Learn to read sight words
Sight Words | Sight Words: Teach Your Child to Read
Learn the history behind Dolch and Fry sight words, and why they are important in developing fluent readers.
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Follow the sight words teaching techniques. Learn research-validated and classroom-proven ways to introduce words, reinforce learning, and correct mistakes.
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Print your own sight words flash cards. Create a set of Dolch or Fry sight words flash cards, or use your own custom set of words.
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Play sight words games. Make games that create fun opportunities for repetition and reinforcement of the lessons.
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- Overview
- What Are Sight Words?
- Types of Sight Words
- When to Start
- Scaling & Scaffolding
- Research
- Questions and Answers
Sight words instruction is an excellent supplement to phonics instruction. Phonics is a method for learning to read in general, while sight words instruction increases a child’s familiarity with the high frequency words he will encounter most often.
The best way to learn sight words is through lots and lots of repetition, in the form of flashcard exercises and word-focused games.
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Sight words are words that should be memorized to help a child learn to read and write. Learning sight words allows a child to recognize these words at a glance — on sight — without needing to break the words down into their individual letters and is the way strong readers recognize most words. Knowing common, or high frequency, words by sight makes reading easier and faster, because the reader does not need to stop to try and sound out each individual word, letter by letter.
Sight Words are memorized so that a child can recognize commonly used or phonetically irregular words at a glance, without needing to go letter-by-letter.
Other terms used to describe sight words include: service words, instant words (because you should recognize them instantly), snap words (because you should know them in a snap), and high frequency words. You will also hear them referred to as Dolch words or Fry words, the two most commonly used sight words lists.
Sight words are the glue that holds sentences together.
These pages contain resources to teach sight words, including: sight words flash cards, lessons, and games. If you are new to sight words, start with the teaching strategies to get a road map for teaching the material, showing you how to sequence the lessons and activities.
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Sight words fall into two categories:
- Frequently Used Words — Words that occur commonly in the English language, such as it, can, and will.
Memorizing these words makes reading much easier and smoother, because the child already recognizes most of the words and can concentrate their efforts on new words. For example, knowing just the Dolch Sight Words would enable you to read about 50% of a newspaper or 80% of a children’s book. - Non-Phonetic Words — Words that cannot be decoded phonetically, such as buy, talk, or come. Memorizing these words with unnatural spellings and pronunciations teaches not only these words but also helps the reader recognize similar words, such as guy, walk, or some.
There are several lists of sight words that are in common use, such as Dolch, Fry, Top 150, and Core Curriculum. There is a great deal of overlap among the lists, but the Dolch sight word list is the most popular and widely used.
3.1 Dolch Sight Words
The Dolch Sight Words list is the most commonly used set of sight words.
Educator Dr. Edward William Dolch developed the list in the 1930s-40s by studying the most frequently occurring words in children’s books of that era. The list contains 220 “service words” plus 95 high-frequency nouns. The Dolch sight words comprise 80% of the words you would find in a typical children’s book and 50% of the words found in writing for adults. Once a child knows the Dolch words, it makes reading much easier, because the child can then focus his or her attention on the remaining words.
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3.2 Fry Sight Words
The Fry Sight Words list is a more modern list of words, and was extended to capture the most common 1,000 words. Dr. Edward Fry developed this expanded list in the 1950s (and updated it in 1980), based on the most common words to appear in reading materials used in Grades 3-9. Learning all 1,000 words in the Fry sight word list would equip a child to read about 90% of the words in a typical book, newspaper, or website.
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3.3 Top 150 Written Words
The Top 150 Written Words is the newest of the word lists featured on our site, and is commonly used by people who are learning to read English as a non-native language. This list consists of the 150 words that occur most frequently in printed English, according to the Word Frequency Book. This list is recommended by Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., Professor of Learning Development at Yale University’s School of Medicine.
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3.4 Other Sight Words Lists
There are many newer variations, such as the Common Core sight words, that tweak the Dolch and Fry sight words lists to find the combination of words that is the most beneficial for reading development. Many teachers take existing sight word lists and customize them, adding words from their own classroom lessons.
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Before a child starts learning sight words, it is important that he/she be able to recognize and name all the lower-case letters of the alphabet.
When prompted with a letter, the child should be able to name the letter quickly and confidently. Note that, different from learning phonics, the child does not need to know the letters’ sounds.
Before starting sight words, a child needs to be able to recognize and name all the lower-case letters of the alphabet.
If a student’s knowledge of letter names is still shaky, it is important to spend time practicing this skill before jumping into sight words. Having a solid foundation in the ability to instantly recognize and name the alphabet letters will make teaching sight words easier and more meaningful for the child.
Go to our Lessons for proven strategies on how to teach and practice sight words with your child.
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Every child is unique and will learn sight words at a different rate. A teacher may have a wide range of skill levels in the same classroom.
Many of our sight words games can be adjusted to suit different skill levels.
Many of our activity pages feature recommendations for adjusting the game to the needs of your particular child or classroom:
- Confidence Builders suggest ways to simplify a sight words game for a struggling student.
- Extensions offer tips for a child who loves playing a particular game but needs to be challenged more.
- Variations suggest ways to change up the game a little, by tailoring it to a child’s special interests or making it “portable.”
- Small Group Adaptations offer ideas for scaling up from an individual child to a small group (2-5 children), ensuring that every child is engaged and learning.
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Our sight words teaching techniques are based not only on classroom experience but also on the latest in child literacy research.
Here is a bibliography of some of the research supporting our approach to sight words instruction:
- Ceprano, M. A. “A review of selected research on methods of teaching sight words.” The Reading Teacher 35:3 (1981): 314-322.
- Ehri, Linnea C. “Grapheme–Phoneme Knowledge Is Essential for Learning to Read Words in English.” Word Recognition in Beginning Literacy. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1998.
- Enfield, Mary Lee, and Victoria Greene. Project Read. www.projectread.com. 1969.
- Gillingham, Anna, and Bessie W. Stillman. The Gillingham Manual: Remedial Training for Students with Specific Disability in Reading, Spelling, and Penmanship, 8th edition. Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing Service, 2014.
- Nist, Lindsay, and Laurice M. Joseph. “Effectiveness and Efficiency of Flashcard Drill Instructional Methods on Urban First-Graders’ Word Recognition, Acquisition, Maintenance, and Generalization.
” School Psychology Review 37:3 (Fall 2008): 294-308. - Shaywitz, Sally E. Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
- Stoner, J.C. “Teaching at-risk students to read using specialized techniques in the regular classroom.” Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal 3 (1991).
- Wilson, Barbara A. “The Wilson Reading Method.” Learning Disabilities Journal 8:1 (February 1998): 12-13.
- Wilson, Barbara A. Wilson Reading System. Millbury, MA: Wilson Language Training, 1988.
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Sight Words Teaching Strategy | Sight Words: Teach Your Child to Read
A child sees the word on the flash card and says the word while underlining it with her finger.
The child says the word and spells out the letters, then reads the word again.
The child says the word and then spells out the letters while tapping them on her arm.
A child says the word, then writes the letters in the air in front of the flash card.
A child writes the letters on a table, first looking at and then not looking at the flash card.
Correct a child’s mistake by clearly stating and reinforcing the right word several times.
- Overview
- Plan a Lesson
- Teaching Techniques
- Correcting Mistakes
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Questions and Answers
Sight words instruction is an excellent supplement to phonics instruction. Phonics is a method for learning to read in general, while sight words instruction increases a child’s familiarity with the high frequency words he will encounter most often.
Use lesson time to introduce up to three new words, and use game time to practice the new words.
A sight words instruction session should be about 30 minutes long, divided into two components:
- Sight Words Lesson — Use our Teaching Techniques to introduce new words and to review words from previous lessons — 10 minutes
- Sight Words Games — Use our games to provide reinforcement of the lesson and some review of already mastered sight words to help your child develop speed and fluency — 20 minutes
Video: Introduction to Teaching Sight Words
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2.1 Introduce New Words
When first beginning sight words, work on no more than three unfamiliar words at a time to make it manageable for your child. Introduce one word at a time, using the five teaching techniques.
Hold up the flash card for the first word, and go through all five techniques, in order. Then introduce the second word, and go through all five teaching techniques, and so on.
This lesson should establish basic familiarity with the new words. This part of a sight words session should be brisk and last no more than ten minutes. As your child gets more advanced, you might increase the number of words you work on in each lesson.
2.2 Review Old Words
Begin each subsequent lesson by reviewing words from the previous lesson. Words often need to be covered a few times for the child to fully internalize them. Remember: solid knowledge of a few words is better than weak knowledge of a lot of words!
Go through the See & Say exercise for each of the review words. If your child struggles to recognize a word, cover that word again in the main lesson, going through all five teaching techniques.
If he has trouble with more than two of the review words, then set aside the new words you were planning to introduce and devote that day’s lesson to review.
Note: The child should have a good grasp of — but does not need to have completely mastered — a word before it gets replaced in your lesson plan. Use your game time to provide lots of repetition for these words until the child has thoroughly mastered them.
2.3 Reinforce with Games
Learning sight words takes lots of repetition. We have numerous sight words games that will make that repetition fun and entertaining for you and your child.
The games are of course the most entertaining part of the sight words program, but they need to wait until after the first part of the sight words lesson.
Games reinforce what the lesson teaches.
Do not use games to introduce new words.
NOTE: Be sure the child has a pretty good grasp of a sight word before using it in a game, especially if you are working with a group of children.
You do not want one child to be regularly embarrassed in front of his classmates when he struggles with words the others have already mastered!
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Introduce new sight words using this sequence of five teaching techniques:
- See & Say — A child sees the word on the flash card and says the word while underlining it with her finger.
- Spell Reading — The child says the word and spells out the letters, then reads the word again.
- Arm Tapping — The child says the word and then spells out the letters while tapping them on his arm, then reads the word again.
- Air Writing — A child says the word, then writes the letters in the air in front of the flash card.
- Table Writing — A child writes the letters on a table, first looking at and then not looking at the flash card.
These techniques work together to activate different parts of the brain.
The exercises combine many repetitions of the word (seeing, hearing, speaking, spelling, and writing) with physical movements that focus the child’s attention and cement each word into the child’s long-term memory.
The lessons get the child up to a baseline level of competence that is then reinforced by the games, which take them up to the level of mastery. All you need is a flash card for each of the sight words you are covering in the lesson.
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Of course, every child will make mistakes in the process of learning sight words. They might get confused between similar-looking words or struggle to remember phonetically irregular words.
Use our Corrections Procedure every time your child makes a mistake in a sight words lesson or game. Simple and straightforward, it focuses on reinforcing the correct identification and pronunciation of the word. It can be done quickly without disrupting the flow of the activity.
Do not scold the child for making a mistake or even repeat the incorrect word. Just reinforce the correct word using our script, and then move on.
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Q: Progress is slow. We have been on the same five words for a week!
A: It is not unusual to have to repeat the same set of words several times, especially in the first weeks of sight words instruction. The child is learning how to learn the words and is developing pattern recognition approaches that will speed his progress. Give him time to grow confident with his current set of words, and avoid overwhelming the child with new words when he hasn’t yet become familiar with the old words.
Q: Do I really need to do all five techniques for every word?
A: Start out by using all five techniques with each new word. The techniques use different teaching methods and physical senses to support and reinforce the child’s memorization of the word.
After a few weeks of lessons, you will have a sense for how long it takes your child to learn new words and whether all five exercises are necessary. Start by eliminating the last activity, Table Writing, but be sure to review those words at the next lesson to see if the child actually retained them without that last exercise. If the child learns fine without Table Writing, then you can try leaving out the fourth technique, Air Writing. Children who learn quickly may only need to use two or three of the techniques.
Q: How long will it take to get through a whole word list? I want my child to learn ALL the words!!!
A: That depends on a number of factors, including frequency of your lessons as well as your child’s ability to focus. But do not get obsessed with the idea of racing through the word lists to the finish line. It is much, much better for your child to solidly know just 50 words than to “kind of” know 300 words. We are building a foundation here, and we want that foundation to be made of rock, not sand!
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Learning to read letters, syllables, words and sentences.
Municipal Autonomous Preschool Educational Institution "Child Development Center - Kindergarten No. 88" Kirovsky District, Kazan
Learning to read letters, syllables, words and sentences.
I. Letters or sounds
First of all, pay attention to the fact that when teaching a preschooler to read, you need to focus on memorizing sounds, not letters. That is, for example, when mastering the letter B, you need to teach the child to speak [b], and not [be], etc. nine0007
You should not be afraid that your child will not know the correct (alphabetic) names of the letters - after 2-3 years, having gone to the first grade and already being able to read decently, he will easily learn the required names of the letters.
When learning the alphabet, it is not at all necessary to force the baby to memorize all 33 letters. To begin with, it is enough to master the 15-20 most commonly used letters: necessarily a few vowels (A, O, U, I, S, E) and several consonants (B, C, G, Z, K, L, M, N, P .
..) . Already this set will be quite enough to successfully master the syllables. And the rest of the letters "pull up" later. nine0007
II. Fixed vowel syllables
Having learned most of the letters, you can move on to syllables made up of these letters. Here it is important to take into account several subtleties.
At first, only syllables of the form consonant + vowel are mastered, i.e. BA, NO, GU, etc.
Since the syllables with the vowels E, E, I, Yu are more difficult to read, then at the first stage you need to read only the syllables with the vowels A, O, U, I, S, E.
Before reading syllables on paper, one must learn to read them "in the mind." Tell your baby: " B, A - what happens? That's right, BA! " etc. (We do not recommend saying: “B and A - what will happen?” The union will prevent the baby from correctly connecting letters into syllables.) After reading “in the mind”, you can proceed to reading syllables on paper.
Strive for your child to end up reading the syllables all at once, rather than spelling them out.
In order to facilitate the work of a small student, first offer to read to him "in his mind" only syllables with one fixed vowel: BA, VA, GA ...
When this stage is completed, move on to syllables with a different fixed vowel: BO, VO, GO ...
Pay attention to the frequency and duration of classes. One lesson with children 3-4 years old should not exceed 10 minutes. At this age, it is not even necessary to practice every day. However, try not to take long breaks (more than 4 days) in class. With children 5-6 years old, do no more than 15-20 minutes in one lesson.
III. Syllables with the first vowel. nine0006
Syllables with the first vowel - AB, AV, OG, UG, etc. (Let's call them inverse) children very often, especially at first, read the other way around, i.e. instead of the syllable AB - the syllable BA, instead of OG - GO, etc. Don't be discouraged, things will gradually work out. Gently correct the child each time.
Pay special attention to your child's diction.
Speech defects often found at this age (difficulties with the sounds Р, Л, Ж, Ш, etc.) will interfere with reading. Therefore, it is advisable in these cases to contact a speech therapist. nine0007
Syllables with vowels E, E, I, Yu Syllables with these vowels are more difficult for children. This is due to the fact that when pronouncing each of them, we actually pronounce two sounds: E \u003d [Y] + [O], I \u003d [Y] + [A], etc.
When reading syllables, do not forget to return to the previous section from time to time for repetition and consolidation. You can write the syllables yourself on a piece of paper, then offering them for reading to the child. This is especially convenient to do on the road, go away, when there is no book at hand. Do not forget only that you need to write more block letters. nine0007
Try to diversify your activities. Use as another "student" your child's favorite toy (doll, teddy bear), which can be actively involved in the lesson. Arrange competitions - who will read this or that syllable faster: you, your child or a doll (in this case, of course, you need to succumb, and speak for the doll in a different voice.
)
IV. Simple three-letter words
It is better to move on to reading words when the child calls the syllable immediately, and not by letter. However, reading words is much more interesting than syllables. Therefore, for example, the words KO-T, KI-T, CO-H, etc. you can offer the child to read even if he still does not read the syllables right away. Move on to reading horizontally - first, let the child read the words in the first line, then in the second, and so on. nine0007
Offer the child the following game with words. Take 5-6 cards. Write on each a three-letter word for the toy your child has: KO-T, PYO-S, LE-V, etc. Have your child put the cards next to the corresponding toys.
V. Reading words of four or more letters
To read words consisting of several letters, the child must read the syllables at once, and not in letters. Otherwise, reading will be inefficient and tedious. Therefore, before moving on to more complex, two- and three-syllable words, make sure that the baby reads the syllables confidently and immediately.
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Help your child whenever possible. Sometimes you can read the first syllable of a word, giving him the opportunity to read the second syllable and guess what kind of word it turned out to be.
Previously, as before, practice reading by syllables “in your mind” and only then proceed to reading what is written.
Try to diversify your reading exercises. In particular, this method is very useful. When reading a book to a child, stop at the most interesting place and ask him to read the next word, citing eye fatigue, etc. For example, you read: " And then Pinocchio screamed…” “Oh, what did he scream, I just can't read it, help me… That's right! He shouted Guard! Or you can do the following. Write a word on a piece of paper and have your child read it. And then draw the corresponding picture on the piece of paper. Children really like to watch how the word they read immediately “appears” in the form of a picture.
VI. Reading sentences
After making sure that your child reads two- and three-syllable words more or less well, you can move on to reading simple sentences.
Don't tire your child. The lesson must be stopped in time, even if he himself wants to continue reading, 15-20 minutes is the limit. nine0007
Encourage your child more often, ask him to help you read this or that phrase (with large letters!) in a newspaper, book, ad, etc. We also recommend this approach. Write in large block letters a note of two or three simple sentences to your child on behalf of your favorite character. Say that he received a letter from Carlson or another character. But he must read it himself, since you do not read other people's letters. Sometimes you can hide something tasty (candy, banana) and write on a piece of paper where it is. For example, "It's on the couch" or "Grandpa's prize." As a rule, children enjoy playing such a treasure hunt game. nine0007
English from scratch. Learning to read
What is the first thing a child is taught when he comes to school? Of course, the alphabet, and then reading and writing. Any teaching of a foreign language begins with the same.
Is it possible to speak English without mastering the literacy? Yes, if you completely immerse yourself in the language environment. But even under such ideal conditions as living in an English-speaking country, you will still feel like a child in the company of adults. Without a decent knowledge of English, it is not easy not only to live in an English-speaking country, but also to travel the world. Even the airport is much easier to navigate for those who know how to read English. nine0007
So, it is clear that in order to master the language, you will definitely need to learn how to read. Any foreign course is built in such a way that in the first lessons you learn the alphabet and pronunciation. At the initial stages, of course, you will need to make an effort to remember how certain letters and letter combinations are read. But having mastered English literacy in the first lessons, you can easily voice any text, even filled with unfamiliar words.
How to learn to read English correctly.
Some Tips There are many ways to learn to read English. Someone resorts to the help of transcription. Others write down the pronunciation of English words using Russian letters. There are people who like to read aloud a lot. And someone focuses on audio files. In fact, all methods are good in their own way. When learning to read, it is not enough to learn letters, diphthongs and remember all the rules. In this matter, constant practice is important. Here are some tips to help you develop your English reading skills: nine0007
- Learn to listen to English. Oddly enough, but the ability to hear what the British and Americans say directly affects our ability to read. At the initial stage, adapted books are very useful, provided with discs with audio recordings of the texts themselves. Having before your eyes the text that the announcer reads, you learn to read correctly on a subconscious level.
- Try to read every day. Make it a rule to read English books for at least 20-30 minutes every day.
Choose books according to your level of language proficiency. At the initial stage, you can read fairy tales and short stories. And in order to develop spoken language skills, it is also useful to occasionally look at English-language periodicals and blogs. nine0100 - Get used to writing in English. As you know, reading and writing are directly related. One follows from the other. If a person reads English at a decent level, then he will most likely state his thoughts on paper very competently. Getting to know native speakers is one of the most affordable and effective ways to improve your reading and writing skills. Communication in modern society is often based on correspondence in chats and social networks. Therefore, having met a native speaker, you yourself will not notice how correspondence in English will become part of everyday life. Introverts can be advised to keep a diary, which will be filled with entries in English. nine0100
- Learn English tongue twisters and poems.
For example: Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not. Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot. We'll weather the weather whether we like it or not Tongue twisters help to work out the pronunciation of complex sounds. Poems enrich vocabulary. nine0097 Practice pronunciation. Spend time practicing those sounds that are unusual for Russian speakers. For example, the combination th is not given to every student the first time. And, of course, the easiest way to learn the correct pronunciation is to listen to the dialogues and monologues of native speakers. Modern TV series with English subtitles help to deliver the correct speech.
Reading in English . Alphabet
Suppose you want to learn to read English from scratch. In this case, you will have to start from the very beginning, that is, from the alphabet, consisting of 26 letters. nine0007
English alphabet (alphabet)
English has 20 consonants and 6 vowels. Vowels include letters: A, E, I, O, U, Y.
In order to learn the alphabet faster, you can turn to children's songs. Bright cards with letters also help a lot.
There are a few letters in the English language that "behave" differently from the rest. So, almost all consonants in English make one sound. But X is an exception. This letter conveys two sounds at once [ks]. It is also worth paying attention to the last character in the English alphabet. The pronunciation of Z depends on whether we are dealing with the British or American version of the language. In the first case, the letter is read as [zed], in the second - as [zi:]. nine0007
Also, the pronunciation of the letter R is very different between Americans and British. In the UK, this is a long sound a [a:]. In the American alphabet - ar [a: r].
Transcription
Reading English will be much easier if you learn the transcription, which is a system of signs used to record sounds.
Since this or that letter may sound differently depending on what signs surround it, it can be difficult for a foreigner to read some words correctly without transcription. However, recently many students refuse to memorize the symbols of English phonetics. Indeed, thanks to the Internet, today you can easily listen to how the right word is read. nine0007
How to read consonants
It's easy enough to remember how to read consonants in English. The fact is that you can easily find analogues in Russian for many consonant sounds. For example, the English Mm is, in fact, the familiar M [um]. And in the word lemon, the pronunciation of the consonant L is similar to the Russian L. Also, analogues in our language can be found with the consonants N, B, F, Z.
The pronunciation of the letter C depends on which characters it is adjacent to. If C is followed by the vowels I, E, Y, then it will be read as [s]. For example, in the word cinema (cinema). Before other vowels, C reads like [k]: come (come), camel (camel), cake (cake).
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The consonants T and D in English are very similar to Russian T and D, only they are most often pronounced with a breath. But the letter Q will always be accompanied by a vowel U. The letter combination Qu is pronounced as [kw]. For example, in the word queen (queen). The consonant G before the vowels I, E, Y will be read as [j] - [dʒ]. For example, orange (orange), badge (icon). Before all other letters, G is pronounced like [g]: game (game), gale (storm).
Another letter unusual for the Russian language is Jj, which is always pronounced as [dʒ]. This consonant is very common in the names of representatives of English-speaking countries: Jack (Jack), James (James), Jane (Jane). nine0007
Below we provide a list of all English consonants with transcription:
Bb - [b]
Cc - [s] or [k]
Dd - [d]
Ff - [f]
Gg - [dʒ] or [g]
Hh - [h]
Jj-[dʒ]
Kk - [k]
Ll - [l]
mm - [m]
Nn - [n]
Pp - [p] nine0007
Qq - [kw]
Rr - [r]
Ss - [s] or [z]
Tt - [t]
Vv - [v]
Ww - [w]
Xx - [ks] or [gz]
Zz - [z]
Vowels
Reading in English for beginners is usually complicated not by consonants, which are often read the same way as they sound in the alphabet, but by vowels.
There are only 6 vowels in English, but the problem is that each of them, depending on the position in the word, can have several reading options. Much is determined by whether the letter is in stressed or unstressed position. For stressed vowels, there are 4 types of syllable in English: nine0007
- An open syllable is a syllable ending in a vowel or a consonant (except R) followed by a silent E. A stressed vowel in an open syllable is pronounced as it is pronounced in the alphabet. For example, plane (plane), placement (room), he (he).
- A closed syllable is a syllable that ends in one consonant (excluding r) or several consonants. The stressed vowel in such a syllable is transmitted in a short and clear sound. The vowel A is pronounced as the middle between e and a [æ]. For example, cat (cat). The letter O in stressed position in a closed syllable sounds like [ɒ] in the word dog (dog), E - like [e] (for example, ten - ten). Vowels Y and I in a closed syllable are pronounced as [i] (little - small, myth - myth).
Finally, the stressed letter U will resemble a somewhat slurred short sound and [ʌ] (cut - cut). nine0100
- If a stressed vowel is followed by the consonant R alone or in combination with other consonants, then the vowels will be read as follows:
- a [ɑː] - long Russian sound a - park (park)
- o [ɔː] - lingering long Russian sound o - sport (sport)
- e [ɜː] - resembles the Russian sound ё in the word "honey" - fern (fern)
- y [ɜː] - byrd (bird)
- i [ɜː] - first (first)
- u [ɜː] - burn (burn)
- If a stressed vowel is followed by a consonant R in combination with any vowel, then the syllables are divided into diphthongs or triphthongs (complex sounds consisting of two or three letters pronounced as one). In this combination, the vowel A sounds like [ɛə]. For example, in the word fare (fare, fare). The vowel O in the fourth type of syllable will be pronounced as a long Russian sound O [ɔː].
An example here is the word more (more). The vowel E under stress is pronounced as something of a fusion between Russian I and A [ɪə], for example mere (only). Y and I with the fourth type of syllable are read as [aɪə]. For example, in the words fire (fire) and tire (tire). The letter U turns into the sound [jʊə] (during - during). nine0100
Learning to read consonant diphthongs
At the initial stages of learning a foreign language, students will also need to find the answer to the question of how to read diphthongs in English. This term refers to combinations of two letters that give one sound.
Table of English diphthongs. Consonants
How to read different combinations of vowels? nine0006
If you are seriously wondering how to learn to read in English, you will also have to study diphthongs with vowels. Here are some of them:
- ai, ay, ei, ey - [ei] - aim (goal, task)
- ai - [eə] - air (air).
Before consonant R - ae - [ɪ:] - aegis (protection, aegis)
- au - [o] - autumn (autumn)
- ea, ee - [ɪ:] - meal (food). Only if the vowel is not followed by the letter R
- ea, ee - [ɪə] - dear (dear). In position before R
- ie - [ɪ:] - field (field).
- oa - [ou] or [o:] - boat (boat)
- oi, oy - [oi] - enjoy (enjoy)
- oo [u:] or [u] or [uə] - moon (moon), book (book), poor (poor)
- ou - [au] - ground (earth). In the middle of a word
Silent consonants
Those who have been reading English for quite some time rarely remember all the rules for pronouncing diphthongs. And even more so in the process of reading, not everyone pays attention to the fact that some consonants are dumb. But at the initial stage of learning, it is important to remember that the following letters are not read in English: nine0007
- G and K before N at the beginning and end of a word.
