How to learn correct pronunciation of English. Sounds in English and their pronunciation. Consonant sounds of English

When you study a foreign language, you learn not only a set of vocabulary and grammar, you in any case come across the culture and mentality of the people who speak this language. The best means of learning language and culture is reading in original. And to read in a foreign language, you must first learn to read this language .

You don"t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. You can just make people stop reading them.

But, if at school or university you studied German or French, or your school base turned out to be smaller than you would like, and now you have decided to learn English, then let's start with the most primary and basic and find out several methods of where to start in order to master reading rules.

English alphabet

I think you know that English is different from Russian and German, in which we mainly write and read. In English the system is a little more complicated. The very first thing we need to do is learn the alphabet.

There are 26 letters in the English alphabet, including 21 consonants and 5 vowels. Knowledge of letters and the ability to pronounce them correctly is the key to successful and competent reading in English.

English alphabet with transcription of letter names.

A very easy way to memorize letters visually and aurally is with the help of a song. Watch the video and sing the song until you remember the letters of the alphabet.

You can use the same method to teach the alphabet to your children and sing the song with your kids.

Reading rules in English

After studying the alphabet, we will begin to study the combination of letters and read short words. There are a number of rules in the English language that you need to learn, practice and remember if you want to read English words correctly.

Rules for reading English consonants

Many consonants are read similarly to Russian consonants, for example the letters m, n, l, b, f, z. You can see this in words like mom, lemon, finger, boy, zebra .

Letters like t And d sound similar, but pronounced with aspirated. For example words table, teacher, dad, dirty.

Letter c has two reading options. Before letters i,e,y it reads like [s]- city, face, cyber. And before other vowels it is read as [k]- cat, cake, factory.

Rule with vowels i,e,y also works with letters g. In front of them it reads like - gym, George, giant. Before other consonants the letter is read as [g].

Letter q always occurs in a combination of letters qu and reads like - quick, queen, square.

Letter j always reads like - jacket, jam, joy.

Table of the relationship between consonants and sounds in English.

How to read vowels in English

In English, a word can end in an open or closed syllable, which affects pronunciation. For example words cat, pot, sit end with a closed syllable and have vowels a, o, i give sounds .

Words such as name, home, five end with an open syllable, since there is a letter at the end of the word e, which is not readable. But, thanks to her, the vowels in the middle of the word are read exactly the same way as they are pronounced in the alphabet, that is, the word name read .

Types of reading English vowels in stressed syllables.

Reading vowel combinations in English

There are certain combinations of letters that have established reading rules, although English is a language of exceptions, and when reading more complex words you should consult a dictionary. The table below shows combinations of English vowels with examples how they are read and what sound they make.

Table of vowel combinations in English.

And of course, there are exceptions to all rules. However, don't worry and think that you will never be able to learn it. Everything can be understood, you just need to try and practice a little.

Diphthongs of the English language with transcription

When you study the basic rules of reading, you will see that in English there are diphthong sounds that are quite difficult to reproduce, especially if you start learning the language not in childhood, but in adulthood.

Table of English diphthongs with transcription.

Transcription of sounds in English

Practice shows that when children learn a language, they must definitely study transcription, but adults do not want to learn it and it can be difficult for them.

If you still want to learn how to write and read transcriptions, then great! And if not, then you can use online dictionaries, where the word will be pronounced for you. One of the best dictionaries today is Multitran and the online dictionary Lingvo.

Important!

Remember that you need to use dictionaries, not translators!

Here is an example of reading short words with transcription:

Table of vowel sounds in English and transcription.

Living in the Internet age has some advantages. While sitting at home, you can master various knowledge online. For your attention video lesson, which explains the basic principles of reading. However, even after gaining knowledge through an online lesson, it needs to be consolidated in order for a skill to be formed.

Learn English tongue twisters

Tongue twisters, which are often aimed at practicing one sound, can help you here. Here are some examples you can use.

Don't worry about tongue twisters! At this stage, when you are just learning to read and practicing sounds, it is important to pronounce them correctly, albeit slowly. You can always speed up.

Learn to hear English speech

After learning the basic, basic rules of reading, you can use the method of repeating after the speaker. Your auditory memory will also work and you will hear how words are pronounced correctly and what intonation is in sentences.

For this, you can use short dialogues and audio books for beginners. At this level, it would be ideal if the text is in front of your eyes, you listen, read and repeat at the same time!

You can use such a great resource as Oxford bookworm Library, which features audiobooks for all levels. You can download the library for free

For those who continue to learn English, we recommend learning the language from films, which you can read about in the article

Work on your pronunciation

Learning to read is only the first step towards learning a language. Just like learning grammar and vocabulary, learning to pronounce and hear correctly is very important if you want to understand what is being said to you and say it so that you are understood. Especially if you speak with a native speaker.

As we said a little above, one of the best ways is listen carefully to native speakers and try to copy their pronunciation and intonation .

Particular attention should be paid to sounds that do not exist in your native language. Often, people learning English have a problem with the ‘r’ sound, since in Russian it is hard, but in English it is more guttural and growling.

There are also difficulties in pronouncing the two sounds that combination of letters 'th'. Students persistently pronounce it as ‘c’ and ‘z’. Although it is worth noting that in words such as this, that, there, this sound is spoken as between ‘z’ and ‘d’. And in words like three, think, thief, it is pronounced as a sound between ‘f’ and ‘s’.

This may seem strange to you, since there are no such sounds in the Russian language, but if you listen to native speakers, you will understand that this is how they speak.

Don't worry if you can't say these words correctly the first time, it just takes a little practice. But, try to learn correctly from the very beginning, because it will be more difficult when you are forced to relearn.

Learn to pronounce phrases in English correctly

In English, words in sentences are not pronounced separately; they often merge as if into one whole, especially if it is a combination of a vowel and a consonant. Watch and practice with these transcription examples.

The same applies to phrases where one word ends with the letter ‘r’, and the next word begins with a vowel. In such cases, the sound 'r' is pronounced. Here are some examples.

“It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a brilliant impromptu speech.”

Mark Twain

Learning any language begins with correct pronunciation. If you don’t pay enough attention to pronunciation at the beginning of learning, then it will be more difficult to correct mistakes and improve your pronunciation. Although this is possible with regular practice, the right tactics and perseverance.

Due to popular demand, today we will briefly talk about exciting techniques for improving your pronunciation.

English pronunciation training includes:

1. articulation of sounds(how the speech organs should move or where the speech organs should be when pronouncing a particular sound)
2. intonation of sentences. The intonation of the English language is significantly different from Russian. There were many cases when the British were offended by the Russians only because “ours” spoke English with Russian intonation - monotonously. In English, this is akin to being rude. Speaking in one medium tone, you seem to show that you are not interested in both the subject of conversation and the interlocutor!

So, the first thing you need is know English transcription. There is no way without this. Books where it is written in Russian letters how to pronounce English words in the furnace! If you think that in English almost all letters are pronounced the same way as in Russian, then you are mistaken. Perhaps, only one English sound completely coincides with Russian [m], all the others have differences or do not have equivalents in Russian at all. By the way, the same transcription characters are read differently in British and American English. You can listen and read about them at

Secondly, you need practice pronouncing sounds, which usually cause problems.

Do you want reduce Russian accent? To do this, the speech organs need to take the following position: the lips are in a half-smile, and the tongue is raised at an angle of 45 degrees and its tip slightly touches the tubercles above the upper teeth - the alveoli.

On - you will find audio sounds in comparison, with videos and animated illustrations(picture from the site on the right).

Pay attention to the accent. Before pronouncing an unfamiliar word, look in the dictionary and ask how many accents are in the word. There are many words in English with double stress. Saying one instead of two will make you look like a foreigner. If you emphasize the wrong syllable, you may end up with a different word or you will be misunderstood.

Statistics say that 90% of two-syllable nouns in English have stress on the first syllable, and 60% of verbs consisting of 2 syllables have stress on the second syllable.

The most common mistakes

You need to know the most common mistakes so that you don’t make them yourself:

• On you will find voiced poems about the pronunciation of the most common words, which many people make mistakes.
• On – those paired words with illustrations and sound, which are so often confused by students, and as a result foreigners do not understand them.

Improve diction will help Tongue Twisters:

• you can download them from
• Look video lessons, dedicated tongue twisters on

How to improve English intonation?

Remember that The pronunciation of the speakers themselves can vary greatly depending on the country in which they live and the region.

Students learning English face many difficulties.
You can practice many of them with the help of self-study materials. You can do as many grammar exercises as you wish, you can work with audio and video to improve your listening comprehension skills; You can even chat with native English speakers in your free time to practice speaking. But they are unlikely to correct your pronunciation. Pronunciation is one of those things that only the teacher can correct - in class. Friends and acquaintances tend to ignore pronunciation errors for the sake of the natural flow of conversation.
So, what can you do on your own in your free time to improve your pronunciation? In the era of modern technology, the best solutions to any of our problems can usually be found on the Internet or mobile apps.
We would like to offer you the top 5 applications for practicing your pronunciation.

1. Sounds: The Pronunciation App

Published by Macmillan, the app is perhaps the most popular pronunciation app out there. The app offers an interactive phonemic chart for both American and British languages. The “How do you say...” option will allow you to not only hear how a word is pronounced, but also record and play back your own voice, and even the ability to purchase additional lists of words after mastering those initially included in the application. The app is available on iPhone, iPod Touch and Android devices. A free version of the application is also available, but it does not provide all options.

2. English File Pronunciation

Developed by Oxford University Press, this app also gives you the choice of American or British English. The app includes an interactive audio chart, over 200 example words, and 300 additional words for game practice. Over 130 useful daily sentences from the English File textbook and the ability to record and play your own voice. Available on Android, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices. The free demo version comes with limited features.

3. Pronunciation: Clear Speech

Pronunciation: Clear Speech was developed by Cambridge University Press and makes practicing pronunciation with a little more fun. It includes four games that you can choose from for Intermediate pronunciation practice. Available on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. For pre-intermediate students, there is a version of Basic Pronunciation: Clear Speech from the Start.

4. howjsay English Pronunciation

The online dictionary, howjsay, is available for download from Play Store and iTunes. This application includes more than 150,000 entries (the largest English pronunciation dictionary in the world), British and American spellings of words, and a “history” function that allows you to return to words you have learned previously. Requires Internet access.

5. Pronunciation King

This application is available on PlayMarket in two versions, one for British and the other for American English. This application is very easy to use and works offline.
The resources listed above will help you achieve correct pronunciation. You no longer have to spend a lot of time sitting in front of textbooks. At work, at home, on the go, you just have to choose an application and devote some of your free time to it, and you will see how your speech will change.

Phonetics is a section that studies sounds. Its main goal is to teach you how to correctly pronounce English sounds and words, and also to develop your ability to perceive the speech of native speakers. Therefore, in order to learn to speak and read English correctly, you need to know the English alphabet and learn the pronunciation of individual phonemes and the words in which they are used. English phonetics The English language is built on the Latin alphabet, has only 26 letters (instead of the usual 33), but almost twice as many sounds are superimposed on these familiar letters, namely 46 different phonemes. English sounds are very important for language learners, so you need to understand how they are used in speech and why.

As stated above, a distinctive feature of the English language is the huge number of sounds that do not correspond to the number of letters available. That is, one letter can convey several phonemes, depending on the letters that are next to each other. Based on this, it is necessary to speak very carefully and carefully. Incorrect use of a particular sound leads to misunderstandings.

For example, the word "bed" (bed) and the word "bad" (bad) They are pronounced and written almost identically, so it is quite easy to get confused about them. At this stage of learning English, many begin to transcribe pronunciation in Russian in order to facilitate the memorization process.

However, this “relief” is very misleading, as it often leads to even greater confusion between words with similar pronunciation. After all, both words “bed” and “bad” in Russian can be transcribed exclusively as "bad" without reflecting the duality of sound in any way. Therefore, it is better to learn sounds separately.

How to learn English sounds correctly?

Learning English phonetics will undoubtedly bring some clarity to the pronunciation and mastery of all phrases and words that will come your way during learning.

First of all, you should create a dictionary in which you will designate all the sounds in traditional transcription, and then, next to them, their sound version in your native language.
Special cases of pronunciation should also be indicated, indicating that this word needs to be pronounced in a special way or writing down that it is impossible to give an analogy of the Russian sound. London - London For convenience, it is better to divide phonemes into groups. For example, consonants, vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs. It is also necessary to constantly practice and perform exercises of this type:

The main city of Great Britain is London. London - ["lʌndən]- 6 letters, 6 sounds. Let's find it on the map of England. Where is it? Then, let’s check with our friend: How do you write it? How do you spell it? Now spell this name - Spell this name for us:

- London - [Landen]

This way you will practice not only the pronunciation of sounds, but also learn useful words and phrases in a foreign language.

Now let's move on directly to their writing and pronunciation.

Sounds of English

Let's get acquainted with a brief description of all sounds using this table

• Double vowels are read as one sound: moon - - [moon] or bitter - ["bitǝ] - [bite]
• Voiced consonants in English, unlike Russian, do not become voiceless: in a word good [good] the sound [d] is pronounced clearly, just like [g] in dog [dog] etc.

The meaning of correct pronunciation

As I already said, it is very important and extremely necessary to improve English pronunciation, because a large number of words in this language differ by only one or two sounds. But sometimes, even such a small difference is critically significant for correct and accurate contact with primary native speakers.