English sounds and letters. How to learn English letters and sounds?

Today it is impossible to imagine a world without English. All intercultural communications are carried out today precisely in this language of the Romano-Germanic group, so a modern educated person must necessarily own it. But where to start studying? The answer is obvious - from the familiarity with the letters and sounds of the English alphabet.

General information about the English alphabet

First of all, it is necessary to define the term "alphabet". The alphabet is a stable system of graphic signs, through which you can transmit sounds and human speech. Such a system of symbols is one of the ways of encoding information into a form of written speech. At the heart of the English alphabet lies now the "dead" Latin language, the progenitor of all adverbs of the Roman-German family. In English there are 26 letters. They completely repeat the composition of the Latin language, only in a different way they are called and designate slightly different sounds. Of these, respectively, are 6 vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y) and 20 consonants (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q , R, s, t, v, w, x, z).

English letters and sounds

So, before learning the grammatical and syntactic features of one of the most popular languages of the world, it is necessary to learn English letters and sounds. A table with detailed information should always be at hand.

It is important to note that the letters in the tables are in the correct and the only correct order, on the basis of which dictionaries, pointers, etc. are compiled. It is necessary to memorize English sounds and letters in this order. An interesting fact: according to researchers, the most common letter in the composition of words is Ee. The antipode of this symbol, that is, the rarest letter is Qq. Everyone knows the symbol & is not part of the modern English alphabet, but it was not always so. Once upon a time, the ampersand was a full-fledged letter.

Vowels

English vowels and sounds are only a quarter of the alphabet. Vowels are only 6. The most common of these is E. O and U, on the contrary, they are not used very often.

A very effective way to learn and memorize vowels is to prepare cards at the first stage of learning English. They need to write simple words that start with these letters, and also pick up the appropriate pictures. For example, the letter A starts with the word apple (apple), E - egg, I - icon, O - opera, U - uniform, Y - yard ). This method of studying vowels will not only allow you to memorize the characters themselves and their number in a foreign alphabet, but also to see how they are used in words.

Consonants

English consonant letters and sounds are, in fact, the basis of the language and its alphabet. Consonant letters 20. The most common letters of the English language - Cc, Hh, Tt. Their antipodes are Vv, Xx, Zz.

How to study consonant English letters and sounds? The cards will again help in this case. So, the simplest word for the letter B is book, C-chicken, D-dog, F-fox, G-golf, H-hat, J - jam, j-knife, L-lemon, M-mask, N-nut, P-pen, Q-queue, R- Rain, S - sweet, T - table, V - vase, W - worm, X - xerox, X - zebra.

Features of the pronunciation of vowel letters

The pronunciation of vowels depends on many factors. First, it affects the place of the letter in the word. Secondly, neighboring vowels and consonant letters. Third, there is a vowel in an open or closed syllable. There is a universal way to correctly pronounce English letters and sounds. Transcription - that's what you need to address when there are doubts about how to read or pronounce a particular word.

So, in an open syllable, the vowel letters should be pronounced as they are called in the alphabet ([ei], [i:], [ai], [ou], [u:], [wai]). For example, open syllables are part of words such as: to bake, a stone, a tube, type, gene, etc.

In some words, two identical vowel letters can go. They are read in a special way. For example, the combination of oo is usually read as [u:] (book, zoo, look, moon, etc.). From this rule there are exceptions: these are two words - blood (blood) and flood (flood) - in the given nouns the combination of oo is pronounced as [a:]; In the words floor and door, this letter combination is read [ↄ:].

It is worth noting that the letter e at the end of the words is not readable. In the middle of a word in combination ee, this letter is pronounced as [e:] (beer, meeting, to seem, to see).

Features of the pronunciation of consonants

Consonant English sounds and letters in most cases are pronounced in the same way as they sound in the alphabet. However, there are combinations of letters that need to be pronounced especially. So, one of the most common letters is th. It gives a sound [Ɵ] and occurs in words such as thing, oath, to think, through, etc. To correctly pronounce the given sound, it is necessary to place the tip of the tongue between the front teeth And try to say the sound "c".

Another common combination of English consonant letters is gh. If it is located at the end of the word, it most often gives the sound [f] (to laugh - laugh, thigh - thigh, to cough - cough, etc.). Another variant of the pronunciation of this letter combination is not to read it at all. In such words as taught (the second form of the verb teach - teach), tight, light (light, light), etc.

The English letter Cc also has some peculiarities of pronunciation. In this case, everything depends on the neighboring vowels and consonant letters. So, before vowels, such as e, i, y, the letter Cc is read as [s] (process - process, price - price, circus - circus). In all other cases, the letter Cc is pronounced as [k].

Another common lettering is ch. It gives the Russian sound [h] in all words, except borrowed. In them it is read as Russian [x].

The first method of studying English letters and sounds: reading the rumor

"How to learn English letters and sounds?" - this is the question most often asked by beginners to learn this foreign language. There are many techniques, both modern, using technical innovations and the Internet, and time-tested effective methods.

So, consider the first of them. This is reading aloud the simplest words at the initial stage of learning, and in the future more complex lexical units and whole texts. Reading aloud helps memorize letters and corresponding sounds, and also helps to set the necessary intonation. Do not forget how in the initial stages you need to pronounce English letters and sounds. Transcription - this is what you should always refer to. Transcription is in each dictionary, including how to show how to pronounce letters. That is, it is given not only to words, but also to the alphabet at the beginning of the dictionary.

The second method of studying English letters and sounds: their writing

The best way to memorize the letters of a foreign alphabet is to train in writing them. So, if an English lesson is held in a school for teenagers or at home for preschoolers, the teacher can give his pupils a task that will help quickly and interestingly learn English letters and sounds.

Cards - that's what a child should do. Let on each card there will be a letter of the English alphabet, and also the elementary word which begins with the given letter is written. It is recommended to draw the corresponding object to visualize the word and its capital letter. Such a method is especially effective for children of primary school age and preschool age, because, firstly, they will not be bored in the class, and secondly, the association with the picture will make it easy to remember not only a single letter, but the whole word as a whole. It is from the preparation of cards you can begin the lesson "Learn English letters and sounds."

The third method of studying English letters and sounds: listening

Listening is no less effective way to memorize simple words, their compatibility in the sentence, as well as English letters and sounds. Table with the alphabet and transcription should always be at hand. Listening to audiotapes in the foreign language being studied will allow you to adapt quickly to English speech, adapt to the intonation and tempo of the speaker's speech, and also strive to understand each word separately, and not just the meaning of the statement as a whole. When performing tasks on listening or watching a movie, video recording or listening to an English track, you need to pay attention to each sound separately, to the accents placed in words and sentences. The standard task of listening is to listen to the text and select the statements that correspond to it. The teacher can also ask his students to briefly recount the contents of the monologue or dialogue they heard and answer the questions asked.

The fourth method of studying English letters and sounds: communication with a native speaker

English sounds and letters, words, construction of sentences and grammar can be studied both in theory and in practice. The best way to quickly learn to speak a foreign language and understand your interlocutor is to immerse yourself directly on Wednesday, that is, communication with an Englishman, an American or any other person who speaks the language from birth. It will allow you to develop the skill of spontaneous monologic speech (without preparation), that is, correctly apply grammatical rules and constructs when constructing sentences. This ability makes it possible to communicate with foreigners "on an equal footing", to build a constructive dialogue and to be an interesting and educated interlocutor who can competently build his speech and confidently express his thoughts.

Equally important aspect of language learning is speaking with competent intonation. Communication with a native English speaker will help to smooth out the Russian accent and put pronunciation. It is necessary to constantly practice this, because Russian pronunciation very much cuts the ears of foreigners and prevents dialogue.

So, the mentioned methods are basic when learning foreign languages. But you do not need, for example, only read, just listen to the recordings or learn English sounds and letters. To achieve a quick result, you need to combine different exercises and work on a program that the instructor will advise. Only in this case it will be possible to master English in perfection, but it is necessary to be engaged every day even for an hour.