Read at a Glance

A special program designed to improve learners’ levels of pronunciation skill.

Designed and Collected by: E Tr. Haneen Al Rohili

السعودية العربية المملكة

التعليم وزارة

ينبع بمحافظة التعليم إدارة

االشراف ) ( - بنات التعليمية الشؤونالتربوي

االنجليزية اللغة شعبة

Program Objectives:

1. Learners master the simplest sounds of all the 26 alphabets.

2. Learners read correctly words include the most common blends.

3. Learners read correctly words include the most common digraph. ( ch / sh / th / wh / ph / ng )

4. Learners read correctly words include vowel sounds.

5. Learners differentiate between short and long vowels.

6. Learners reads correctly words have silent letters.

Read

Lessons:1. General Phonics Rules.2. The English alphabet sound.3. Hard and soft C & G4. Blends5. The Digraphs.6. Short and long vowels.7. The R-controlled sound.8. Silent letters.9. Summary: The 44 Sounds in English Language

General Phonics Rules

The vowels are "a,e,i,o, and u"; also sometimes "y" & "w". This also includes the diphthongs "oi,oy,ou,ow,au,aw, oo" and many others. The consonants are all the other letters which stop or limit the flow of air from the throat in speech. They are: "b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,qu,r,s,t,v,w,x,y,z,ch,sh,th,ph,wh, ng, and gh".

1. Sometimes the rules don't work. There are many exceptions in English because of the vastness of the language and the many languages from which it has borrowed. The rules do work however, in the majority of the words.

2. Every syllable in every word must have a vowel. English is a "vocal" language; Every word must have a vowel.

3. "C" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "s". Examples: "cyst", "central", and "city".

4. "G" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "j". Example: "gem", "gym", and "gist".

5. When 2 consonants are joined together and form one new sound, they are a consonant digraph. They count as one sound and one letter and are never separated. Examples: "ch,sh,th,ph and wh".

6. When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel, that vowel is short. Examples: "fat, bed, fish, spot, luck".

7. When a syllable ends in a silent "e", the silent "e" is a signal that the vowel in front of it is long. Examples: "make, gene, kite, rope, and use".

8. When a syllable has 2 vowels together, the first vowel is usually long and the second is silent. Examples: "pain, eat, boat, rescue, say, grow". NOTE: Diphthongs don't follow this rule; In a diphthong, the vowels blend together to create a single new sound. The diphthongs are: "oi,oy,ou,ow,au,aw, oo" and many others.

9. When a syllable ends in any vowel and is the only vowel, that vowel is usually long. Examples: "paper, me, I, open, unit, and my".

10. When a vowel is followed by an "r" in the same syllable, that vowel is "r-controlled". It is not long nor short. "R-controlled "er,ir,and ur" often sound the same (like "er"). Examples: "term, sir, fir, fur, far, for, su/gar, or/der".

The English alphabet soundThe English alphabet consists of 26 letters:

uppercase or capital letters: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z;

lowercase or sentence case letters: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z.

A = [eɪ] (a-n-d, a-f-t-e-r, a-p-p-l-e) B = [biː] (b-a-n-a-n-a, b-a-t-h-r-o-o-m, b-o-y) C = [siː] (c-a-r, c-o-a-t, c-o-l-o-u-r) D = [diː] (d-o-g, d-r-e-a-m, d-o-l-l-a-r) E = [iː] (e-l-e-p-h-a-n-t, e-y-e, e-x-t-r-e-m-e) F = [ɛf] (f-i-n-g-e-r, f-o-u-r, f-i-r-e) G = [dʒiː] (g-i-r-a-f-f-e, g-i-r-l, g-r-e-e-n) H = [eɪtʃ] (h-o-t-e-l, h-a-p-p-y, h-o-l-i-d-a-y) I = [aɪ] (i-m-a-g-e, i-s-l-a-n-d, I-n-d-i-a-n-a) J = [dʒeɪ] (j-u-n-g-l-e, j-o-l-l-y, J-o-s-e-p-h-i-n-e) K = [keɪ] (k-a-n-g-a-r-o-o, k-o-a-l-a, k-a-r-a-t-e) L = [ɛl] (l-o-w, l-e-v-e-l, l-i-o-n) M = [ɛm] (m-o-t-h-e-r, m-o-m-e-n-t, m-e-s-s) N = [ɛn] (n-o, n-i-g-h-t, n-o-o-n) O = [oʊ] (o-l-d, o-b-j-e-c-t, o-a-t) P = [piː] (p-e-n-g-u-i-n-e, p-i-a-n-o, p-a-c-k-e-t) Q = [kjuː] (q-u-i-e-t, Q-u-e-e-n, q-u-o-t-e) R = [ɑr] (r-e-d, r-i-g-h-t, r-a-b-b-i-t) S = [ɛs] (s-t-r-o-n-g, s-e-v-e-n, s-i-l-v-e-r) T = [tiː] (t-e-a, t-h-o-u-s-a-n-d, t-w-o) U = [juː] (u-s-e, u-n-f-a-i-r, u-n-d-e-r) V = [viː] (v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n, v-e-r-y, v-a-m-p-i-r-e) W = [ˈdʌbəl juː] say: double-ju (w-e-s-t, w-o-r-m, w-h-i-t-e) X = [ɛks] (X-r-a-y, x-y-l-o-p-h-o-n-e, X-m-a-s) Y = [waɪ] (y-a-r-d, y-e-l-l-o-w, y-e-a-h) Z = [zɛd] [ziː] (z-e-r-o, z-e-b-r-a, z-i-l-l-i-o-n)

The DigraphsThere is a huge range of digraphs in English. The digraphs we’ll look at here are CH, SH, PH, WH, TH, and NG,1. CHThe digraph CH forms three distinct phonemes: /ʧ/, /k/, and /ʃ/. For example:achieve , arch , batch, beach, charge , child , church , ditch , purchase , reach , teacher match , much , which Producing the sound /k/ chemistry , schedule , technology 2. SHThe SH digraph always produces the same sound.For example:Beginning Position: shadow sheets shining shoulder shrewd shudderMid Position: ashen cushion dashboard fashion pushover townshipEnd Position: accomplish blush diminish lavish publish wash 3. PHThe digraph PH makes the same speech sound as that of the letter F.For example:Beginning Position: phantom pheasant philosophy phoenix photograph physical Mid Position : alphabet catastrophic elephant emphasize lymphoma orphan End Position : autograph digraph nymph morph paragraph triumph

4. WHIn modern English, the digraph WH usually represents a /w/ sound, with H becoming silent. For instance: what , where , when , why , which , wheel , whisper , white But sometimes the H is pronounced examples: who , whole , whom , whose

5. THThe digraph TH most often produces one of two similar but distinct sounds: /θ/ and /ð/. TH is usually pronounced /θ/ when it is followed by a consonant or appears at the very end of a word, while it is more likely to take the /ð/ pronunciation when it is followed by E or I, especially in the middle or at the end of a word. However, this is not always the case, and the spelling of the word alone won’t always indicate whether TH produces /θ/ or /ð/. We therefore have to memorize the pronunciation of TH whenever we encounter it. Words producing the sound /θ/Beginning Position Mid Position End Position

thanks theatre thing thorough thread through Thursday

anthem author cathedral healthful mathematics nothing

bath depth length mirth teeth warmth youth

Words producing the sound /ð/

Beginning Position

Mid Position

End Position(usually followed by

E)

than thethem this though thusthy

bother clothingeither rhythm together whether wither

breathe lathe loathesmooth sootheteethewreathe

Producing the sound /t/In some words, TH produces the sound /t/, making the H silent. This most often occurs in proper nouns, such as: Thames , Thailand , Theresa , Thomas Producing two separate soundsAs with other digraphs, we must be careful when T and H appear next to each other but function in two separate syllables. This usually happens in compound words in which a word ending in T is attached to another word beginning in H. In this case, TH is no longer a digraph and each letter is pronounced individually. For example: anthill , boathouse , hothead , lighthouse , shorthand 6. NGFor example:bang, clang , dinghy, darling, hanged, longing, stringy, winged, acting

Consonant Sound Minimal Pairs

b p d t k g f vSymbolBeachStableBallotRobeBuyBackMob

SimplePeachStaplePalateRopePiePackMop

DialBrideCodeDimeDoorRideNeedDie

TileBrightCoatTimeToreWriteNeatTie

FrockDuckCaneClassLeakCardCoastCold

FrogDugGainGlassLeagueGuardGhostGold

FairyRefuseSurfaceHalfFaultRifleLifeFew

VeryReviewsServiceHaveVaultRivalLiveView

th th s z shn jn l rBathClothTeethThinMouth(n)Breath

BatheClotheTeetheThenMouth(v)Breathe

DeceasedRacingIcePriceSealSinkSpiceNiece

DiseasedRaisingEyesPrizeZealZincSpiesKnees

AleutianDilutionAsherHatiansPressure

IllusionDelusionAzureAsiansPleasure

LeadLockDailyCollectedPilotAliveFlightClimb

RedRockDairyCorrectedPirateArriveFrightCrime

Long and Short English Vowels

The English vowels are A, E, I, O, & U. (Sometimes Y is a vowel, pronounced as if it were I, and sometimes W substitutes for U, especially in the digraph 'ow.') Each vowel can be pronounced in several ways.

Short Vowels

 The most common sound for each vowel is its “short” sound:  ă, pronounced /æ/ as in apple, pan, or mat,  ĕ, pronounced /ɛ/ as in elephant, pen, or met,  ĭ, pronounced /ɪ/ as in insect, pin, or mitt,  ŏ, pronounced /ɒ/ as in octopus, ostrich, upon, or motto,  and ŭ, pronounced /ʌ/ as in umbrella, pun, or mutt.

When syllables end in a vowel and then consonant (as in the examples above), the vowel is usually short. If there is more than one consonant, the vowel is almost always short.This becomes important as a way to keep the same vowel sound when adding -ed to put a verb into the past tense. We often double an ending consonant to keep a short vowel short. For example, the past tense of 'stop' is 'stopped.' Otherwise the silent 'e' rule below (which also applies when followed by 'd') would give it a long 'o' sound like soap or hope.

Long VowelsThe alphabet sounds (when the vowel “says its name”) are called “long vowels.”We call them ‘long’ because we hold them longer than the short sounds. However, they are completely different sounds-- not a longer version of the same sound. Long A (ā), pronounced /eɪ/ as in ate or mate, Long E (ē), pronounced /iː/ as in eat or meat (or meet or mete-- all

pronounced the same), Long I (ī), pronounced /aɪ/ as in mite or might, Long O (ō), pronounced /oʊ/ as in oats, mote or moat, and Long U (ū), pronounced /juː/ in mute. Silent ‘E’ Rule: When a vowel and consonant are followed by an ‘e’, the ‘e’ is almost always silent, but it causes the preceding vowel to be long. (Examples: ate, plane, Pete, bite, nine, rope, note, cube, flute.)Other Long Vowels: A vowel at the end of a syllable is almost always long. Examples: I, we, he, she, go, try, potato and tomato.

(Some English speakers use a short ‘a’ in the 2nd syllable, while others use a long ‘a,’ but both ‘o’s are long for everyone.)-igh and -ight are usually long I (and silent GH): bright, fight, high, light, might, night, right, sigh, sight, tight.Often the first letter of the vowel combinations, especially ‘ai’, ‘ay’, ‘ea’ (sometimes-- see Digraphs, below), ‘ee’, & ‘oa,’ will be long & the second will be silent. (An old rhyme for children says “when 2 vowels go walking, the first does the talking.”) So ’plain’ sounds just like ‘plane,' ‘meat’ and ‘meet’ like ‘mete,’ etc. However, there are many exceptions.

Common Examples: Short and Long VowelsThese contrasts demonstrate the rules (in each column, first short, then long):A: shortbacksnackfadmadSamE: shortbedBenmentenI: shortlickhidsliddimTimO: shortrobhopmopU: shortcubtubhug

A: longbakesnakefademade/maidsameE: longbeadbeanmeanteenI: longlikehideslidedimetimeO: longrobehopemopeU: longcubetubehuge

A: shortcanplantapatcatE: shortbetmetpetsetI: shortfinshinbitlitsitO: shortcotnotrotU: shortcutfluttermutter

A: longcaneplain/planetapeateKateE: longbeat/beetmete/meat/meetPeteseatI: longfineshinebitelight/litesight/siteO: longcoatnoterote/wroteU: longcuteflutemute

Other

English Vowel Sounds (Schwa or R-Controlled)Besides the long and short sounds, there are other vowel sounds.Any vowel in an unaccented syllable has a neutral or “schwa” /ə/ sound: Examples: the ‘a’ in above, or approve, the ‘e’ in accident, camera or mathematics, the ‘i’ in family or officer, the ‘o’ in freedom or purpose, or the ‘u’ in industry or succeed.if a vowel is followed by R, it changes in quality, and is neither long nor short. (ER, IR, and UR are often -- though not always--the same sound.)Examples with phonetic symbols:

/ɑr/ -- arm, car, charge, dark, farm, start /ɛər/-- air, aware, bare/bear, hair, spare, tear (pull apart paper or fabric), there, very,

where /ɪər/-- beer, ear, hear/here, near, tear (from crying) /ɜr/ -- bird, burn, first, fur, herd, earth, service, sir, third, thirty, turn, urgent, worse /ər/ -- baker, better, bigger, doctor, letter, smaller, summer /ɔr/ -- for, important, more, north, or

Exceptions, Dialects, & HelpQuite a few common words spelled with ‘O’ are pronounced with a short ‘U’ sound: of, love, money, other, some, son. (That means some and sum are homophones: they are pronounced the same. So are son and sun.) Different English dialects pronounce certain vowels differently than the general rules given above.  For example, in California and much of the U.S., the ‘a’ in ‘father’ or ‘want’ is pronounced very much like the ‘au’ in ‘audio’ or the short ‘o’ in ‘pot’ or ‘hot.’ That’s not true for all English speakers, however.

Silent lettersSilent B

Rule 1: B is not pronounced after M at the end of a word. Examples: limb, crumb, dumb, comb, bomb, thumb, climb,

tombRule 2: B is usually not pronounced before T at the end of a root word.**

Examples: debt, doubt, debtor, doubtful, subtle, subtleness**A root word is the original word in its root form without any prefixes or suffixes attached e.g. doubt is the root word in doubtful, and the ‘ful’ is a suffix. Subtle is the root word, and ‘ness’ is a suffix.

Silent CRule 1: C is not pronounced in the combination SC.

Examples: Muscle, scissors, ascent, miscellaneous, fascinate, scenario  

Exceptions: Sclera, asclepiad, sclerosis, muscovado, scepticRule 2: C is usually redundant before the letters K or Q.

Examples: Acquaintance, acknowledge, acquiesce, acquit

Silent DRule 1: D is not pronounced in the following common words:

Handkerchief, Wednesday, sandwich, handsomeRule 2: D is also not pronounced in the combination DG.

Pledge, dodge, grudge, hedge

Silent ERule: E is not pronounced at the end of words, but instead elongates the sound of the vowel before it.

Examples: Hope, drive, gave, write, site, grave, bite, hide Exceptions: Giraffe, brunette, cassette, gazelle (You may be

able to spot a pattern in these words; they have similar combinations in the last syllable. This shows that the exceptions are generally words with unusual stress on the final syllable – but not always! One example would be the word ‘minute’ as in the time-measuring unit.)

Silent GRule: G is not often not pronounced when it comes before N.

Examples: Champagne, foreign, sign, feign, foreign, design, align, cognac

Exceptions: Magnet, igneous, cognitive, signature

Silent GHRule 1: GH is not pronounced when it comes after a vowel.

Examples: Thought, drought, through, thorough, borough, daughter, light, might, sigh, right, fight, weigh, weight

Exceptions: Doghouse, foghorn, bighead (As you can see, the exceptions are generally compound words i.e. words that have been formed by combining two complete words)

Rule 2: GH is sometimes pronounced like F. Examples: rough, tough, laugh, enough, cough, clough,

draught Exceptions: Examples from rule 1! amples from rule 1!

Silent HRule 1: H is not pronounced when it comes after W (n.b. some speakers whisper the H before the W).

Examples: what, when, where, whether, whyRule 2: H is not pronounced at the beginning of many words (remember to use the article “an” with unvoiced H).

Examples: hour, honest, honour, heir Exceptions: hill, history, height, happy, hereditary (Plus most

other words beginning with H that are NOT of French origin – and remember to use the article “a” with voiced H)

Rule 3: H is often not pronounced when it comes after C, G or R. Examples: choir, chorus, ghastly, ghoul, aghast, echo,

rhinocerous, rhythm

Silent KRule: K is not pronounced when it comes before   N at the beginning of a word.

Examples: knife, knee, know, knock, knowledge, knead

Silent LRule: L is not pronounced after the vowels A, O and U.

Examples: calm, half, talk, walk, would, should, could, calf, salmon, yolk, chalk, folk, balm

Exceptions: Halo, bulk, sulk, hold, sold, fold, mould

Silent NRule: N is not pronounced when it comes after M at the end of a word.

Examples: Autumn, hymn, column, solemn

Silent PRule: P is not pronounced at the beginning of many words using the combinations PS, PT and PN.

Psychiatrist, pneumonia, pneumatic, psychotherapy, psychotic, psychologist, pseudonym, Pterodactyl

Silent SRule: S is not pronounced before L in the following words:

Island, isle, aisle, islet

Silent TRule: T is not pronounced in these common words:

Castle, Christmas, fasten, listen, often, whistle, thistle, bustle, hasten, soften, rapport, gourmet, ballet

Silent URule: U is not pronounced when it comes after G and before a vowel.

Examples: guess, guidance, guitar, guest, guild, guard

Silent WRule 1: W is not pronounced at the beginning of a word when it is before the letter R.

Examples:wrap,write,wrong,wring,wreck,wrestle, wrap, wristRule 2: W is not pronounced in the following words:

Who, whose, whom, whole, whoever, answer, sword, twoSkype English Lesson with a native AMERICAN or BRITISH teacher ››

The 44 Sounds in English LanguageWhen considering a spelling program and how to best help children learn the sounds of the English language you need to remember to choose words that help them understand all of the 44 sounds. (19 vowel sounds including 5 long vowels, 5 short vowels, 3 diphthongs, 2 'oo' sounds, 4 'r' controlled vowel sounds and 25 consonant sounds).

The following lists provide sample words to teach the sounds in the English language.

The 5 Short Vowel Sounds short -a- in and, as, after short -e- in pen, hen, lend short -i- in it, in short -o- in top, hop short -u- in under, cup

The 6 Long Vowel Sounds long -a- in make, take long -e- in beet, feet long -i- in tie, lie long -o- in coat, toe long -u- (yoo) in rule long -oo- in few, blue

The R-Controlled Vowel Sounds -ur- in her, bird, and hurt -ar- in bark, dark -or- in fork, pork, stork

The 18 Consonant SoundsC, Q and X are missing as they are found in other sounds. (The C sound is found in the k sounds and in the s sound in words like cereal, city and cent. The Q sound is found in 'kw' words like backward and Kwanza. The X sound is also found in ks words like kicks.) -b- in bed and bad -k- in cat and kick -d- in dog -f- in fat -g- in got -h- in has

-j- in job -l- in lid -m- in mop -n- in not -p- in pan -r- in ran -s- in sit -t- in to -v- in van -w- in went -y- in yellow -z- in zipper

The BlendsBlends are 2 or 3 letters combined to form a distinct spelling-sound.The blends sounds:

-bl- in blue and black -cl- in clap and close -fl- in fly and flip -gl- in glue and glove -pl- in play and please -br- in brown and break -cr- in cry and crust -dr- in dry and drag -fr- in fry and freeze -gr- in great and grand -pr- in prize and prank -tr- in tree and try -sk- in skate and sky -sl- in slip and slap -sp- in spot and speed -st- in street and stop

-sw- in sweet and sweater -spr- in spray and spring -str- in stripe and strap

The 7 Digraph Sounds -ch- in chin and ouch -sh- in ship and push -th- in thing -th- in this -wh- in when -ng- in ring -nk- in rink

The Other Special Sounds Including Diphthongs -oi- in foil and toy -ow- in owl and ouch short -oo- in took and pull -aw- in raw and haul -zh- in vision

At the end of this program we thank our learners for everything. It has been a pleasure to share learning with them. Please take a look at the final page and give us your opinion about our program.

Thanks. T . Haneen Al Rohili

Self assessment table : What do you know about these subtitles?Name/Assessment

mark Before After

1. Consonants 16

2. Hard and soft C & G 2

3. The Blend 5

4. Digraphs 6

5. Short Vowels 5

6. Long Vowels 6

7. Silent Letters 7

8. The R-Controlled 3

Total: 50

Before the program start answer: What do you think the program will be about? What are your goals from the program?

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…………………………………………………………………………………………………………At the end of the program answer:

What have you learnt ?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………What are your future plans?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………What are things you didn’t find in the program?

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Thank you! T. Haneen Al Rohili