22 Jul English sounds
The art of speaking in a foreign language also consists in being able to imitate its sounds adequately. The English language has got various consonants, vowels, diphthones or triphthones that may not exist in our mother tongue.
Here is the list of all the consonants:
/b/ bee
/d/ dog
/f/fridge
/g/ green
/h/ home
/k/ cat
/j/ yacht
/l/ lemon
/m/ monkey
/n/ nose
/ŋ/ sing
/p/ pork
/r/ read
/s/snow
/t/ tiger
/θ/ three
/ð/ father
/ʃ/shoe
/ʒ/ television
/v/ visit
/x/ X-ray
/z/ zebra
/w/ window
/tʃ/ chair
/dʒ/ jam
Then, it’s necessary to notice the difference between short vowels:
/Ʌ/ but
/æ/ bat
/e/ egg
/ə/ dancer
/ɪ/ live
/ɒ/ clock
/ʊ/ book
and long vowels:
/ɑ:/ car
/ɜ:/ bird
/i:/please
/ɔ:/ bought
/u:/ you
Moreover, the English languages is characterised by diphthones:
/aɪ/ kite
/eɪ/ train
/ɔɪ/ boy
/aʊ/ house
/əʊ/ phone
/ʊə/ tour
/eə/ bear
/ɪə/ here
This is not all yet, as triphthones may appear, for example:
/aɪə/ tired
/ eɪə/ player
/ɔɪə/ loyal
/əʊə/ mower
/aʊə/ hour
Is it worth knowing the phonic notation? Definitely yes, if you want to make progress in language acquisition and communicate correctly. Thanks to the knowledge of these sounds, you will be able to use the dictionary freely and read each word correctly by ourselves.
Remember that the correct pronunciation is also dependent on individual hearing predispositions and previously learned functioning of one’s speech apparatus. This means that if our speech organ (lips, mouth, tongue) wasn’t used to certain movements, it may be harder for us to develop certain sounds. But let’s not give up, practice makes perfect. 🙂
Here you can download a PDF of the above image, which can be used as an aid in presenting different sounds.
Listen and speak, may the force will be with you 🙂
