Phonic for children


Phonics teaching step-by-step | TheSchoolRun

Sort your phonemes from your graphemes, decoding from encoding and digraphs from trigraphs with our parents' guide to phonics teaching. Our step-by-step explanation takes you through the different stages of phonics learning, what your child will be expected to learn and the vocabulary you need to know.

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What is phonics?

Phonics is a method of teaching children to read by linking sounds (phonemes) and the symbols that represent them (graphemes, or letter groups). Phonics is the learning-to-read method used in primary schools in the UK today. 

What is a phoneme?

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound. The phonemes used when speaking English are:

Print out a list of phonemes to practise with your child or listen to the individual sounds being spoken with our phonics worksheets.

Phonics learning step 1: decoding

Children are taught letter sounds in Reception. This involves thinking about what sound a word starts with, saying the sound out loud and then recognising how that sound is represented by a letter.

The aim is for children to be able to see a letter and then say the sound it represents out loud. This is called decoding.

Some phonics programmes start children off by learning the letters s, a, t, n, i, p first. This is because once they know each of those letter sounds, they can then be arranged into a variety of different words (for example: sat, tip, pin, nip, tan, tin, sip, etc.). While children are learning to say the sounds of letters out loud, they will also begin to learn to write these letters (encoding).

They will be taught where they need to start with each letter and how the letters need to be formed in relation to each other. Letters (or groups of letters) that represent phonemes are called graphemes.

Phonics learning step 2: blending

Children then need to go from saying the individual sounds of each letter, to being able to blend the sounds and say the whole word. This can be a big step for many children and takes time.

Phonics learning step 3: decoding CVC words

Children will focus on decoding (reading) three-letter words arranged consonant, vowel, consonant (CVC words) for some time.

They will learn other letter sounds, such as the consonants g, b, d, h and the remaining vowels e, o, u. Often, they will be given letter cards to put together to make CVC words which they will be asked to say out loud.

Phonics learning step 4: decoding consonant clusters in CCVC and CVCC words

Children will also learn about consonant clusters: two consonants located together in a word, such tr, cr, st, lk, pl. Children will learn to read a range of CCVC words (consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant) such as trap, stop, plan.

They will also read a range of CVCC words (consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant) such as milk, fast, cart.

Phonics learning step 5: vowel digraphs

Children are then introduced to vowel digraphs. A digraph is two vowels that together make one sound such as: /oa/, /oo/, /ee/, /ai/. They will move onto sounding out words such as deer, hair, boat, etc. and will be taught about split digraphs (or 'magic e').

They will also start to read words combining vowel digraphs with consonant clusters, such as: train, groan and stool.

Phonics learning step 6: consonant digraphs

Children will also learn the consonant digraphs (two consonants that together make one sound) ch and sh and start blending these with other sounds to make words, such as: chat, shop, chain and shout.

Encoding, or learning to spell as well as read

Alongside this process of learning to decode (read) words, children will need to continue to practise forming letters which then needs to move onto encoding. Encoding is the process of writing down a spoken word, otherwise known as spelling.

They should start to be able to produce their own short pieces of writing, spelling the simple words correctly.

It goes without saying that reading a range of age-appropriate texts as often as possible will really support children in their grasp of all the reading and spelling of all the phonemes.

Phonics learning in KS1

By the end of Reception, children should be able to write one grapheme for each of the 44 phonemes.

In Year 1, they will start to explore vowel digraphs and trigraphs (a group of three letters that makes a single sound, like 'igh' as in 'sigh') further.

They will begin to understand, for example, that the letters ea can make different sounds in different words (dream and bread). They will also learn that one sound might be represented by different groups of letters: for example, light and pie (igh and ie make the same sound).

Children in Year 2 will be learning spelling rules, such as adding suffixes to words (such as -ed, -ing, -er, -est, -ful, -ly, -y, -s, -es, -ment and -ness). They will be taught rules on how to change root words when adding these suffixes (for example, removing the 'e' from 'have' before adding 'ing') and then move onto harder concepts, such as silent letters (knock, write, etc) and particular endings (le in bottle and il in fossil).

Free phonics worksheets and information for parents

For more information about the phonics system look through our phonics articles, including ways to boost phonics confidence, details of the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check, parents' phonics questions answered and more.

We also have a large selection of free phonics worksheets to download for your child.

More like this

  • Phonics phases explained

  • 10 ways to boost phonics confidence

  • Spelling in Year 1

  • Common phonics problems sorted

  • What is a grapheme?

  • Phonics games

  • Blending sounds: teachers' tips

  • Best phonics learning tools

  • Teachers' tricks for phonics

Phonics Activities to Teach kids to Read with ABC Phonics/ Kiz Phonics

Teach kids to Read with the One-Stop Phonics Platform!

Explore by Level:

Preschool Kindergarten L1 Kindergarten L2 1st Grade L1 1st Grade L2 2nd Grade L1


Kiz Phonics is an excellent progressive program to teach kids to read using a synthetic phonics approach. You get a complete set of activities to teach phonics, structured by levels from preschool, kindergarten, 1st grade to 2nd grade. We offer the following phonics activities for your preschool, kindergarten, first and second grade learners:

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The Kiz Phonics program is carefully arranged by levels from Preschool Ages 3-4, Kindergarten Ages 4 -6, 1st Grade Ages 6-7 & 2nd Grade Ages 7-8. It is suitable for school teachers, home-school parents and other educators trying to help children learn to read.


Kids Phonics Teaching Resources

Phonics Worksheets

Teach phonics with the highest quality pdf print outs. Our phonics worksheets are structured by level.

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Phonics Games

Practice key phonemes, sentence reading and word blends with highly engaging interactive phonics games by level.

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Phonics Lesson Videos

Use our phonics video lessons to teach phonemic awareness, word blending and print awareness by level.

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Phonics Stories

Find 21 phonics stories to build learners’ confidence in early literacy. The stories are carefully developed around the phonemes.

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Flashcards & Charts

We offer printable phonics flashcards, phonics charts and wallpapers for classroom teaching and phonics homeschooling.

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Listening Materials

Phonics listening materials come in several varieties - with mp3 files to match each worksheet and story, as well as phonics songs.

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Phonics Program by Level - Preschool to 2nd Grade

Preschool Phonics - Ages 3-4

Learning to read starts here. From as low as 3 years, your child needs to build the following skills that will prepare him/her for reading. Print Awareness and Phonemic Awareness are the hallmarks of this level. We provide the following types of resources:

 Kindergarten Phonics L1 - Ages 4-6

The Kindergarten Level 1 Reading Program,  is suitable for kids between the ages of 4 to 6. Children will learn short vowels a & e, beginning and ending consonant sounds. The will learn how to read words, sentences and 2 short stories.

Kindergarten Phonics L2 - Ages 4-6

The Kindergarten Level 2 Reading Program,  is suitable for kids between the ages of 4 to 6. Children will learn short vowels i, o u, ending and beginning consonants & digraphs. The will learn how to read words, sentences and 2 short stories.

First Grade Phonics L1 - Ages 6-7

The 1st Grade Level 1 Reading Program features a review of all the short vowels, beginning and ending consonants. Your children will learn words with the S blends, consonant digraphs ch, sh, th, wh and ph.  They will also learn the soft C and G sounds.

First Grade Phonics L2 - Ages 6-7

The 1st Grade Level 2 Phonics Program features the long a & i with the silent e. Kids will learn how the silent e changes the sounds of words. This level also includes vowel digraphs ai & ay, vowel digraphs ee & ea and final y as long e.

Second Grade Phonics L1 - Ages 7-8

The 2nd Grade Level 1 Phonics Program features the long o & u with the silent e. This level also includes vowel digraphs like oa & ow, ui & ue and final y as long i. Special vowels like aw & ew will be also be learned.


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Phonics Articles

What is Phonics?

This question is more common than you may think. Without sounding…

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Phonics Lesson Plans Made Easy

The Kiz Phonics Resources & Structured Guide to Teaching…

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Phonics Methods Used on KizPhonics

Kiz Phonics is a direct systematic phonics program, which uses…

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Why Use Kiz Phonics?

Deliver the joy of learning to read by using the Kiz Phonics curriculum and phonics activities. Phonics is a method of teaching children to read by combining letters to form sounds. As such, preschoolers usually begin with print awareness using the 26 letters of the alphabet. These letters can be combined to form sounds called phonemes. In a synthetic phonics approach, kids blend sounds to read full words. Reading comprehension is not an immediate priority at the early phases. Phonics teaches kids to read unfamiliar words. It is a more effective method for learning to read compared to word recognition. As learners are different, you need a varied set of resources to teach phonics – phonics worksheets, phonics games, phonics flashcards, listening materials, word families activities, phonics short stories, phonics lesson videos, and PowerPoint – we got you covered!

Teaching kids to read is not solely the job of the classroom teacher. Parents, both native and non-native English speakers, can follow our guidelines and phonics activities to bring kids from zero to hero in reading. It is an absolute joy to watch your child begin the baby steps of combining letters and sounds to read unfamiliar words. Sign up today and make full use of the most effective activities designed to teach your child to read through phonics.

Learning English phonetics with children

How to teach children to read in English

So we taught our child to speak simple English with the help of fun lessons (games, cards, videos, cartoons, songs). He is already 6-7 years old, he can read and write in Russian and knows Russian letters well. At the very time to start learning to read in English and mastering the first rules. Of course, the abilities of children are different: for some, the optimal age for learning may be 8 years old, and for some, even 5. Parents themselves should identify the abilities of their children and in no case try to forcibly sculpt geeks out of them just because the neighboring the child is already a polyglot at the age of three.

Basic reading rules for children

Teaching children to read in English should begin in two stages.

First: we learn the English alphabet, and it is possible not in alphabetical order, but starting with the letters used in words that the child has already learned and learned to pronounce well. For example, words:

  • table, dog, cat, apple, water, tiger, lion, car, house, etc.

It is very important to start learning with understandable and familiar words: knowing the pronunciation and seeing the word itself, the brain learns to draw analogies, and the child's brain works intuitively and twice as fast as an adult.

How to teach the English alphabet

It is easier to learn the alphabet using a card that additionally contains a transcription of the sound of each letter.

How to memorize the alphabet:

  1. Learn a few letters a day and use them in words
  2. Note that the phonetic sound of a letter in the alphabet and a word can be completely different
  3. Reinforce learned letters with fun lessons:
    kids can learn with this fun pig family.

I think the lesson below will give them pleasure:

Children learning the rules of English phonetics

The second stage begins at the very beginning of learning to read and runs parallel to it all the way. Children learn the following rules:

  • the same letters and letter combinations in words can be pronounced differently
  • some letters are written but not readable
  • one letter can be read with two sounds, and vice versa: in a letter combination there can be 2-3 letters read with one sound

All this is called phonetics, and in order to learn it, you need to know the rules of transcription and know:

  • What are short vowels sounds:
    are pronounced briefly, sometimes their sound corresponds to a Russian sound, and sometimes a special, so-called neutral, intermediate between two adjacent (-o and -a, -a and -e) sounds
  • What are diphthongs and triphthongs:
    these are sounds consisting of two or three elements
  • What are voiced and voiceless consonants?

Reinforcing techniques for teaching reading

To explain phonetic rules, it is desirable to have cards with transcription of sounds in these categories.
Demonstrating the card, we memorize the rules for pronunciation of each sound, in accordance with Russian sounds. If there is no Russian analogue, then the pronunciation of the sound is written in detail, indicating the location of the language or finding a similar sound

For example, such a rule for pronouncing the sound [θ]:

  • When pronouncing the sound [θ], you need to position your tongue as if you are going to pronounce the sound “s”, only place its tip between the teeth.

Or the following rule for pronouncing the sound [ə]:

  • The sound [ə] is pronounced as the middle between -o and -a, or unstressed -o and -a in the words "water" and "room".

In the process of learning phonetics, we fix the rules of reading on examples of words.

Such not very interesting lessons can be diversified with visual videos:

I can't help but recall the wonderful technology of color reading, which greatly simplifies the intuitive memorization of phonetics rules for children in practice.

See also a very informative and useful lesson on English reading lessons:

English phonetics for children

According to modern psychological and pedagogical research, every person from birth is endowed with the function of perceiving and reproducing speech. It is this innate speech function, and not mechanical memory at all, that is the fundamental basis in our childhood for mastering native and foreign speech, since it synthesizes the necessary mental features for processing and perceiving the sound stream. But innate abilities, as you know, must invariably be backed up by a well-formed set of honed skills and abilities.

Thus, English phonetics for children involves work on the formation of the child's articulatory apparatus and the development of phonetic hearing, which covers the learning of sounds, which are divided into three small conditional subgroups:

  • Sounds almost identical to native ones;
  • Similar, but with specific articulation;
  • Sounds that do not have analogues.

As a result of this division, it is necessary to teach children English phonetics, guided by the following basic provisions:

1. Imitation.

It is well known that children have a very developed sense of imitation, therefore, it is necessary to use this ability. Young children are certainly capable of memorizing a large number of thematically related words or situational emotional expressions. At the same time, the lexical units selected for them should contain the sounds of the first subgroup and be easy to pronounce, not long, but this is only at the initial stage of learning.

2. Features of the speech apparatus.

A child's speech apparatus is characterized by a high degree of plasticity, and, of course, a child, due to personal abilities, is able to more or less clearly pronounce those English sounds and intonation groups that are presented to them. Therefore, it should be remembered that English phonetics for children should not initially be adapted. Such simplification can cause a useless habit of pronouncing sounds not quite accurately, and then, at an older age, one may encounter the problem of relearning.

3. Opposition.

In order for there to be an element of comprehension of phonetic material, it is necessary to place accents and explain the main difference between native, that is, familiar to children, and English shades of intonation and sounds. Constantly analyzing and contrasting the intonation and sounds of the second subgroup, they learn not to confuse them in speech.

4. Differences in sound systems.

The child, listening to foreign speech, pays, first of all, the sounds of the third subgroup, unusual for the native language, and their combinations. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to acquaint children with the pronunciation of sounds characteristic only for the English language, highlighting a separate lesson for them.

5. Development of phonemic hearing.

In order for children to master the sound system well, it is recommended to conduct didactic games, the basis of which would be the generalization and comparison of the sounds of three subgroups and their combinations.

6. Formation of skills.

The development of phonetic skills is based mainly on sound imitation during the so-called phonetic exercise, which is necessarily organized in the form of an exciting game or performance.

7. Recommended number of sounds.

It is inappropriate to plan the study of a whole subgroup of sounds at the same time. Two or three sounds assigned to one lesson are enough, which may belong to different subgroups.

Therefore, English phonetics for children, as a separate section, should include purely phonetic moments, as well as individual organizational problems, and correspond to the characteristics of age. And most importantly, learning should resemble a game and a performance, the participants of which are both children and adults themselves.

Skype English school blog for kids

Did you know that the English alphabet consists of 26 letters and 46 different sounds? The same letter can convey several sounds at the same time. Just don't panic! We will tell you how easy it is to remember English sounds without boring tables and cramming.

As a rule, in English lessons a child keeps a separate dictionary, in which the pages are divided into three columns: “word”, “transcription”, “translation”. New words are written there, which then need to be learned. And if everything is clear with the columns "word" and "translation", then with "transcription" there are often difficulties.

What is transcription? This is a kind of instruction on how to read a word. Usually it is written in square brackets. For example: [pen]. The characters that are inside square brackets are the sounds of the English language. One character = one sound. Only these characters are not always similar to the letters of the alphabet . Let's look at the English sounds that are most difficult for a child and how to learn them:

Do you want your child to keep up in English at school?

Selecting associations

It's no secret that complex things are easier to remember using associations. This rule works especially well for children.

ʊ - short [y] - very similar to the badge "horseshoe"
æ - wide [e] - open your mouth wide and say "e". We call this symbol "bug badge" 🐞
ŋ - [n] - a funny sound that is similar to how the Baby Elephant spoke in the cartoon "38 Parrots" 🐘. Need to say "n", but a little "on the nose", like you have a runny nose . Try pinching your nose with your fingers, open your mouth and say "n". Happened?

ð
- interdental [z]
θ - interdental [s]

To memorize this pair of sounds, a child can be told a whole fairy tale: “There was a little bunny (our tongue). But he was very shy, so he sat in a mink (in his mouth) all the time. But one day he dared to stick the very tip of his nose out of the mink (we put the tip of the tongue between the teeth). At first he said softly [θ], and then loudly [ð].

s, d, n, t - [s], [d], [n], [t] - remember the Jumble series about English pronunciation? “You need to talk like you have a hot potato in your mouth,” is the best explanation for the baby. When you pronounce these sounds, the tongue touches the hard palate and alveoli , a little further than in Russian.
r - [r] - the English "r" is not like ours. In Russian, the tongue seems to tremble in the mouth. In English, the tongue "rolls" with its tip back towards the soft palate.
w - [y] / [v] - there is no such sound in Russian either. First, we stretch our lips, trying to say “y”, but then the lips should “spring” , as it were, , without closing and returning to a smile. Remember how you say "Wow!".
e - narrow [e] - similar to the Russian "e" without the "y". When pronunciation, open your mouth quite a bit.
ə - deaf [e] - a deaf, slightly "stifled" sound, very short and almost indistinguishable. When you say the word "m o loco", then you pronounce this sound in place of the first "o". The symbol is called funny - "seam".
ɜ - middle [e] - reads like the letter ё in the word "ice".
j - [th] - very important not to confuse with the letter Jj ("jay")! In transcription, this symbol does not mean at all what the letter means.

To make things even easier, we have drawn the main characters of the English transcription with the appropriate sounds of the Russian language.

Sources: http://englishfull.ru/deti/chteniya.html, http://www.comenglish.ru/anglijskaya-fonetika-dlya-detej/, http://allright. io/blog/2017/09 /18/anglijskie-zvuki-dlya-detej-chitaem-transkriptsiyu-pravil-no/

English phonetics for beginners ∣ Enguide.ru

You need to know the correct sound in order to learn how to speak English correctly. The study of speech sounds is phonetics, which we will talk about in this article. And we will try to make the phonetics of the English language become understandable for you and not cause problems.

Learning any foreign language begins with learning its alphabet. After that, it turns out that these letters sound and are used in words in different ways. So in English there are 26 letters, but as many as 48 sounds, which are indicated by these letters. The rules for pronunciation of sounds, letters and, accordingly, words are studied by the phonetics of the English language.

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies the sounds of speech and the sound structure of the language (syllables, sound combinations, patterns of connecting sounds in a speech chain).

Theoretical phonetics of the English language explores the close relationship between oral, internal and written speech. But phonetics as a whole explores not only the language function, but also the material side of its object: the work of the pronunciation apparatus, as well as the acoustic characteristics of sound phenomena and their perception by native speakers. This is the practical phonetics of the English language. It is not by chance that we mention the theoretical and practical components. The thing is, sounds as intangible phenomena are those elements of the language system that allow you to translate words and sentences into a material sound form. Otherwise, oral communication would be impossible. That is the importance of English phonetics and that is why we have devoted a separate article to it.

English phonetics for beginners

In one of the recent articles devoted to the rules of reading in English, we talked about how to pronounce English sounds and the syllables in which they are used, and presented them in tables with pronunciation - transcription. Then they found out that transcription is a very convenient tool for understanding how English sounds.

Transcriptions are special characters that indicate how to pronounce speech sounds. Transcription helps to understand the difference between spelling and pronunciation in English.

As we have already said, there are 48 sounds in the English language. This means that 48 signs of English transcription have been created - one sign for each sound:

Vowels. 6 letters: a, e, i, o, u, y

[i:] eat

[ei] lake

[ i ] it

[ai] like

[ e ] pen

[au] house

[æ] bad

[ɔi] boy

[ a: ] art

[ou] home

[ɔ] box

[iə] ear

[ʌ] cup

[ɛə] air

[u] cook

[uə] poor

[u:] school

[juə] Europe

[ju:] tune

[aiə] fire

[ə:] girl

[auə] hour

[ə] paper

[ɔ:] all


Consonants. 21 letters: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z

[ f ] five

[d] do

[ v ] very

[ k ] key

[θ] thick

[g] gas

[ð] this

[tʃ]chin

[s] so

[dʒ] Jim

[z] zoo

[ m ] mother

[ ʃ ] ship

[ n ] no

[ʒ] pleasure

[ŋ] long

[ h ] horse

[ l ] less

[p] park

[r] river

[ b ] book

[ j ] yellow

[ t ] tea

[ w ] white

Each letter sounds in a certain way, but sometimes two letters at once denote one sound, as can be seen in the tables. This combination of letters is called a digraph. Examples of digraphs:

  • gh [g] - ghost [gəʋst]
  • ph [f] – photo [‘foutou]
  • sh [ʃ] – shine [ʃaɪn]
  • th [ð], [θ] – think [θɪŋk]
  • ch [tʃ] - chess [tʃes].

A vowel that smoothly passes from one to another is a diphthong. Examples of diphthongs:

  • ea – bread [bred]
  • i.e. friend [friend]
  • ai – again [əˈɡen]
  • au - autumn [ˈɔːtəm].

It is important to consider that the number of letters and sounds in a word may vary. For example, the word “help” has 4 letters and 4 sounds [help], and the word “six” has three letters, but 4 sounds [sɪks].

Practical phonetics of the English language

In the article about English pronunciation training, we mentioned the inseparable connection between English phonetics and anatomy. Phonetics exercises are designed specifically to turn theoretical knowledge into the skills of correct English pronunciation of words and sentences. In addition, the practical phonetics of the English language helps to hear and understand the speech of its native speakers.

We also advise you to pay attention to English courses for beginners.

In practice, we all feel how, during the pronunciation of sounds, the air encounters barriers formed by our tongue, lips, teeth, and even alveoli. Depending on this, two types of consonants are distinguished: deaf and voiced:

Voiced consonants (the vocal cords are close and tense, and the exhaled air makes them vibrate):

Voiceless consonants (the glottis is open and the exhaled air passes silently through the larynx):

[ b ]

[v]

[g]

[d]

[ʒ]

[z]

[l]

[m]

[n]

[r]

[dʒ] - [ð]

[k]

[p]

[s]

[t]

[f]

[h]

[tʃ]

[ʃ]

[θ]

But these are not all options. A more detailed classification distinguishes consonant sounds in English according to those specific barriers that the air meets:

  • Stop consonants . The organs of speech close in such a way that they completely block the passage for air: [p, b, t, d, k, g].
  • Nasal consonants . Air passes out through the nasal cavity: [n, m, ŋ].
  • Slotted consonants . The organs of speech do not close completely and a narrow passage remains - a gap for air: [θ, ð, ʃ, ʒ, s, z, h, f, v, w, r, j, l].
  • Stop-fricative consonants . The barrier opens slowly and at the same time passes into the gap: [tʃ, dʒ].
  • Labio-labial consonants . The lower lip approaches the upper one: [f, v].
  • Interdental consonants . The tip of the tongue is between the lower and upper front teeth: [θ, ð].
  • Alveolar consonants . The tip of the tongue touches or rises to the alveoli: [t, d, l, s, z].

As for vowels, they are also not the same. They are affected by different positions of the tongue relative to the palate:

  • Front vowels. The tip of the tongue rests against the base of the lower teeth, and the back of the tongue comes quite close to the palate: [ i: ].
  • Back vowels. The tongue is pulled back and the tip of the tongue is lowered, and the back of the tongue is raised to the soft palate: [a:].

At first glance, this classification may seem difficult, but believe me, in practice you will feel and immediately understand what's what. And understanding the origin of the sound will help pronounce it correctly. Well, for children, it is desirable to combine the study of English phonetics with the game. For example, as in this phonetics exercise:

Exercises in English phonetics

To practice English pronunciation, it is also necessary to take into account stress - that is, the selection of one or more syllables in a word. The stressed syllable is pronounced more vigorously, with greater tension of the organs of speech. Stress helps to distinguish words and understand their meaning both in themselves and in context. For example:

  • to ex`port (verb “to export”)
  • ` export (noun “export”).

The second important aspect of pronunciation of phrases and sentences is intonation . Through intonation, we understand or “explain” whether a sentence is a narrative, a question, a request, or an exclamation.

The simplest exercise in English phonetics is done at the Beginner (Elementary) level:

  1. Write your name in English.
  2. Now spell your name.
  3. Do the same with three to five more names (you can think of friends, family members and/or classmates).

You can practice English phonetics like this:

  1. Spell the words: Yes, Last, Key, Yellow, Funny, Girl, Toy, Now, Sleep, Drama, Kiss, King.

    Learn more