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The rules for reading in English are extensive and complex, as there is a huge discrepancy between letters and sounds: there are 26 letters, and 44 sounds, so different letters in different positions produce different sounds, which in English are transmitted by conventions called transcription marks. In this post, to facilitate the assimilation of the rules of reading, we designate them partially in Russian letters.

4 main types of vowel reading

To begin with, let's learn 4 main types of reading vowels E, A, Y, U, O, I in stressed syllables in English

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I reading type - open syllable ( A syllable ending in a vowel is considered open, even if it is not pronounced)

Pay attention to the first line of the table. The words same, note, he, fine, my, cube, like all words of this category, end in a silent vowel, and the reading of vowels in the root of the word coincides with the name of the letters according to the alphabet. Thus, words with dumb vowels at the end, i.e. words of type 1 reading same, note, he, fine, my, cube, will sound like “seim, laptop, hee, fine, may, cube”

Let's fix the reading of vowels in the stressed syllable with the following exercise:

Note, lone, mice, rice, type, tune, shy, lay, say, he, hay, name, same, nine, nice, game, came, make, Kate, Pete, five, tie, life, eve, me, size, no, cope, smoke, rose, nose, spine, sly, cry, vine, maze, home, tube, made, fume, cube, pace, lace, sky, hale, spine.

II reading type - closed syllable (a syllable ending in a consonant is considered closed). This is the second row in the table. Pay attention to the words rat, hot, red, bit, myth, run, at the end of which there is no mute vowel. These words sound like "rat, hot, red, beat, miss, run."

Cap, pen, bed, ten, not, spot, lot, bad, rat, sit, send, test, pit, in, send, spell, tin, less, ban, mad, fat, Sam, land, did, fit, sat, pet, tin, slip, sad, glad, bag, jam, gap, lag, can, kin, Jim, Jack, yes, ink, cup, run, cod, spin, not, doll, hop, hot, bank, rank, spin, up, us, bus, bun, cut, fun, vet, well, but, nut.

III type of reading - vowel + letter “r” , which affects the sound of the vowel at the root of the word, giving it some length. So the words car, sort, term, fir, Byrd, fur sound like “ka: so: t, those: m, fe: be: d, fe:”.

stern , Far, curt, hard, hart, car, card, cart, fork, cork, work, sort, term, first, Byrd, furs, curl, her, curb, turn, girl, sir, burn, turn, word, born, torn, bird, form, serf, herb.

IVreading type - vowel + letter “r” + vowel. The letter "r" in this case is also not readable; all three vowels together sound like this: care, store, mere, tire, cure - “kea, one hundred:, mie, taie, kyue”.

Fare, here, pure, rare, cure, during, mare, fire, bare, mire, stare, tire, sere, mere, store, core, more, care.

Video lesson: Rules for reading the vowel A in English

IN video lesson: Rules for reading the vowel E in English

Video lesson: Rules for reading the vowel U in English

Video lesson: Rules for reading the vowel O in English

Video lesson: Rules for reading vowels I, Y

Consonants with two readings

*s m\z (interdental) - th - there is no such sound in Russian. This sound is deaf and resembles the Russian sound “s”, but when it is pronounced, the tongue is between the front upper and lower teeth, and through the created narrow gap forceful air flow.

** similarly we pronounce the interdental sound "z".

Video lesson: Rules for reading English consonants

Table of reading vowels in combination with consonants

For high-quality assimilation of the sound system and reading rules in English We recommend that you repeat the above reading rules daily and try to read monosyllabic words in a dictionary.

Video lesson: Rules for reading various letter combinations in English

Video lesson: Rules for reading English vowels in without shock position

See the rules for reading unpronounceable consonants

• Hint: for control correct pronunciation you can use the audio function of online dictionaries.

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 anyone is still having trouble, here's a little life hack: first, start the pronunciation with a 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.

If the letter R is after vowels, then they will be read differently than in open or closed syllable. For example, the letter combination AR will be read as a long sound [ɑː]: park - park, car - car, star - star (Fig. 2), party - party, farm - farm, arm [ɑːm] - hand.

Pay attention to the reading of the letter combination AR in these sentences:

We are at a party. - We're at a party.

His garden is dark. - His garden is dark.

The length of the sound is very great importance in English. If we drag and briefly pronounce Russian words, only the intonation will change. And in English words, their meaning depends on the brevity and longitude of the sound.

In the third type of reading, after the vowels, there is the letter R, which affects the length of the sound, i.e. all these sounds are read as long.

Compare with attention to brief sounds in the left column and long sounds in the right column:

Fix the difference in pronunciation by practicing reading these pairs of words.

All other English vowels in combination with R are read the same way: they give a long sound [əː] (Fig. 4). Rice. 4. Combination of vowels and R

Please note that there is no such sound in Russian. It is a bit like the sound in the word "honey". Practice reading words with this sound:

purple ["pɜːpl] - purple, nurse - nurse, fur - fur, her - her, bird - bird, girl - girl, first - first.

Now pay attention to reading these words in sentences:

The fur is purple. - Fur - purple (Fig. 5).

The girl has got a bird. - The girl has a bird.

Consider reading some combinations of vowels before the letter R.

If R is preceded by the letter combination AI, then together AIR will be pronounced as: air - air, hair - hair, chair [ʧeə] - chair, fair - light. His hair is fair. - His hair is blond (fig. 6).

My teddy bear is on the chair. - My teddy bear is on the chair.

Rice. 6. Blond hair ()

If the R is preceded by the letter combination EA, then together EAR will also be pronounced as: bear - bear, pear - pear. However, not all English words read EAR as . In some words, it reads like [ɪə]: ear [ɪə] - ear, near - near, hear - hear, tear - tear. The letter combination EER - [ɪə] will also be read: deer - deer (Fig. 7), engineer [ˌenʤɪ "nɪə] - engineer.

There are words in English that read the same but are spelled differently. In addition, they have different meanings. Compare:

meet - meet	meat - meat
flour ["flauə] - flour	flower ["flauə] - flower
their [ðeə] - their	there [ðeə] - there

Pay attention to these words in the sentences:

Meet me, please. - Meet me, please.

Dogs like meat. - Dogs love meat.

The flour is white. - Flour is white.

The flower is white. - Flower - white (Fig. 8).

Their teddy bear is there. - Their teddy bear is there.

When we come across such words, we need to be especially careful not to make mistakes.

We already know that the combination of letters OO is read as a short [u], as in the word - a book, or as a long one, as in the word spoon - a spoon. However, OO before R will be read as a long sound [ɔː]: floor - floor, door - door.

The ball is on the floor. - The ball is on the floor.

You already know that there are stressed and unstressed syllables in English. Vowels are read differently in them. In the stressed position, all vowels are read clearly, and in the unstressed position they turn into obscure, blurry sounds. The same thing happens when reading combinations of letters in unstressed syllables.

In a stressed syllable, the letter combination OR is read as a long [ɔː]: horse - horse, fork - fork, corn - corn. In an unstressed syllable, the letter combination OR will be read as a sound [ə]: doctor ["dɔktə] - doctor (Fig. 9), sailor ["seɪlə] - sailor, actor ["æktə] - actor. Look at these words in sentences:

Jane is a doctor. - Jane is a doctor.

Mike is a sailor. - Mike is a sailor.

Tom is an actor. - Tom is an actor.

The letter combination ER in an unstressed position will also be read as a short [ə]: teacher ["tiːʧə] - teacher, dancer ["dɑːnsə] - dancer, singer ["sɪŋə] - singer.

Look at these words in sentences:

Sue is a teacher. - Sue is a teacher.

Bob is a dancer. - Bob is a dancer.

John is a singer. - John is a singer.

Bibliography

1. Afanas'eva O.V., Mikheeva I.V. English language. Grade 2 - M: Bustard, 2014.
2. Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. Grade 2 - Title, 2008.
3. Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. etc. English language. Grade 2 - Enlightenment, 2013.

Homework

1. Learn how to read all the words from the video lesson correctly.
2. For each correctly learned reading of vowels in combination with R, find two English example words.
3. Learn the words from the video lesson and the new words you find.

1. Internet portal Freen.ru ().
2. Internet portal English100.ru ().
3. Internet portal Freen.ru ().

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 given material- exactly what you need. Today we will analyze the nuances of pronunciation 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 "mute", 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:

1. 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.
2. 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 learn 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]	from
	[z]	h (only in special positions: 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 в and у.

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]	w
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]	but	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.

Behindcovered syllable with r
Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	Examples
A	[ɑː]	aa	dark
O	[ɔː]	oo	sport
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!

Views: 435

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 a basic level of. 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. at different times of the day, 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 lexicon in 1000-2000 words,
development of skills and speed of 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 the sake of 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