Example of words with long a sound

Long Vowel Sounds: Word Lists & Activities

Phonics | Spelling

ByDelilah Orpi

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In this post, I’m breaking down long vowel sounds (or long vowel words) to help you teach them when working with struggling readers and spellers.

Looking for long vowel word lists? Download all 5 of my pdf long vowel sounds word lists in my freebies library by joining my email list below.

What is a long vowel sound?

Long vowel sounds are vowels that are pronounced the same as their name. You’ll often hear teachers say that long vowels “say their name”.

Long vowels are very common but they can be tricky because there are so many spellings for each long vowel sound.

There are actually 4 ways to make long vowel sounds:

1. Vowels at the end of a syllable make the long sound. For example, in the words me and halo (ha-lo) the vowels are all at the end of a syllable so they make the long sound.
2. Silent e makes the previous vowel long. The words bike and phone have a silent e at the end that makes the previous vowel long.
3. Vowel teams can make the long sound. Vowel teams work together to make one sound, and usually, it’s a long vowel sound. For example, boat and meat both have vowel teams that make the long sound.
4. I or O can be long when they come before two consonants. In words like cold and mind, i and o make a long vowel sound.

Long Vowel Words

Long vowel sound words are words that have vowels that say their name. Below are a few examples:

• Long a – baby, cake, rain, day, they, weigh
• Long e – me, eve, hear, meet, piece, candy
• Long i – silent, bike, light, my
• Long o – go, home, toe, boat, snow
• Long u – music, mule, pew, feud

Long A Sound

The long a sound can be represented by 8 different spelling patterns:

1. a – baby
2. a_e – cake
3. ai – rain
4. ay – play
5. ei – reindeer
6. eigh – weight
7. ea – steak
8. ey – they

Learn more about teaching the long a sound here, and check out my Long A Words Activities & Worksheets for printable activities.

Long E Sound

The long e sound can be represented by 8 different spelling patterns:

1. e – be
2. e_e – eve
3. ee – meet
4. ea – beach
5. ei – protein
6. ie – piece
7. ey – key
8. y – candy

For ideas, tips, and tricks when teaching the long e sound, read this post all about teaching the long e vowel sound, and check out my Long E Words Activities & Worksheets for printable activities.

Long I Sound

The long i sound can be represented by 6 different spelling patterns:

1. i – silent
2. i_e – shine
3. ie – pie
4. igh – light
5. y – my
6. y_e – type

You can learn more about teaching the long I sound in this post. And check out my Long I Worksheets set in my shop for printable activities on the long i sound.

Long O Sound

The long o sound can be represented by 5 different spelling patterns:

1. o – go
2. o_e – phone
3. oe – toe
4. oa – boat
5. ow – snow

You can learn more about teaching long o words and check out my long o worksheets.

Long U Sound

The long u has two sounds: yoo (/y/ /oo/) and oo (/oo/).

The long u sound can be represented by 7 different spelling patterns:

1. u – music
2. u_e – mule
3. ue – rescue
4. eu – feud
5. ew – few
6. oo – food
7. ou – soup

Learn more about teaching the long u sound here.

Tips for teaching the long vowel sounds

Teach one spelling pattern at a time!

I don’t mean one vowel sound, but just one spelling pattern. So for example, if you’re working on long a, you would work on the spelling pattern a silent e (cake, same, cave) until students have mastered it, then move on to ai, and so on. You should not be teaching multiple spelling patterns together, even though they make the same sound.

I know that most programs out there combine all the long vowel sound spelling patterns into one lesson, especially in spelling lists, but this does not work for struggling readers. You need to break it down for them and only do one at a time.

Teach the syllable types.

Because syllables have a lot to do with whether vowels make the short or long sound, if students do not already know the 6 syllable types then teach them along with the long vowel sound.

Here are resources for each syllable type:

• closed syllable
• open syllable
• final silent e syllable
• vowel team syllable
• r combination syllable
• consonant le syllable

Use a variety of activities to practice each spelling pattern.

Games, dictation, word sorts, memory or matching with flashcards, word hunts, textured writing, body spelling, and bingo are all fun ways to practice the long vowel sounds.

The main activity that is often overlooked is dictation. It seems so simple but the task involves listening to a word, deciding on the spelling, and transferring that info to written form. These are all skills that struggling readers need to practice.

Teach the spelling generalizations.

Some of the long vowel spelling patterns are spelling rules that make it easy to remember.

For example, ai is usually found at the beginning or middle of a syllable, and ay is usually found at the end of a syllable. [Examples: rain, aim, play, daytime]

Here is another example with long o: oa is usually found at the beginning or middle of a word, and ow is usually found at the end. [Examples: boat, coach, snow]

Long Vowel Word List

I made these word lists to help teach the long vowels. I find it handy to have these on hand when playing phonics games or planning activities for long vowel lessons.

Grab them for free below!

Want to remember this? Save Long Vowel Sounds: Word Lists & Activities to your favorite Pinterest board!

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Delilah Orpi

Delilah Orpi is the founder of Thrive Literacy Corner. She has a Bachelor's degree in Special Education, a Master's degree in TESOL, and is a member of the International Dyslexia Association. She is an experienced educator and literacy specialist trained in Orton Gillingham and Lindamood Bell. Delilah creates literacy resources for educators and parents and writes to create awareness about dyslexia and effective literacy instruction based on the science of reading.

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How To Teach The Long A Sound - Thrive Literacy Corner

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Long a is another tricky sound to teach because it has many different ways to spell it. This one only has two spelling generalizations so many will depend on memory and practice. I’m going to break down each of the eight ways to spell the long a sound to help you understand and teach long a to your students.

Looking for a long a word list? You can download the list pictured by signing up below. If you don’t see the signup form, click here.

Eight Ways To Spell Long A

The long a sound can be represented by 8 different spelling patterns:

1. a – baby
2. a_e – cake
3. ai – rain
4. ay – play
5. ei – reindeer
6. eigh – weight
7. ea – steak
8. ey – they

The majority of these are vowel teams, so students should already know the open, silent e, and vowel team syllables. Students should also be able to find the base word, as some of these rules apply to the base word even if it has a suffix.

Spelling Generalizations for Long A

A alone

At the end of an open syllable, a makes the long a sound (says its name). Some examples include able, apron, maple, and lady. Students must understand how to split words into syllables and know what open syllables are.

A_E Spelling Pattern

The a silent e spelling pattern is the most common one you’ll find in the middle of a base word. Examples include cake, safe, and behave. Of course, students should be confident with the magic e syllable.

AI Vowel Team

AI sometimes spells the long a sound in the beginning or middle of a base word. You will notice that most of these words end with the letter n, but this is just an observation you can share with students, not a rule!

AY Vowel Team

Ay usually spells the long a sound at the end of a base word. Examples include may and tray.

EY Vowel Team

There are only 10 commonly known words spelled with the ey phonogram at the end of the word: they, hey, grey, prey, obey, convey, purvey, survey, whey, and abeyance. You can teach these as a group. Most other words that say long a at the end of the word are spelled with ay.

EI Vowel Team

The EI spelling pattern for long a is not very common. There is no rule for this spelling pattern. Examples include rein, beige, and heir.

EIGH

EIGH can spell the long a sound at the end of a word. This is another uncommon option. Examples include eight and weigh. Teach these as a group.

EA

This is by far the least common way to spell the long a sound. I would also teach these words in a group: steak, great, break. Then you have the EA+R words like bear, tear, wear, pear, and swear.

Tips For Teaching The Long A Sound

When you start teaching long a, you really have to focus on spelling generalizations, homophones, and homographs. Teach one spelling pattern at a time, and once one is mastered you can add in another. It’s much easier to learn how to read these than to learn how to spell. Since they all sound the same and can appear in the same place, choosing the right spelling pattern can be tricky.

Teach the process for deciding on the spelling pattern.

Once students are familiar with all the options for spelling long a and they know open syllables and the silent e syllable, you can teach them the process for determining the spelling pattern a word has.

When students come across a word with long a and they need to figure out which spelling pattern to choose, here are the questions they can ask:

1. Is there more than one syllable?
2. Is there a base word?
3. Where is the long a sound in the word?
4. Could this be one of those rare spelling options?

Students should first break the word into its syllables, and go through the questions.

This will take some practice so try going through a set of words with your students a few times, then have them do some more on their own. This is the same process they will use with other long vowel sounds so it’s a great skill for them to have.

Also, because there are multiple options expect students to get them wrong sometimes, and tell them this! It’s ok if they make mistakes as long as it’s another valid spelling option and not something that doesn’t follow any rules. Through repeated exposure and practice they will eventually internalize the correct spelling pattern for words.

Long A Activities & Lesson Ideas

Phoneme Grapheme Mapping – This is a great activity that really isolates the phonograms for students to practice. You can get the Phonics & Spelling Through Grapheme Mapping book and follow the long a lesson, or use my long a word list to do the same activity using sound boxes. See below for examples.

SOS – If you don’t already know what Simultaneous Oral Spelling is, then check out this post here. I love this multisensory spelling method for practicing spelling. And you can do this whole class or one on one making it really easy to use in any setting.

Dictation – This is another fantastic activity but I would do this after you have spent some time on long a because it is harder for students. Also when dictating words, give students a clue about the spelling such as telling them it’s a vowel team or open syllable. I often dictate words that all have the same spelling pattern to avoid these problems.

Sorting – Sorting is always a good idea when you have multiple options for spelling. You can play matching games like memory, just sort them into piles/columns, or create any game that requires sorting by spelling pattern. This builds phonemic awareness so it’s always a good activity for all students.

You can also sort by color coding the vowel team or spelling pattern in the words. I took the list from the SOS activity, then had my student highlight each vowel team in a specific color to more visually show the groups.

I include 3 different sorting activities for the long a sound in my Long A Worksheets & Activities set.

Picture cue cards – Create visual graphics of tricky words, homophones, and homographs. These picture cues really help students remember which pattern to use. I suggest you make these using index cards and keep them in a baggie or box for reference. See an example below (it’s for a long o sound but you get the idea).

Games – Of course, I always include games because it’s just so easy to add a stack of flashcards to any game and make it educational! Use an easy to play board game where students need to pick up a card on their turn and add a task like reading the word aloud and sorting it, or asking another player to spell it, or even something as simple as having them air write the word after reading it aloud. Or print off teacher-made games and worksheets in my Long A Worksheets & Activities set.

Constant Review – Remember to keep these spelling patterns in constant review after they are learned, so they are not forgotten. Using a sound wall or phonogram drills are great ways to do this without it taking up a lot of time. The set below includes 16 different activities that focus on the long a sound to help students get enough practice and review.

Want to remember this? Save How To Teach The Long A Sound to your favorite Pinterest board!

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Sounds uː, ʊ, ʊǝ - examples, pronunciation, tongue twisters

We continue the phonetic rubric, the slogan of which is: English sounds are not equal to Russian ones. To learn the correct pronunciation, we have developed a recipe: we take a “bunch” of similar sounds, compare them with each other and with their Russian counterparts. Then we practice pronunciation and literally “train” the speech apparatus to the correct position with the help of several dozen example words and tongue twisters.

A line from a famous song will help to fix the result, which will cut into the auditory memory and will not let you forget the sound!

Today we will take sounds similar to the Russian sound |у| is a long diphthongoid |uː|, short |ʊ| and the diphthong |ʊǝ|.

Long sound |uː| - round, but do not stick out

Pronounced in the words goose, too, rule , etc. This sound is very similar to ours, but there are two main differences:

1. English | uː | is a diphthongoid. That is, this is one sound, but we hear in it the “overtone” of the second sound (also | u |, but deeper), because the tongue and lips slightly change their position during pronunciation: the tongue moves back and up in the oral cavity. The lips are visibly rounded at the beginning and become even more rounded as the tongue moves.

2. To speak English | uː | lips are rounded, but not protruding forward. To see the difference, compare the two pictures. At the first, Russian-speaking singer Keti Topuria pronounces the word " y I fly" in the song of the same name. In the second picture, the English-speaking presenter from the previous video says one of the example words.

Think you can see the difference? 🙂

As a bonus, I'll tell you about one more important point: in combination | ju: |, which may remind you of the sounds of our letter "yu" (as in the word " yu la" ) - the preceding vowel is not softened! For example, in the words f ew, n ew, t une - we first pronounce the hard consonant and only then raise the middle back of the tongue to the hard palate for | | ju: |.

Got it? Did you catch the differences? We begin to work out the correct position on a set of words.

goose |ɡuːs|

who |huː|

through |θruː|

few |fjuː|

group |ɡruːp|

move |muːv|

you |juː|

threw |θruː|

yew |juː|

too |tuː|

tool|tuːl|

tooth |tuːθ|

cool |kuːl |

rule |ruːl |

school |skuːl |

use |juːz|

tune |tjuːn|

fool |fuːl |

soon |suːn|

new |njuː|

do |duː|

two |tuː| oo ms and fr ui t j ui ce.

J u dy's r oo m has a b eau tiful vi ew of a p oo l, L u cy's r oo m has a b eau tiful vi ew of r

Pronounced in the words look, good, book , etc. It also differs significantly from Russian | at |. Firstly, the position of the tongue: it is not tense, pulled back, but not very far (in the Russian version, the tongue is pulled back further). The back of the tongue rises to the front of the soft palate not so high - up to half the distance.

The second important difference is the position of the lips: they don't round as much. In fact, the lips need to be rounded, as for our | o |, but the mouth is not open so wide. The lips hardly protrude.

Let's start the practice with words. Take the desired position of the mouth - and get to work!

could |kʊd|

full |fʊl |

foot |fʊt|

pull |pʊl|

should |ʃʊd|

look |lʊk|

put |pʊt|

good |ɡʊd|

took |tʊk|

book |bʊk|

hook |hʊk|

crook |krʊk|

brook |brʊk|

cook |kʊk|

took |tʊk|

bull|bʊl|

hood |hʊd|

would |wʊd|

wool |wʊl |

push |pʊʃ|

puss |pʊs|

soot |sʊt|

woman | ˈwʊmən|

sugar | ˈʃʊɡə ^r |

The next step - tongue twisters with sound | ʊ |.

• A g oo d-l oo king w o man c oo ks c oo kies with s u gar and g oo seberry from a g oo d c oo kb oo k.
• G OO D F U Llers are g OO D At F U Lening W OO L, G OO 9010 OO KS Are G OO 9 G G G G G. oo kies, g oo d b oo kmen are g oo d at f oo tnoting b oo ks. C ou ld g oo d b oo ksellers be g oo d at b oo king b oo ks?
• A c oo k's b OO Kshelf is F U LL of C OO KB OO KS, A B OO KMAN S B OO KCASE F U LL OFA G.

And the last thing is the song. For this sound, I propose to dwell on the song of the singer La'Porsha Renae - "Good Woman".

You got a g oo d g oo d g oo d g oo d w0014
Cuz I'm a real g oo d g oo d g oo d good w o man (woman)
But even g oo d women go bad when they go through what you p u t me through

Sound |ʊǝ| What is a diphthong?

Pronounced in words pure, sec u rity, tour etc . Let's start the conversation with what a diphthong is in principle. This is a combination of two vowels that are in one syllable . That is, when pronouncing this sound, the position of the speech apparatus changes , but at the same time you pronounce these “two sounds” together, without dividing them into syllables (as you divide, for example, in the Russian word p oe t - where "to" and "et" are two separate syllables).

Do not confuse diphthong and diphthong oid (like the long |u: | we talked about above). In the diphthong and , the “overtone of the second sound” is similar in quality to the main sound, and in the diphthong the two components of the sound are very different from each other.

In a diphthong, one part is a syllable-forming nucleus (strong sound), and the second is a weak, muffled sound (I would say “echo of a sound”).

In our today's diphthong | ʊǝ | syllable-forming element is the sound | ʊ | (we just learned how to pronounce it). The second, weak element is the “seam” sound, which we talked about in another article. Only within this diphthong does it become even more faceless and unexpressed.

I must say right away that this diphthong in English is not so frequent. Moreover, in some words in modern English it is replaced by either the sound | ɔ: |, or simply on | ʊ | (especially in American English), or into 2 syllables: long sound | u: | + | ə |. Read more here.

But still, I suggest you practice its pronunciation. First, do the following: say the word look |lʊk| several times (just in case, follow the link and speak along with the voice acting). Now, without changing the position for the sound | ʊ |, say the word lure |lʊə ^r |. Ready!

Next, we begin to practice on other words. I repeat: there are not many of them.

tour |tʊə ^r |

pure |pjʊə ^r |

cure |kjʊər|

lure |lʊə ^r |

during | ˈdjʊərɪŋ|

security |sɪˈkjʊərəti |

endure |ɪnˈdjʊə ^r |

furious | ˈfjʊəriəs|

fury | ˈfjʊəri |

impure |ɪmˈpjʊə ^r |

manicure | ˈmænɪkjʊə ^r |

neuron | njʊərɒn|

spurious | ˈspjʊəriəs|

Let's not skip a step with tongue twisters:

• I'll s ure ly speak fl ue ntly after a t ou r to Eu rope.
• The j u ry got f u rious and m ur ed the p oo r p u ritan.
• The M Oor S Havy Always L URA D SIR C UR IE, BUT D U RING HIS T OU c 9010 RS P OO 1111111111111111111111111111111AR OO 11111111110 RSP 11111111111111110 RS POLS ie was cr ue lly removed from his b ureau for truancy.

In conclusion - a song. I settled on "Pure Love" by Ronnie Milsap (word pure ).

Pure love, baby it's pure love
Milk and honey and Captain Krunch and you in the morning

Let's sum it up: analogues of Russian |у|

1. Long tone | u: | unlike ours, it is diphthongoid (the speech apparatus slightly changes its position during pronunciation): the tongue moves back and up in the oral cavity. The lips are rounded at first and, as the tongue moves, they become even more rounded. But do not bulge forward!
2. Short sound | ʊ | also very different from ours. First, the tongue must be moved forward and lowered slightly. Secondly, the rounding of the lips is more like a position for our | o |, but the mouth is not so wide open, the lips almost do not move forward. The sound needs to be given a "tint" of our | s |.
3. Diphthong | ʊǝ | is an indivisible combination of a strong syllabic sound | ʊ | and weak | ǝ |. In English, this sound is not so common.

We don't say goodbye!

We continue the countdown of the parsed sounds of the English language. After the last workshop, we had 22 sounds left. So, at the moment, there are only 22 - 3 = 19 ahead.

In the meantime, watch our pronunciation video, which will bring you closer to saying goodbye to the accent once and for all:

Enguide.

ru

English letters differ from English sounds - this is a well-known difficulty. And the number of them is different, and they are read differently. In this article we want to tell you how easy it is to master the sounds of the English language and their pronunciation.

The phonetics of the English language is so complex and interesting that we have devoted more than one article to it. Here you can find the rules for reading in English, and here you will find dictionaries that learn English words. General information about English phonetics for beginners is presented in this article, and today we want to talk about how English sounds are still correctly pronounced. English transcription and a convenient table of English sounds with pronunciation will help us with this.

Why does the pronunciation of English sounds raise so many questions? First of all, because of the mismatch in the number of letters and sounds in the English language. There are almost half as many letters in the English alphabet (26 letters and 48 sounds). Consequently, the pronunciation of sounds cannot be correlated each with its own letter. Hence the confusion. More precisely, certain conditions that allow you to master English pronunciation correctly.

What determines the pronunciation of English sounds?

As long as we read “to ourselves”, that is, silently, we will not be able to recognize the sound of English words. Only pronunciation aloud allows you to cope with practical phonetics. But in practice, the sounds of the English language and their pronunciation directly depend on the so-called articulation. That is, how we use the organs of speech.

The organs of speech, or articulatory apparatus, are the larynx, tongue (tip of the tongue, front of the tongue, middle and back of the tongue with root ), soft and hard palate, teeth of the upper and lower jaws, lips, nasopharynx. An entire organ system involved in the creation of speech and voice sounds .

To correctly pronounce all sounds, you need to use all the organs of articulation. At the same time, different organs are needed for different sounds. For example, to pronounce deaf consonant sounds, the vocal cords are not tense and apart. But for vowels and voiced consonants, you need to strain your vocal cords and literally make them vibrate. Of course, this is not done consciously. The correct pronunciation of sounds itself “turns on” certain parts of the articulatory apparatus. But for correct English pronunciation, it is useful to know exactly how the sounds appear.

Pronunciation of vowels and their types in English

There are two types of vowels in English:

1. Monophthongs are vowels during the pronunciation of which the articulation does not change during the entire period of sounding. An example of a monophthong: [ɔː].
2. Diphthongs are vowels with two components. When pronouncing a diphthong, the organs of speech first take one position to pronounce the first component, and then change position to pronounce the second component. The first component is called the core of the diphthong and is longer and more distinct. The second component of the diphthong sounds shorter and gives the sound a certain “shade” of sound. Diphthong example: [aɪ].

Consonants are divided into more varieties:

1) Labial consonants:

dental are pronounced with the lower lip and upper teeth: [f], [v].

2) Anterior-lingual consonants:

interdental, when the surface of the anterior part of the tongue forms an incomplete barrier with the upper teeth: [θ], [ð]

apical-alveolar, the front edge of the tongue is raised to the alveolar arch: t ], [d], [n], [l], [s], [z], [∫], [ʒ], [t∫], [dʒ]

as cuminal-alveolar, the front edge of the tongue is raised up and slightly curved towards the posterior slope of the alveoli: [r].

3) Middle-lingual consonants, the obstruction is formed by raising the middle part of the tongue to the hard palate: [j].

4) Posterior consonants, which are articulated by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate: [k], [g], [ŋ].

5) Gut the only consonant in English: [h].

6) Locking consonants: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g], [m], [n], [ŋ], [t∫], [dʒ].

7) fricative consonants: [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [∫], [ʒ], [h], [w], [ l], [r], [j].

8) Stopping noisy consonants:

plosives, when the complete obstruction opens, air leaves the oral cavity, producing an explosion noise: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [ g]

affricates, when the opening of the organs of speech, forming a complete barrier, occurs smoothly: [t∫], [dʒ].

9) fricative consonants: [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [∫], [ʒ], [h].

10) Nasal sonants, a complete obstruction is formed in the oral cavity, the soft palate descends, and air exits through the nasal cavity: [m], [n], [ŋ].

11) Oral sonants: [w], [r], [j], [l].

English sounds and their pronunciation

Reading aloud and pronouncing English sounds is the best, if not the only, way to get rid of the Russian accent in conversational speech. And for beginners to learn English, this is an opportunity to immediately remember how sounds are pronounced correctly in English. All of them are collected in tables of English sounds with pronunciation:

English vowels. English Vowel Sounds
Sound	Description	Example words
iː	Long vowel. When pronouncing the sound [iː], the tongue is in front of the mouth. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth. The middle part of the tongue is raised high to the hard palate. Lips are slightly stretched.	feel read
ɪ	Short vowel. When pronouncing the sound [ɪ], the tongue is in front of the mouth. The middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate, but not as high as when pronouncing the Russian sound [and]. The tip of the tongue is at the lower teeth, the lips are slightly stretched.	unit wind
-	Short vowel. Pronounced with a slight rounding of the lips. When pronouncing the sound [ʊ], the tongue is at the back of the mouth, but not very far away. The back of the back of the tongue is raised to the front of the soft palate, but not as high as when pronouncing the Russian sound [y]. The lips are slightly rounded, but almost do not move forward.	put look
uː	Long vowel. When pronouncing the sound [uː], the tongue is at the back of the mouth. The back of the tongue is considerably raised. The lips are rounded, but slightly. Toward the end of the sound, the lips become more rounded.	none blue
and	Short vowel. When pronouncing the vowel sound [e], the tongue is in front of the oral cavity. The tip of the tongue is at the base of the lower teeth, the middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate. Lips are slightly stretched. When pronouncing the sound [e], the lower jaw should not be lowered.	bed desk
ə	Short neutral vowel. This sound is always unstressed, so it is very easily influenced by neighboring sounds. When pronouncing the sound [ə] at the beginning or middle of words, the whole language is somewhat raised. The sound [ə] should not be similar to the Russian sounds [e], [a] or [s].	again under
ɜː	Long vowel. When pronouncing the sound [ɜː], the tongue is raised, the back of the tongue lies flat. The tip of the tongue is at the bottom teeth. The teeth are slightly exposed, the distance between the upper and lower teeth is small. The lips are tense and slightly stretched.	work burn
ɔː	Long vowel. When pronouncing the sound [ɔː], the tongue is in the back of the mouth. The back of the tongue is raised to the soft palate. The lips are slightly pushed forward and considerably rounded.	small morning
æ	Semi-long vowel. When pronouncing the sound [æ], the mouth is wide enough open, the tongue is in front of the oral cavity, lies flat in the mouth, and its middle part is slightly raised. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth. The lips are somewhat stretched, and the corners of the lips are slightly drawn to the sides. There is no such sound in Russian.	bad exam
-	Short vowel. When pronouncing the sound [ʌ], the mouth is half open, the lips are neutral, the tongue is somewhat pushed back. The back of the tongue is slightly raised.	nut cut
ɑː	Long vowel. When pronouncing the sound [ɑː], the tongue is in the back of the mouth. The back of the tongue is slightly raised. The tip of the tongue is pulled away from the lower teeth, the lips are neutral, that is, not stretched or pushed forward. You should not open your mouth wide.	dark are
ɒ	Short vowel. When pronouncing the sound [ɒ], the tongue is at the back of the mouth. The back of the tongue is slightly raised. The mouth is wide open, the lips are rounded.	not wash

Vowel length, which is denoted by a colon in transcription, is very important. If you do not take into account the duration of vowels, then you can confuse the meaning of words. For example: short sound ship [ʃɪp] - ship and long sound sheep [ʃiːp] - ram.

English diphthongs. English Diphthongs
Sound	Description	Example words
ɪə	Diphthong. The core is the vowel sound [ɪ]. After pronouncing the sound [ɪ], the tongue moves towards the center in the direction of the neutral vowel [ə], which has a shade of the sound [ʌ].	real beer
eɪ	The core of the diphthong is the vowel [e]. After pronouncing [e], the tongue makes a slight upward movement in the direction of the [ɪ] sound, but without reaching its full formation.	say table
ʊə	The core of the diphthong is the vowel [ʊ]. After pronouncing the sound [ʊ], the tongue moves towards the center in the direction of the neutral vowel [ə], which has a shade of the sound [ʌ].	tour jury
ɔɪ	The core of the diphthong is a vowel, which is the middle sound between [ɒ] and [ɔː]. After pronouncing the first element of the diphthong, the tongue moves in the direction of the vowel [ɪ].	boy noise
əʊ	The diphthong nucleus is close in sound to the vowel sound [ɜː], after pronouncing which the tongue makes a slight upward movement and moves back towards the vowel sound [ʊ]. At the beginning of the pronunciation of the diphthong, the lips are slightly rounded, then gradually the lips are rounded even more.	coat flow
eə	The core of the diphthong is a vowel similar to the Russian sound [e] in the word it, after pronouncing which the tongue moves in the direction of the neutral vowel [ə] with a hint of the sound [ʌ].	where their
aɪ	The core of the diphthong is a vowel similar to the Russian sound [a] in the word tea, during the pronunciation of which the tongue is in the front of the mouth and lies flat. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth, the lips are slightly stretched. After pronouncing the first element of the diphthong, the tongue moves upwards in the direction of the sound [ɪ].	five my
aʊ	The core of the diphthong is a vowel similar to the Russian sound [a] in the word tea, during the pronunciation of which the tongue is in the front of the mouth and lies flat. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth, the lips are slightly stretched. After pronouncing the first element of the diphthong, the tongue moves back in the direction of the [ʊ] sound, which should be very weak.	how cloud

Pronunciation of consonant sounds in English

If you have noticed that the intonations of the English language are more energetic than Russian, then this fully applies to English words. And that means sounds. English consonants are pronounced vigorously, with great impulses and energy expenditure. Keep this in mind when reading tables of English consonants with pronunciation:

English consonants. English Consonant Sounds
Sound	Description	Example word
b	Voiced consonant. When pronouncing the sound [b], the lips first close, and then instantly open, and the air exits through the oral cavity.	book
d	Voiced consonant. When pronouncing the sound [d], the tip of the tongue is pressed against the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), forming a complete barrier. A jet of air with an explosion opens this barrier.	door
-	Voiced consonant. When pronouncing the sound [ʒ], the tip of the tongue is at the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), and the middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate.	television
ʤ	Voiced consonant. When pronouncing the sound [dʒ], the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), at the same time the middle part of the tongue rises to the hard palate. Gradually, the tip of the tongue moves away from the alveoli. The sound [dʒ] is pronounced like [tʃ], but loudly, with a voice.	Jim
g	Voiced consonant. When pronouncing the sound [ɡ], the back of the back of the tongue touches the soft palate, forming a complete barrier. A jet of air with an explosion opens this barrier.	go
v	Voiced consonant. When pronouncing the sound [v], the lower lip is slightly pressed against the upper teeth, and a stream of exhaled air passes into the gap between them.	five
ð	Voiced interdental consonant. To correctly pronounce the sound [ð], you need to place the tip of the tongue between the teeth. The tongue should be flattened and not tense, and the teeth should be bared. The tip of the tongue between the teeth forms a small gap, and you need to exhale air into this gap.	this
z	Voiced consonant. When pronouncing the sound [z], the tip of the tongue is against the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth). A stream of air with friction passes through the groove formed between the anterior back of the tongue and the alveoli.	Zoo
p	Voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [p], the lips first close, and then instantly open, and the air exits through the oral cavity.	pen
t	Voiceless consonant. When pronouncing a dull sound [t], the tip of the tongue is pressed against the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), forming a complete barrier. A jet of air with an explosion opens this barrier.	ten
ʃ	Voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [ʃ], the tip of the tongue is at the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), and the middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate.	show
-	Voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [tʃ], the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), at the same time the middle part of the tongue rises to the hard palate. Gradually, the tip of the tongue moves away from the alveoli.	chair
k	Voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [k], the back of the back of the tongue touches the soft palate, forming a complete barrier. A jet of air with an explosion opens this barrier.	key
f	Voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [f], the lower lip is slightly pressed against the upper teeth, and a stream of exhaled air passes into the gap between them.	five
θ	Voiceless interdental consonant. To correctly pronounce the sound [θ], you need to place the tip of the tongue between the teeth. The tongue should be flattened and not tense, and the teeth should be bared. The tip of the tongue between the teeth forms a small gap, and you need to exhale air into this gap.	Thanks
s	Voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [s], the tip of the tongue is against the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth). A stream of air with friction passes through the groove formed between the anterior back of the tongue and the alveoli.	sister
m	Labio-labial consonant. When pronouncing the sound [m], the lips are closed, the soft palate is lowered, and a stream of air passes through the nasal cavity.	moon
n	Nasal consonant. When pronouncing the sound [n], the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), the soft palate is lowered, and air passes through the nasal cavity.	nine
ŋ	Nasal consonant. When pronouncing the sound [ŋ], the back of the tongue touches the soft palate, the soft palate is lowered, and air passes through the nasal cavity.	song
h	Voiceless consonant. The sound [h] is formed without the participation of the tongue, while at the moment of its pronunciation, the tongue takes the position for the subsequent vowel.	hand
l	Consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [l], the tip of the tongue is pressed against the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), but the lateral edges of the tongue are lowered, forming a passage for the air stream.	look
-	Consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [r], the tip of the tongue is raised to the posterior slope of the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth). The tip of the tongue should be kept tense and motionless.	red
w	Labio-labial consonant. When pronouncing the sound [w], the lips are strongly rounded and pushed forward, forming a round gap. The back of the tongue is raised to the soft palate. Then, instantly, the tongue and lips move into position for pronouncing the next vowel.	well
j	Consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [j], the middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate, but not as high as when pronouncing Russian [y]. Learn more This little piggy had roast beef Bedtime stories goldilocks and the three bears Math games for kindergarten in the classroom Sight word games second grade Kitten's first full moon Long and short vowel sound activities Letter and sounds games All consonant words Free child learning website Hear and play login Preschool songs colors