
- View [view] - Opinion, look
Combinations of consonants in English are an important topic, because if you want to be able to read in English, you definitely need to know how to read a word that has two letters, but is read as one.
In the next topic we will look at vowel letter combinations or digraphs. In the meantime, we suggest downloading a document with sentences that have consonant digraphs in English. Read them carefully several times. First, slowly, pronouncing each word as clearly and clearly as possible, pay attention to the pronunciation, if you don’t know how the word is read, look up the transcription in the dictionary, then after you have learned to pronounce the words, read them faster.
Combination of sounds in English with transcription
In this section we will look at important sound combinations in English.
First sound combination:
- [pl]– Before a stressed vowel it is pronounced together. This sound is pronounced very energetically, that the sound [l] [l] partially stunned:
- Pl ease [please] - Please
- Pl ane [plain] - Airplane
- [kl]– Pronounce this sound combination exactly the same as , before a stressed vowel the sound is pronounced together [l] partially stunned:
- Cl ean [wedge] - Clean
- – When pronouncing these sounds, it is necessary to maintain the quality of pronunciation.
—
—
- Sound combinations [t] [d] [n] [l] with sounds [θ] [ð] . Alveolar sounds [t] [d] [n] [l] before interdental ones they become either dental or interdental, as they lose alveolarity.
- At this [æt ðɪs]
— Read this
- Sound combinations [θr] .
In a combination of sound r with a preceding consonant, both sounds are almost pronounced the same:
— Br ight — Bright
- In sound combinations the tip of the tongue is not on the alveoli, but behind them.
—Tr y
—Dr y
Exercises on letter combinations in English
Skim the table and then take the English digraphs test.
Published in,Reading is one of the most difficult parts of learning English. In my experience, children more or less begin to read only at the end of the second year of study, if we are talking about high school. However, it happens that even after graduating from school, many graduates still cannot read English words.
Unlike the Russian language, in which almost 99% of what we see is what we read (adjusted for reduction, assimilation, etc.), in the English language the situation is completely different. Historically, the same letter in different positions can be read differently.
Let's take the following words for comparison: cat - cake - want - bath - sofa. The letter “a” in these words will correspond to the following sounds: [æ], , [ɒ], [ɑ:], [ə]. And it’s not just about the 4 types of reading vowels. There are also a bunch of rules for letter combinations that regulate the reading of the letter “A”.
In fact, the English language is made up of rules and exceptions. Therefore, you can memorize reading rules as much as you like, which may not work in a particular case. Why do you think the verb “to spell” is popular only in English?
To have an idea of the rules of reading English, I recommend you the following manuals. You can download all of them for free using the links below;
- S.V. Shimansky “Reading Rules in English” - gives a general set of reading rules with a few examples; there are no exercises in the manual. Excellent as a cheat sheet, because... consists of only 15 pages.
- The “Reading Rules” poster is an excellent tool for visually memorizing the rules of reading English.
- Shuman S.E. "English language. Reading Rules" - a guide to reading rules for middle school students and adults. The publication contains rules for reading letters of the English alphabet, vowels and consonants, and articulation options in various language situations.
- Appendix Vasilyeva E.A. “Rules for reading English words for the lazy” is a program for Windows that outlines the rules for reading one-syllable, two-syllable and more difficult words in English. The material is presented in the form of tables and models, which makes it easier to learn the rules of reading English words.
- Narrow A.F. “Rules for Reading English Words” - this book is convenient for use by teachers, students and their parents. Its goal is to develop readiness to understand spoken speech and correct reading skills.
- L.P. Bondarenko “Fundamentals of English Phonetics” is a complete textbook on phonetics for high school students. Contains many rules, examples and exercises for practicing the pronunciation of English sounds.
The first thing a person who begins to learn English encounters is the difficulty of reading most words. There are many jokes about this among even the native speakers of this language, let alone those for whom it is not native. One Dutch linguist even wrote a poem containing the most difficult and controversial cases of English phonetics - it is difficult to read without errors even for someone who knows the language well.
But jokes are jokes, but we need to learn to pronounce words correctly. The rules of reading in English help with this. For beginners, they will be a little difficult, but this is just out of habit. Once you understand them and reinforce the theory well with examples, you will see how much they will make your life easier.
What are these rules for?
Without knowing them, learning to read will be difficult. Of course, you can memorize the transcription of those words that you come across. But in this case, your reading abilities will be very limited. What if you come across a word with a familiar root, but an unclear suffix or prefix? Or In such cases, mistakes are inevitable if you do not know the rules of reading in English. For beginners, they are especially important because they allow you to feel and understand the logic of language construction at all levels, starting with phonetics.
Reading consonants
- always pronounced firmly;
- voiced sounds are not deafened at the ends of words;
- after the sounds there is aspiration, because the lips open faster than in pronunciation in Russian;
- the sound [w] is pronounced pronouncedly, with two lips;
- when pronouncing the sound [v], on the contrary, only the lower lip is involved;
- many sounds are pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the alveoli, and not the teeth (as in Russian pronunciation).
Vowel reading: 4 syllable types
We continue to analyze the rules of reading in English. For beginners, it is better to present the material with examples. Then it will be clearer how to pronounce this or that sound.
IN english alphabet There are only six, but the difficulty of reading them is due to the presence of four different types of syllables:
- open;
- closed;
- vowel + r;
- vowel + r + vowel.
Let's look at them all in order, not forgetting about examples.
In an open syllable, the vowel is read as it is called in the alphabet: O is read as “ou (eu)”, U is read as a long “yu”, etc. The only exception is the letter Y, which is pronounced as “ay”. How to determine that a syllable is open? It must end with a vowel, which can stand:
- at the end of a monosyllabic word (me, go);
- at the beginning or middle (game, time, music);
- next to another vowel (suit).
In a closed syllable that ends with a consonant (sometimes doubled), the vowels are read truncated:
- Aa [æ] turns into something between the Russian sounds [a] and [e], for example: cat, apple.
- Uu [ʌ] is similar to the Russian sound [a], for example: rubber, jump.
- Ii is read as a short Russian sound [and], for example: sit, finger.
- Ee [e] is read with the sound [e], for example: pen, egg.
- Oo [ɔ] is read with a short sound [o], for example: shop, fox.
- Yy [i] under stress must be read as a short sound [i], for example: mystery, myth.
This is the minimum that includes the rules of reading in English for beginners. It is better not to rush with exercises for all 4 types, but first to thoroughly understand the differences between closed and open syllables. Then you can move on to more complex cases.
The syllable type “vowel + r” is read as follows:
- -ar is pronounced with a long sound [aaa];
- -or is read as long [ooo];
- -ur, -ir, -er are similar to the sound [o], but only pronounced in the throat.
The syllable type “vowel + r + vowel” turns the sound into a special two-part phenomenon of English phonetics - a diphthong:
- Aa is read [ɛə], example: dare.
- Ee is read, example: mere.
- Ii is read, example: fire.
- Uu is read, example: cure.
- Yy is read, example: tire.
The exception is the letter Oo, which in the fourth type of syllable is not read as a diphthong, but simply as a long [ɔ:]. For example: more.
Reading letter combinations
Rules for reading in English (for beginners and advanced learners) cannot do without an explanation of the various combinations of consonants and vowels. Let's start with the first ones.
The combination wr at the beginning of a word: the sound [w] is not pronounced. Examples: write, wrist, wrong.
The combination wh at the beginning of a word: the sound [h] is not pronounced. Examples: why, what, white. But there is an exception here: if -wh is followed by the letter -o, then the sound [w] “drops out” when reading. These are the words: who, whole, whose and others.
In letter combinations kn and gn at the beginning of a word: only the sound [n] is read. Examples: knot, gnat.
The combination ng at the end of a word sounds like the sound [ŋ] pronounced through the nose (going), and in the middle of the word it sounds like just [ŋg], for example: hungry, singer.
The combination ch is read like the Russian sound [ch’], soft. For example: cheese, coach.
The combination sh gives the sound [ʃ], similar to Russian [ш] in soft version utterances. For example: she, push.
The combination of letters qu is read, for example: queen, quite.
The unstressed combination -our is read [ə]: colour, favorite.
The combination of letters -sion after a consonant is pronounced [ʃn], for example: mission. And then voicing occurs before [ʒn], example: decision.
Before the letters e, i, y: the consonant C is pronounced with the sound [s], G is pronounced . In other cases it reads like this: C - [k], G - [g]. Compare: cell - cat, gym - game.
The letter combinations of vowels: -ee, as well as -ea give a long sound, the combination -ai is read, the combination -oo conveys a long sound. For example: bee, seal, moon.
True, there are sometimes exceptions. For example, blood: in this word the double O is read as the sound [ʌ]. But there are few such cases. They are easy to remember and do not complicate reading rules in English too much.
For beginners
For children and adults, the explanation of the rules will be different. Young “Englishmen” will learn knowledge well if it is presented with elements of play and fairy tales. For example, we can explain types 1 and 2 of reading as “open” and “closed” doors, where in the first case the letters feel free and shout their name (from the alphabet) loudly, and in the second they are almost inaudible. In a similar way, you can compose a kind of grammatical fairy tale and tell it to your child. An interactive element could be a task: “unspell” words by reading them correctly. This makes it much easier and more interesting to remember the rules of reading in English.
For elementary school
The small table below includes rules for reading vowels in two types of syllables. For the convenience of a child who is new to transcription, next to the sound is placed its approximate reading, written in Russian letters. In any case, the table must be read aloud with an adult, those who know the language: you need to pay attention to how the same letter behaves in various types syllables, and understand the proposed examples of words.
Students are often given homework to learn transcription icons. You can make a set of cards and practice like this: you read a short word with a certain sound, and the child shows a card with its designation. At group work everyone had their own set.
Read without hesitation
How can you quickly and efficiently remember the rules of reading in English? For beginners, the exercises will be the most the best option. It’s great if you can combine 2 types of activities: listen to samples and read on your own. However, this approach can soon become boring, so it would be good to include elements of play and competition. For example, take two different lists words on a variety of rules - one for you, the other for a friend - and see who can read it faster and with fewer mistakes. The game option could be this: using mixed cards with individual words and transcription icons, find and post matches.
Who needs reading rules in English? For beginners to study it (this goes without saying), for those who continue - to test themselves, and for those who have forgotten - to remember knowledge that has not been used for a long time.
The phonetic system of many European languages is generally the same and has a certain structure.
Of course, intonation plays a big role in the pronunciation of vowels in English words. Exist certain rules leading it up and down, as well as for individual revolutions, for example, there is and there are.
However, the phonology of the English language has an orderly presentation of English letters and their corresponding phonemes in the proper way.
Let's try to process and structure the existing extensive material for compact and easy assimilation, applying the principle of comparative studies - comparison with the phonetics of the Russian language where possible.
There are 6 vowels in English:
If you look closely at the capital and uppercase versions of the same letter, you will notice that vowels such as O and U have identical spellings.
Transcription of vowels in English
Absolutely everyone who has encountered the study of English phonetics experiences difficulties in correctly understanding the transcription of vowel sounds.
The fact is that in the transcriptional embodiment the pronunciation of English vowels is not similar to the pronunciation, for example, of identical Russian vowels. This circumstance is explained primarily by the different history of origin.
Thus, the system of English vowel phonemes goes back to diphthong combinations of sounds.
For reference: diphthong combinations (diphthongs) are a combination of two or more sounds. At the same time, they can have different overtones and are designated by one letter.
Graphically, a transcribed sound is indicated by enclosing it in either square brackets () or slashes (/ /)
Let's look at the transcription of English letters:
| Letter | Designated sound |
| — A a | |
| — E e | * |
| —I i | |
| — O o | |
| — U u | |
| — Y y |
The sign “:” after a vowel sound denotes the so-called longitude. This means that the sound must be pronounced in a somewhat drawn-out manner.
Rules for reading vowels in English
However, the table above does not yet indicate that all sounds designated by five in English letters transcribed in the same way.
As you know, there are only six vowel letters, but there are much more sounds that can graphically represent these letters - about 24.
To make it easier to learn the rules for reading such sounds, scientists have come to the conclusion that reading vowels depends on the type of syllable.
There are two types of syllable:
- open,
- closed.
Speaking about the openness/closeness of a syllable, it should be understood that this is organized in a unique way phonetic system phonemes in one word.
A word can have from one to several syllables, and can also contain both open and closed ones. According to statistics, almost all English words end with a closed syllable.
The theory of dividing a word into syllables in almost all languages is based precisely on vowels. When studying our native language, we always say to ourselves or out loud when we have to divide a word into syllables: “The number of vowels in a word, the number of syllables.” This is indeed true and fits well with the division of English words into syllables.
So, to determine the number of syllables in a syllable:
- find the vowels in the word,
- Mentally or graphically draw vertical lines after each vowel. How many cut off sectors there are is the number of syllables in a word.
For example, take the word independent:
- count the vowels: 4 (i, e, e, e)
- draw perpendicular lines: in-de-pen-dent
- It also turned out to be 4 segments, therefore 4 syllables containing 4 vowels.
Vowels in an open syllable type
An open syllable is a syllable that either consists of a single vowel or ends with a vowel.
For example: the word bar has only one syllable, the word ru-ler has two syllables, the first of them is an open syllable, since it ends with the vowel u.
| Letter | Designated sound |
| — A a | |
| — E e | |
| —I i | |
| — O o | |
| — U u | |
| — Y y |
Vowels in a closed syllable type
A closed syllable is a syllable that ends with a consonant.
For example: in the word book there is one syllable, ending with the consonant k, in the word dif-fi-cult there are three syllables, the first and third of them are closed (on f and t), the second is open.
Peculiarities of vowel pronunciation in English
Depending on the type of syllable, vowels are read differently. The letter R r stands apart in the reading rules. It greatly affects reading in both syllables.
For example, in open type syllable sound [r] seems to merge with the diphthong and sounds neutral - [ǝ]. And in closed type so-called short vowels are combined with the semi-consonant sound [r].
The result is the following combination:
- [a] — ,
- [ɔ] — [ɔ:] ,
- [e], [i], [u] — [ǝ:] .
That is, short ones turn into long ones.
As for the rules for reading stressed vowels in a syllable, the letters u, a, o acquire the ability to be reduced (that is, become super-short) and even drop out completely. Produces a neutral sound [ǝ].
For example: in words like sofa [‘soufǝ] or today. Letters i,e,y, being reduced, pronounced as sound [i]. For example: enemy [‘enimi].
If the vowel is unstressed, then the corresponding vowel sound may manifest itself in shortening its length. Therefore, you can often observe (especially in colloquial speech), as pronouns she, he, we, me often pronounced not with long , and with a short [i].
Also, the absolute loss of sounds (when it is not heard at all) can be observed in such examples as: lesson [‘lesn], open [‘oupn], pencil [‘pensl].
Short vowels in English, examples
Before characterizing short and long vowels, it should be noted that they differ from each other not only in the time of pronunciation, but in articulation - those means of the oral cavity that are involved in their formation.
Under stress, vowel sounds are read in a truncated form, that is, they are closely adjacent to the consonant sound that follows them.
Short sounds (otherwise reduced sounds) may differ in quality and quantity. They mainly manifest themselves in prepositions and other functional parts of speech.
There they are usually unstressed, so theoretically they cannot take on longitude. But depending on the pronunciation situation, they can be pronounced drawn out or when emphasized in a rhythmic manner (phrase stress).
Qualitative reduction is a weakening of a vowel, accompanied by a change in its quality and transformation into a sound of a neutral type.
Quantitative reduction is accompanied by a reduction in the duration of the vowel sound.
There is also a zero (complete) reduction, when the vowel is completely dropped.
Thus, all reduced forms can be called weak.
For example:
weak forms - you, at [әt].
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Long vowels in English, examples
There are much more long vowel sounds in the language. For the most part, they are pronounced in monophthongs - the articulation does not change throughout the entire duration of the sound.
As already mentioned, in transcription such vowels are indicated by the sign “:”.
For example:
- Good
- Arduous
- Green
Diphthongs in English, examples
Diphthongs (or two-vowel sounds) are not peculiar to the Russian language, so it is not so easy to learn them.
They are complex (composite) sounds that consist of two vowel sounds that must be pronounced as closely as possible. It turns out that two sounds simply merge into one.
The stressed and syllabic sound is the first of the sounds to be merged. This is the nucleus of a diphthong. The second vowel in a diphthong is called a glide. It complements the core, making the combination more harmonious and easy to pronounce.
Due to the fact that the core is a long sound, and the glide is a short sound, the pronunciation of a diphthong in terms of the degree of pronunciation effort and duration is approximately equal to the classic English monophthong. Although in general we can say that diphthongs are not pronounced long, but drawn out.
Affects the pronunciation of the diphthong and its position in the word in relation to the consonants. So, before voiced consonants it is pronounced briefly, and if the consonant is voiceless, then very briefly
For example: sofa (affected by the voiceless consonant f).
Table of English diphthongs
So, there are 8 diphthongs: [ͻi] [ʊə] [əʊ].
They read more than clearly - as in the above transcription. However, there are words, for example, dear (dear) and deer (deer), in which the combinations of vowels ea and ee are pronounced the same way - .
Such cases must be remembered. Thus, we see that phonemic difficulties in the English language lie in wait for the student at every turn.
There can only be one piece of advice: compiling a “cheat sheet” for yourself with tables of English vowels, as well as tireless practice in pronouncing sounds. This can be achieved by reading texts out loud.
It is best to consult an experienced tutor about the correct pronunciation of certain vowels or diphthongs, who will carefully and painstakingly show how certain sounds are pronounced in different types of syllables.
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 remedy knowledge of language and culture is reading in original. And to read on 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 languages, 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 the rules of reading.
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.
Very easy way remembering 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 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 like name, home, five end in open syllable, since at the end of the word there is a letter 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 tongue-tongue 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 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 are Multitran and 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 basic principles 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 studying the basics, basic rules 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.