Transcription and reading rules in English - two closely related concepts. Reading rules explain how letters and letter combinations are pronounced in different cases, and with the help of transcription, we record and read speech sounds.
Reading rules can confuse a beginner. There are many, they are confusing, and there are more exceptions than the rules themselves. In fact, these rules are so terrible only if you deeply understand them and try to learn by heart along with exceptions. In fact, everything is much simpler: reading rules do not need to be memorized.
Studying English, you will constantly be something, and soon you will learn to correlate letter designations and sounds without thinking, automatically. Don't worry about exceptions either. Usually, the pronunciation, spelling, and meaning of a word are remembered as one whole - you just know that such and such a word is pronounced that way.
Feature of English phonetics: we write "Manchester" - we read "Liverpool"
Phonetics of English language There is a noticeable feature: words are often read differently than they are written, that is, it is not always possible to guess from the spelling of a word how it is pronounced. As linguists joke: “We write Manchester, but we read Liverpool.”
In the history of many languages, the following pattern can be traced: the phonetic structure becomes more complicated, while the letters and spelling remain the same or change with great delay. English is no exception. At the dawn of its development, words were read and pronounced more or less similarly, but over time this discrepancy became more and more, the situation was aggravated by the variety of dialects, and now we are already in words though, thought and through read a combination of letters - ough completely different, although the words themselves differ by one letter.
No one is in a hurry to reform English spelling, there are many reasons for this. For example, the English language no longer has a single “control center”. Reforms initiated in London may be coolly received in Sydney and rejected in Washington. And in general, spelling reform is always a painful process, meeting resistance among a significant part of native speakers. Much easier to leave as is.
What is transcription and why is it needed?
Transcription in English is the recording of speech sounds using special characters. It should not be feared or avoided, because it is a very good assistant in learning the language, which will be great to save time and help avoid mistakes. One glance at the transcription of an English word is enough for you to understand how it is read correctly.
When you memorize or write out a new word that comes across in the text, you must definitely look at its transcription and / or listen to the pronunciation (for example, in), otherwise you may remember it incorrectly, and then you will not be understood.
Is it possible to write English words in Russian letters?
Sometimes on websites or even in books you can see “ English transcription in Russian” or “pronunciation of English words in Russian letters” - that is, the recording of English words in Russian letters. Like, why learn tricky badges if can convey sounds in Russian letters? Then what it is forbidden. The phonetics of the Russian language differs from English phonetics so much that the sound can only be conveyed very, very approximately. some sounds English speech we just don't, and vice versa.
Transcription and pronunciation of all sounds of the English language separately (video)
With the help of this interesting video table, you can listen to the sound of all sounds separately and see how they are recorded using transcription. Click on play and wait for the video to fully load, then click on the desired sound.
Please note that in transcription, in addition to the symbols themselves, denoting sounds, the following are used:
- Square brackets– traditionally transcription is always written in [square brackets]. For example: [z].
- Vowel length icon- in English, vowels can be long and short, longitude is indicated by a colon after the vowel. For example: .
- accent icon- if a word is transcribed, in which there is more than one syllable, stress must be indicated with an apostrophe (a comma at the top). It is placed before the stressed syllable. For example: – decision.
In total, 44 sounds are distinguished in English, which, like in Russian, are divided into consonants and vowels. Among them there are both sounds similar to Russian, for example: [b] - [b], [n] - [n], and sounds that have no analogues in Russian: [ ð ], [θ ].
AT English phonetics there are no such concepts as softness / hardness of consonants, but there is a longitude of vowels (not characteristic of the Russian language) - vowels can be short [a] and long. It should also be noted that vowel sounds in English can be:
- single (monophthongs): [ i: ], [ e ],
- consisting of two sounds (diphthogni): [ ai ], [ ɔi ],
- consisting of three sounds (triphthongs): [ aiə ].
Diphthongs and triphthongs are read and perceived as whole sounds.
Table of English sounds with examples and cards
Having studied how English sounds are pronounced separately, be sure to listen to how they are read whole words. It is often easier for students to understand and hear the pronunciation of English sounds when they sound as part of a word, and not separately.
In the tables below, all sounds are given with example words. With the help of electronic cards, you can listen to the pronunciation.
| Consonants in English | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| [ f] fox | [ d] date | [ v] vase | [ k] cat |
| [ θ ]think | [ g] go | [ ð ] father | [ tʃ] change |
| [ s] say | [ dʒ] age | [ z]zoo | [ m] mom |
| [ ʃ ] ship | [ n] nose | [ ʒ ]pleasure | [ ŋ ]sing |
| [ h]hound | [ l]lazy | [ p]pen | [ r] red |
| [ b]bro | [ j] yes | [ t]today | [ w]wine |
| Vowel sounds in English | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| [ i:] he, she | [ ei] name | [ i] his, it | [ ai]line |
| [ e]ten | [ au]town | [ æ ]hat | [ ɔi] toy |
| [ a:] car | [ ou] go home | [ ɔ ]not | [ iə]here |
| [ ʌ ]nut | [ ɛə ] dare | [ u] good | [ uə]poor |
| [ u:] food | [ juə]Europe | [ ju:] tune | [ aiə]fire |
| [ ɜ: ] turn | [ auə]our | [ ə ] paper | [ ɔ: ] all |
How to learn to pronounce English sounds?
There are two approaches:
- Theoretical- Textbooks usually have detailed description how to press the tongue against the palate to form a certain sound. With an illustration showing a cross section of a human head. The method is scientifically correct, but it is difficult to use it on your own: not everyone will understand what it means to “slide the upper teeth on the lower lip” and be able to perform this action.
- Practical- listen, watch and repeat. I think it's much easier that way. You simply repeat after the speaker, trying to imitate the sound as closely as possible. Pay attention to articulation, try to repeat all the movements of the lips and tongue. Ideally, of course, someone should control, but you can just record yourself on a webcam and watch from the side.
If you want to repeat after the speaker, imitating his speech, I recommend using the materials on Puzzle English, namely the Video Puzzle exercises, which are aimed at developing listening comprehension. In video puzzles, you can slow down speech and, as in Lingvaleo, watch the translation of words by clicking on them directly in the subtitles.
In video puzzles, you first need to watch the video, and then collect sentences from words.
Detailed overview of this service:
In addition, for practical exercises, various kind people There are many videos available on YouTube. For example, in these two videos, the sounds of English speech in American and British versions are analyzed in detail:
British pronunciation
American pronunciation
You should not, having started studying English, strive to achieve a “perfect” pronunciation. Firstly, there are a lot of varieties of pronunciation (the above are, as it were, “generalized” British and American variants), and secondly, even native speakers who speak professionally (for example, actors) often take lessons from special trainers in order to master the features of or another version of pronunciation - practicing speech is not an easy task.
Just try to speak in such a way that 1) it is clear, 2) it does not hurt your hearing too much.
Reading rules in English: table and cards
Reading rules in English are, rather, not even rules, but generalized recommendations that are not particularly accurate. Not only can, say, the letter “o” in different combinations and types of syllable be read in nine different ways, but there are also exceptions. For example, in the words food, too, it is read as, and in the words good, look - as [u]. There is no pattern here, you just need to remember it.
If you look in different books, it turns out that the rules of reading, and indeed phonetics, by different authors can be told in different ways with varying degrees of immersion in details. I think that it makes no sense to delve into the wilds of phonetic science (you can dive there indefinitely), but the easiest way is to take as a basis the most simplified version of the reading rules, that is English reading rules for children.
For this article, I took as a basis the rules given in the textbook “English. 1 - 4 classes in diagrams and tables "N. Vakulenko. Believe me, this is more than enough for both children and adults!
What is open and closed syllable?
In English, an open syllable and a closed one are distinguished, it also matters whether it ends with the letter “r” and whether it is stressed.
A syllable is called open if:
- a syllable ends in a vowel and is the last in a word,
- a vowel is followed by another vowel
- a vowel is followed by a consonant followed by one or more vowels.
The syllable is closed if:
- it is the last in the word, while ending in a consonant,
- after a vowel there are two or more consonants.
In these cards and the table below you can see how different letters are pronounced in different combinations and types of syllable.
| Reading Rules | |
| Reading the letter "A" | |
|---|---|
| A - in an open syllable | name, face, cake |
| A [æ] - in a closed syllable | hat, cat, man |
| A - in a closed syllable on r | far, car, park |
| A [εə] - at the end of the word vowel + re | dare, care, stare |
| A [ɔ:] - combinations all, au | all, wall, fall, autumn |
| Reading the letter "O" | |
| O [əu] - in an open syllable | no, go, home |
| O [ɒ] - in a closed stressed syllable | not, box, hot |
| O [ɜ:] - in some words with “wor” | world, word |
| O [ɔ:] - in a closed syllable on r | form, fork, horse, door, floor |
| O - in combination "oo" | too, food |
| O [u] - in combination “oo” | book, look, good |
| O - in combination "ow" | town, down |
| O [ɔɪ] - in combination “oy” | toy boy enjoy |
| O [ʊə] - in combination “oo” | poor |
| Reading the letter "U" | |
| U, - in an open syllable | pupil, blue, student |
| U [ʌ] - in a closed syllable | nut, bus, cup |
| U [u] - in a closed syllable | put, full |
| U [ɜ:] - in combination “ur” | turn, hurt, burn |
| Reading the letter "E" | |
| E - in an open syllable, a combination of "ee", "ea" | he, she, see, street, meat, sea |
| E [e] - in a closed syllable, combination “ea” | hen, ten, bed, head, bread |
| E [ɜ:] - in combinations “er”, “ear” | her, heard |
| E [ɪə] - in combinations “ear” | hear, near |
| Reading the letter "I" | |
| i - in an open syllable | five, line, night, light |
| i [ɪ] - in a closed syllable | his, it, pig |
| i [ɜ:] – combined with “ir” | first, girl, bird |
| i – combined with “ire” | fire, tired |
| Reading the letter "Y" | |
| Y - at the end of a word | try, my, cry |
| Y [ɪ] - at the end of a word | family, happy, lucky |
| Y [j] - at the beginning or middle of a word | yes, year, yellow |
| Reading the letter "C" | |
| C [s] - before i, e, y | pencil, bicycle |
| C [k] - except for combinations ch, tch and not before i, e, y | cat, come |
| C - in combinations ch, tch | chair, change, match, catch |
| Reading the letter "S" | |
| S [s] - except: at the end of words after ch. and voiced accord. | say, books, six |
| S [z] - at the end of words after ch. and voiced accord. | days, beds |
| S [ʃ] - combined with sh | shop, ship |
| Reading the letter "T" | |
| T [t] - except for combinations of th | ten, teacher, today |
| T [ð] - in combination th | then, mother, there |
| T [θ] - in combination th | thin, sixth, thick |
| Reading the letter "P" | |
| P [p] - except for the combination ph | pen, penalty, powder |
| P [f] - in combination ph | photo |
| Reading the letter "G" | |
| G [g] - except for combinations ng, not before e, i, y | go, big, dog |
| G - before e, i, y | age, engineer |
| G [ŋ] - in combination ng at the end of the word | sing, bring, king |
| G [ŋg] - combined ng in the middle of a word | strongest |
The most important reading rules
The table above looks very busy, intimidating even. Several of the most important rules can be distinguished from it, which have almost no exceptions.
Basic rules for reading consonants
- The combination ph reads like [f]: photo, Morpheus.
- The combination th reads like [ð] or [θ]: think there. These sounds are not in Russian, their pronunciation requires some training. Do not confuse them with the sounds [s], [z].
- The combination ng at the end of the word reads like [ŋ] - this is a nasal (that is, pronounced as if in the nose) version of the sound [n]. A common mistake is to read it as . There is no “g” in this sound. Examples: strong, King Kong, wrong.
- The sh combination reads like [ʃ]: ship, show, shop.
- The letter “c” before i, e, y reads like [s]: celebrity, cent, pencil.
- The letter “g” before i, e, y reads: age, magic, gym.
- The combination ch reads like: match, catch.
Basic rules for reading vowels
- In an open stressed syllable, vowels are usually read as in: no, go, name, face, pupil, he, five. It can be monophthongs and diphthongs.
- In a closed syllable, vowels are read as short monophthongs: nut, got, ten.
How to remember the rules of reading?
Most people who are fluent in English as a foreign language will not be able to immediately name even a few basic reading rules. Rules readings do not need to be memorized, they need to be able to use. But how can you use what you do not know? How else can you! Through frequent practice, knowledge turns into skills and actions begin to be performed automatically, unconsciously.
In order for the reading rules to quickly reach the automatic stage, I recommend:
- To study the rules themselves - read, comprehend, speak out loud the examples.
- Practice reading aloud - will help develop pronunciation skills, at the same time, the rules of reading will be fixed. Take text with audio, video with subtitles, so that you have something to compare.
- Perform small written works- writing practice is useful for developing vocabulary, consolidating knowledge of grammar and, of course, for improving spelling.
Friends! Now I am not doing tutoring, but if you need a teacher, I recommend this wonderful site - there are native (and non-native) teachers there 👅 for all occasions and for every pocket 🙂 I myself have gone through more than 50 lessons with teachers that I found there !
Having studied the Russian alphabet, we can easily read any texts. But for correct reading in English, you will have to make more efforts, because there are many discrepancies between the spelling and pronunciation of words. If you decide to learn this language on your own and cannot understand how to read words in English correctly, then this material is exactly what you need. Today we will analyze the nuances of the pronunciation of English letters and letter combinations, and find out how easy it is to learn to read English from scratch. And it will help to learn the rules of reading English for beginners with a table that shows all the letters and their sound.
First, let's get acquainted with the most important law of reading in English - the rule of open and closed syllables. There is no similar norm in Russian, so let's analyze in detail what it is. Pay attention to transcription.
An open syllable is a syllable that ends in a vowel. As a rule, it occurs in the following cases:
- The word ends in a vowel, so the last syllable is always open: t ake[take].*
- A vowel is followed by a consonant followed by a vowel again: ed uca tion [education].
- Two vowels side by side in a word: cr ue l [cruel].
*Ultimate e in most cases it is considered "dumb", that is, it is not pronounced, but appears at the base of the word precisely for the formation of an open syllable.
In open syllables, the vowel is always pronounced smoothly and extended. Accordingly, closed syllables are all those syllables in which the vowel sound is closed by a consonant and therefore sounds short and abrupt: c ut[cat].
In addition, special reading rules in English are characteristic of syllables in which the vowel sound is closed by the letter r. The fact is that in the British version of the pronunciation of such syllables, the letter r is often completely skipped, i.e. not pronounced. Therefore, there are two options for reading such letter combinations:
- In an open syllable, when r is surrounded by vowels, only both vowels are read: c are[keea]. In such cases, the last e won't be dumb.
- In a closed syllable ( voice + r + acc.), r is also not readable, but affects the sound of the vowel sound, making it more drawn out: start [staat]
The rule of open and closed syllables is the basic law of reading in English, although there are many exceptions to it. But it is too early to learn exceptions without knowing the main rules. Therefore, now we will consider the sound options for all letters and letter combinations.
Rules for reading English for beginners - a table of correspondence of letters and sounds
Even if you started learning English and reading it from scratch, you probably already know the spelling and sound of all the letters of the English alphabet. But, as we already learned from the previous section, when reading, the pronunciation of letters depends on the type of syllable or letter combination. Therefore, in the tables below you can find several variants of the sound of the same letter at once. But do not be alarmed, for each case an accessible explanation will be given. So, let's continue to study English for beginners and learn the rules of reading in English.
Consonants
Let's start with the easiest: with a table of consonants, the pronunciation of which is similar to the Russian sound.
| Letter | Transcription | Russian pronunciation |
| B | [b] | b |
| D | [d] | d* |
| F | [f] | f |
| K | [k] | to |
| L | [l] | l |
| M | [m] | m |
| N | [n] | n |
| P | [p] | P |
| R | [r] | R |
| S | [s] | With |
| [z] | h (only in special provisions: after voiced consonants, between two vowels and in the -ism suffix.) | |
| T | [t] | t* |
| V | [v] | in |
| W | [w] | in** |
| Z | [z] | h |
*English d and t are more aspirated than their Russian counterparts.
**w is pronounced with lips extended into a tube, resulting in something between the Russian sounds v and u.
Now let's deal with more complex letters.
| Letter | Transcription | Pronunciation and explanation |
| C | [s] | c (before vowels i, e, y) |
| [k] | to (in other cases) | |
| G | j (before vowels i, e, y) | |
| [g] | g (in other cases) | |
| H | [h] | Very weakly pronounced Russian X (almost just a strong exhalation) |
| Q | sq. | |
| X | ks (before a consonant or at the end of a word) | |
| z (between two vowels) | ||
| [z] | h (at the beginning of a word before a vowel) |
And also we will study the letter combinations of consonants in English.
| Combination | Transcription | Pronunciation |
| ck | [k] | to |
| ch | h | |
| tch | ||
| ng | [ŋ] | nasal n |
| ph | [f] | f |
| sh | [ʃ] | sh |
| th | [θ] | 1) middle sound between s and f (tongue between teeth) 2) the sound is average between h and v (tongue between teeth) |
| wr | [r] | R |
| wh | [w] | at / in x (only before o) |
| qu | sq. |
In addition, it is worth considering that the consonants at the very end of the word, the English language never allows you to stun. Otherwise, you may say something completely different from what you wanted to say. For example: back [back] - behind, behind; bag [bag] - bag, bag.
Vowels
It is much more difficult to cope with reading English vowels, but the already familiar rules of open and closed syllables will help us figure it out. We take them into service and learn how to read the vowels of the English language correctly.
| Closed syllable | |||
| Letter | Transcription | Pronunciation | Examples |
| A | [æ] | uh | bat, track, sad |
| E | [e] | uh | pet, red, check |
| I | [ɪ] | and | pit, fill, tin, system, myth, lynx |
| Y | |||
| O | [ɒ] | about | spot, not, cross |
| U | [ʌ] | a | spun, truck, butter |
Do not forget that in a closed syllable all letters are pronounced briefly.
| open syllable | |||
| Letter | Transcription | Pronunciation | Examples |
| A | hey | game, flame, lake | |
| E | and | he, be, Pete | |
| I | ah | mine, like, nine, cry, bye, type | |
| Y | |||
| O | [əʊ] | OU | bone, tone, rose |
| U | Yu | pupil, music, cube | |
And the vowels of an open syllable are always smooth and drawn out.
| Open syllable with r | |||
| Letter | Transcription | Pronunciation | Examples |
| A | ea | square | |
| E | [ɪə] | ie | here |
| I | aye | tired | |
| Y | |||
| O | [ɔː] | oo | more |
| U | yue | cure | |
Remember that the letter r after a vowel, as a rule, is not pronounced.
| Percovered syllable with r | |||
| Letter | Transcription | Pronunciation | Examples |
| A | [ɑː] | aa | dark |
| O | [ɔː] | oo | sports |
| E | [ɜː] | yo | pert, bird, myrtle, burn |
| I | |||
| Y | |||
| U | |||
Now we know how to read vowels in English words. But for perfect reading in English, one more point needs to be studied.
Diphthongs and triphthongs in English
An important aspect of English for beginners is diphthongs and triphthongs, i.e. combinations of two or three letters that have a special sound. Their pronunciation is called sliding, because. first, the main sound is pronounced intensely, and then it is smoothly translated into a secondary sound. Diphthongs are a kind of exception and do not obey the general grammatical laws, so they can only be learned by heart. The table below will help us learn the rules for reading English diphthongs for beginners.
| English diphthongs | ||
| Combinations | Transcription | Pronunciation |
| air, ear, are | uh* | |
| ye, igh, uy, ie | ah | |
| ea, ey, ai, ei, ei | hey | |
| ere, eer, ier, ear | [ɪə] | ie |
| oy, oi | [ɔɪ] | oh |
| ou, ow | aow | |
| ou, ow, oa, ol | [əu] | ooh |
| ure, ue, our, oor | uue | |
| English triphthongs | ||
| ower, our | aue | |
| eur, ure | yuyue | |
| iet, ire, ier, iar, yre | aaye | |
* doubling the letter indicates the length of the first sound, in relation to the second.
So, we have considered the main nuances of reading in English. Take the rules set out responsibly: conduct reading lessons more often and be sure to learn to distinguish between types of syllables in English. Otherwise, you will make gross mistakes in pronunciation, which will lead to a complete misunderstanding by the interlocutor of your words. Good luck in learning English and see you soon!
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How is the pronunciation of R now? I’m used to it being extremely rare, and children at school are taught to pronounce it clearly, plus my wife claims that it’s audible in films, and we regularly argue on this topic ... write, if it doesn’t make it difficult, how is it right? kormikblog
Slightly bend the tongue towards the palate. The very tip of the tongue. Of course, it would be more convenient to explain it live. Imagine that you are at the doctor's office. He asks to say "Aaaa", but instead of sticking your tongue to your larynx, you are his. on the contrary, lift. It turns out a soft burry sound. (c) Goldilocks
when pronouncing the sound R, the tip of the tongue is raised to the tubercles behind the upper teeth. the tongue must be immobile. you can pinch your cheeks with your fingers and pronounce the Russian sound "r" until then, trying not to vibrate your tongue.
there are three shades of sounding R
1. British pronunciation before a consonant,
1. British pronunciation before a vowel
3. American pronunciation of R in any position
1. British pronunciation before a consonant - R does not sound at all. Where do you live?
1. British pronunciation before a vowel - R generally always sounds. Where r are you?
3. The American pronunciation of R in any of its positions - R generally always sounds, but louder
for blog newbies: here's how I learned 3 languages myself to Advanced, 1 Intermediate,
and about 7 more - the base level. and I have been teaching others according to this scheme for 11 years.
1st STAGE. we master the basics of READING-PROnunciation and 100-200 of the most important words.
let it be for the time being passive knowledge, that is, we will understand the word,
when we see him foreign language, but we hardly remember him,
when you need to translate from Russian into English.
1st march. reading and pronunciation.
In order for words to be remembered, we must know how they are read. if we are not sure of our knowledge,
then we look in the dictionary for its reading in the form of transcription icons.
2nd march. memorization of the first words.
words are the building material, the building blocks of language.
and to lay them in orderly rows, you need to make an effort.
2nd STAGE. we master 80% of the RULES WE NEED according to which words are assembled into sentences,
and 600-800 MOST USEFUL words. the average person to solve almost all his tasks
knowledge of grammar rules at a level slightly above average and 1000-2000 words is enough.
in English it's between Intermediate levels and Upper-Intermediate.
at this stage we master to the level between Intermediate. this is a key step
if we pass it, then everything will go like clockwork.
3rd march. all our attention and efforts are on grammar. she is the backbone, the foundation,
supporting structure on which words and phrases will be hung. all necessary
words and expressions - we will learn at the 3rd stage. 600-800 words are enough for now.
4th march. network structure of grammar rules and word meanings.
language was created and tested thousands of years ago. everything weak - brushed aside,
everything strong became part of the system.
5th march. much to write and little to say at this stage of study,
if we want talk a lot and write a little at the next stage.
6th march. time of day to study. in different time days our brain perceives
and processes information differently.
choose the sirloin best parts of the day for study.
7th march. what and how to choose - a tutor, courses or a textbook.
at the very beginning, you can try all three methods,
to gain experience and be able to compare. but stop at one.
3rd STAGE. now our task is capable vocabulary in 1000-2000 words,
developing skills and speed oral speech, catching the language by ear.
we will learn only a few new grammar rules.
8th march. we weave verbal networks, in the nodes of which there will be
specific situations. around these nodes we will collect words.
9th march. we speak and hear.
this is our ultimate goal, for this we learned a foreign language.
10th march. create and maintain an emotional background
for more efficient learning.
all this is divided into 48 steps and painted in detail in my post
Several vowels and - sound |r|. It is he who makes the accent so recognizable, and this is even played up in parodies:
In fact, learning to pronounce the sound |r| not so difficult. The main thing is to accustom yourself to correctly articulate the sound in fluent speech. The only way out is a lot of practice. So our plan of action: first, we will analyze step by step how to pronounce the sound |r| correctly, and then we will practice on words and tongue twisters.
Step-by-step guide: how to pronounce the English sound |r|
If someone still has difficulties, then here is a little life hack: first, start pronunciation with long sound|zhzhzh| or |ZZZ| and then, without interrupting it, move the tip of the tongue back to the posterior slope of the alveoli, making the passage for air wider than for |g|. Don't let your tongue vibrate. Voila!
Workout: pronunciation of the English letter r
Now let's practice and say a few dozen words with this sound:
raisin /ˈreɪ.zən/
rabbit /ˈræb.ɪt/
ribbon /ˈrɪb.ən/
radio /ˈreɪ.di.əʊ/
rocket /ˈrɒk.ɪt/
ranch /rɑːntʃ/
recess /rɪˈses/
carrot /ˈkær.ət/
zero /ˈzɪə.rəʊ/
Super! Let's complicate the task with tongue twisters.
Tongue twisters: pronunciation of sound |r| in English
- Robert Rowley rolled a round roll around, a round roll Robert Rowley rolled around. If Robert Rowley rolled a round roll around, where is the round roll Robert Rowley rolled around?
- Rose Reed replants red roses, And the red roses ramp around a rail. If Rose Reed didn't replant the red roses, would the red roses ramp around the rail?
- Strawberries, raspberries and red-currents with real cream are really very refreshing.
- A right-handed fellow named Wright in writing “write” always wrote “right” where he meant to write right. If he’d written “write” right, Wright would not have wrought rot writing “rite”.
By tradition, we will complete the article with a musical example. I settled on the song “Run Run Run” by Junge Junge, where the sound we want is repeated throughout the first verse.
Stay with us
Well, we have 12 sounds. Let's focus on sounds next time | n | and | ŋ | . In the meantime, watch the video from our youtube channel, from which you will learn a useful exercise for good pronunciation.
