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Pronunciation

Sounds in English

Let's play with sounds and words!

Below are a series of quotes about family and character. The highlighted syllables rhyme with the words 1 to 6 in the chart below. Decide which group the words go in, and write the number in the box, as in the example.

1. / ʌ /   come

4. / ɪ /   sibling

2. / aɪ /  bright

5. / i: /  please

3. / ə /  grandmother

6. /əʊ /  go

1. "Happiness is having a large, loving 1 , caring, close-knit family in another city". George Burns

2. "There are no adequate substitutes for father, mother  and children bound together in a loving commitment to nurture  and protect. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, can take the place of the family in the scheme of things." Jerry Ford

3. "The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” George Santayana

4. "Let's nurture the nature so that we can have a better future " Anonymous.

5. "We seek success in Finland,

are born and die in Maine. 

In minor ways we differ,

in major we're the same."  

A fragment of Human Family by Maya Angelou. (Right to quote) You can listen to the poet reciting it here.

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Learning Strategy: How to improve pronunciation

One of the greatest challenges for most English learners is improving one’s pronunciation skills. For Spanish speakers, one of the difficulties lies in the fact that the number of sounds in both languages differ, which means there are many sounds that do not even exist in Spanish. Another problem is spelling and pronunciation: words with different meanings, but pronounced the same (homophones), silent letters, as in debt, weak syllables, as in strawberry, and the apparent irregularity of English spelling. An interesting example is the classic poem The Chaos, written by Gerald Nolst Trenité, which contains about 800 of the worst irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation. 

Luckily, nowadays it is easier than ever to learn how words are pronounced by instantly listening to the words pronounced on online dictionaries or apps. But there are still specific actions and habits that may be helpful to make it easier.

A sound bank

A few pages on your notebook or device to group words according to their pronunciation might be particularly helpful with individual sounds. When you come across a new word which has an unexpected pronunciation, write it down with other words that contain the same sound. It can be useful also when there is a word you always seem to be getting wrong.

Becoming familiar with the IPA (International Phonetic System)

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is an essential tool for language learners: it makes it easier to work on the pronunciation of words, group them, talk about them, track differences and similarities. etc. Being aware of the representation of phonemes will enable you to pronounce any word at all by simply looking it up in the dictionary. The interactive phonetic chart below may be of some help to get started: