Phonetic

Absolutely! Let's craft a vibrant and detailed English phonetics course designed specifically for elementary school children. We'll break down the core sounds, explore intonation, and get a feel for the rhythm of English. Get ready for some fun sound adventures!

English Phonics Fun: Let's Make Sounds!

Hello everyone! Welcome to our exciting journey into the world of English sounds. Knowing how to make the right sounds will help you speak clearly and understand others better. Let's get started!

1. The Basic Sounds of English (Pronunciation)

English has lots of different sounds, some are similar to French, and some are a little new! We'll learn them step by step.

A. Vowel Sounds: These are the sounds we make with our mouths quite open, and our voice box (you can feel it in your throat!) vibrates.

• Short 'a' (as in "cat"): Imagine you're at the doctor saying "Ahhh." Your mouth is a little wide.

  • Examples: cat, hat, apple, ant, bag
  • Exercise 1: Say these words out loud. Can you hear the short 'a' sound?
    • map, sad, fan, tap, jam

• Long 'a' (as in "cake"): This sound is longer, and it says its own name! Like the letter 'a'.

  • Examples: cake, name, game, train, plate
  • Exercise 2: Read these words aloud. Do you hear the long 'a' sound?
    • face, space, late, gate, make

• Short 'e' (as in "bed"): Make a small, quick sound like when you're a little surprised: "Eh?"

  • Examples: bed, red, pen, hen, leg
  • Exercise 3: Practice saying these words, focusing on the short 'e'.
    • ten, desk, yes, wet, neck

• Long 'e' (as in "tree"): This is a longer sound, like when you say the letter 'e'. Your mouth is a little wider.

  • Examples: tree, see, bee, eat, tea
  • Exercise 4: Can you hear the long 'e' sound in these words?
    • meet, feet, sleep, green, queen

• Short 'i' (as in "pig"): A quick, small sound, like a tiny giggle: "Iih!"

  • Examples: pig, big, sit, hit, lip
  • Exercise 5: Say these words and listen for the short 'i' sound.
    • fish, ship, quick, twin, miss

• Long 'i' (as in "bike"): This sound also says its name, like the letter 'i'.

  • Examples: bike, like, time, kite, five
  • Exercise 6: Read these words aloud. Can you hear the long 'i' sound?
    • nice, ride, white, line, mine

• Short 'o' (as in "dog"): Open your mouth a bit and say a short "Ooh!" sound.

  • Examples: dog, hot, box, top, pot
  • Exercise 7: Practice saying these words, focusing on the short 'o'.
    • clock, frog, sock, rock, stop

• Long 'o' (as in "go"): This sound is longer and says its name, like the letter 'o'. Your mouth makes a small 'o' shape.

  • Examples: go, no, home, nose, rope
  • Exercise 8: Can you hear the long 'o' sound in these words?
    • boat, coat, road, soap, bone

• Short 'u' (as in "bus"): A short, relaxed sound, like saying "Uh."

  • Examples: bus, sun, cup, fun, run
  • Exercise 9: Say these words and listen for the short 'u' sound.
    • duck, luck, jump, hug, tub

• Long 'u' (as in "blue"): This is a longer "Ooh" sound, like when you say the letter 'u' (sometimes it sounds like "yoo"). Your lips are rounded.

  • Examples: blue, moon, glue, fruit, juice
  • Exercise 10: Read these words aloud. Do you hear the long 'u' sound?
    • true, flew, suit, tune, cube

B. Consonant Sounds: These sounds are made by using your lips, teeth, and tongue to block the air a little bit.

• 'b' (as in "ball"): Just like in French!

  • Examples: ball, bat, book, baby, blue

• 'p' (as in "pen"): Also like in French!

  • Examples: pen, pencil, park, puppy, pink

• 't' (as in "table"): Your tongue touches the top of your mouth quickly.

  • Examples: table, toy, ten, tiger, tree

• 'd' (as in "dog"): Similar to 't', but your voice box vibrates.

  • Examples: dog, door, dad, doll, dance

• 'k' (as in "cat"): The back of your tongue touches the top of your mouth.

  • Examples: cat, kite, king, key, car

• 'g' (as in "go"): Similar to 'k', but your voice box vibrates.

  • Examples: go, game, girl, gift, green

• 'f' (as in "fish"): Your top teeth touch your bottom lip, and you blow air.

  • Examples: fish, frog, fan, flower, food

• 'v' (as in "van"): Same as 'f', but your voice box vibrates.

  • Examples: van, vase, violin, village, vest

• 's' (as in "sun"): You make a hissing sound with your tongue near your teeth.

  • Examples: sun, snake, sing, sock, star

• 'z' (as in "zoo"): Same as 's', but your voice box vibrates.

  • Examples: zoo, zebra, zero, quiz, buzz

• 'sh' (as in "ship"): Make a "shhh" sound, like telling someone to be quiet.

  • Examples: ship, shoe, shop, fish (at the end!), brush

• 'ch' (as in "chair"): A combination sound, like a 't' and 'sh' together.

  • Examples: chair, chicken, chocolate, church, child

• 'th' (as in "think"): Put your tongue gently between your teeth and blow air. (This sound doesn't exist in standard French!)

  • Examples: think, thank, three, bath, mouth

• 'th' (as in "this"): Same tongue position as "think," but your voice box vibrates. (Also not in standard French!)

  • Examples: this, that, the, these, those

• 'm' (as in "man"): Close your lips and make a humming sound.

  • Examples: man, moon, milk, mother, map

• 'n' (as in "nose"): Your tongue touches the top of your mouth, and you make a humming sound through your nose.

  • Examples: nose, net, name, nine, nice

• 'ng' (as in "sing"): The back of your tongue touches the top of your mouth, and the sound comes out your nose. (Listen to the end of "sing"!)

  • Examples: sing, song, king, ring, long

• 'l' (as in "lion"): Your tongue touches the top of your mouth behind your teeth.

  • Examples: lion, leg, lamp, look, blue (at the end!)

• 'r' (as in "red"): Your tongue curls back a little in your mouth. (The English 'r' is different from the French 'r'!)

  • Examples: red, rabbit, run, rain, tree (at the end!)

• 'w' (as in "water"): Your lips make a small 'o' shape, and you say a soft sound.

  • Examples: water, window, way, we, white

• 'y' (as in "yes"): A quick sound made with the middle of your tongue moving up.

  • Examples: yes, yellow, you, year, yummy

• 'h' (as in "hat"): Just a puff of air from your mouth.

  • Examples: hat, house, horse, happy, hello

C. Consonant Pairs (Digraphs): Sometimes two letters work together to make one new sound!

• 'sh': as in "ship" (we learned this already!)
• 'ch': as in "chair" (we learned this too!)
• 'th': as in "think" and "this" (two different sounds!)
• 'ph': often sounds like 'f', as in "phone"
• 'wh': usually sounds like 'w', as in "what"

Exercise 11: Match the word to the sound it starts with:

1. sun a) /ch/
2. chair b) /s/
3. think c) /f/
4. fish d) /th/
5. phone e) /sh/

Exercise 12: Say these words out loud and try to hear the different consonant sounds:

• big, cat, dog, fun, green, hat, jump, kite, lion, man, nose, pen, queen, red, sun, table, van, water, yes, zoo

2. The Music of Words: Intonation

Intonation is like the music in our speech. It's how our voice goes up and down when we talk. This helps people understand if we are asking a question, making a statement, or feeling excited!

A. Rising Intonation (Questions): When we ask a question that can be answered with "yes" or "no," our voice usually goes up at the end.

• Example: "Are you happy?" (Your voice goes up on "happy?")
• More Examples:
  • "Is it raining?"
  • "Do you like ice cream?"
  • "Can you swim?"

Exercise 13: Read these questions aloud, making sure your voice goes up at the end:

• Are they playing?
• Did you see the dog?
• Can she sing?

B. Falling Intonation (Statements): When we make a statement, our voice usually goes down at the end.

• Example: "I like pizza." (Your voice goes down on "pizza.")
• More Examples:
  • "The sky is blue."
  • "My name is…"
  • "I have a pet."

Exercise 14: Read these sentences aloud, making sure your voice goes down at the end:

• We are learning English.
• The book is on the table.
• He is my friend.

C. Exclamations (Excitement!): When we are excited or surprised, our voice can go up and down a lot!

• Example: "That's amazing!" (Your voice goes up on "a-ma-zing!")
• More Examples:
  • "Wow!"
  • "Fantastic!"
  • "I won!"

Exercise 15: Read these exclamations with lots of feeling!

• What a surprise!
• How wonderful!
• I can't believe it!

3. The Beat of English: Rhythm

English has a rhythm, like music has a beat. Some syllables (parts of words) are stressed, which means we say them a little louder and longer.

A. Stressed Syllables: In most English words with more than one syllable, one syllable is stronger than the others.

• Example: In the word "apple" (/ˈæp.əl/), the first part "ap" is stressed. We say it a bit louder: AP-ple.
• More Examples:
  • BA-by (/ˈbeɪ.bi/)
  • TEACH-er (/ˈtiː.tʃər/)
  • COM-pu-ter (/kəmˈpjuː.tər/)

B. Rhythm in Sentences: Just like words, sentences also have a rhythm. We usually stress the important words, like nouns (things), verbs (actions), and adjectives (describing words).

• Example: "I like big, red apples." (The words "I," "like," "big," "red," and "apples" are stressed a little more.)

Exercise 16: In these words, which syllable do you think is stressed? Say them aloud and listen!

1. pencil
2. water
3. happy
4. banana
5. computer

Exercise 17: Read these sentences aloud and try to stress the important words:

• The cat sat on the mat.
• She is reading a book.
• They are playing in the park.

Great job, everyone! You've taken your first steps into the exciting world of English phonetics. Keep practicing these sounds, listen carefully when people speak English, and you'll become amazing English speakers! Remember, making mistakes is part of learning, so don't be afraid to try!

We'll have more sound adventures soon! Keep your ears open!