Correct sounds of English. English letters and sounds. Small Tips on How to Memorize Sounds Quickly and Efficiently

The English (British) pronunciation system has 44 sounds, which are divided into 24 consonants and 20 vowels, including 8 diphthongs. The following table lists individual English sounds and their corresponding English transcription marks, as well as examples of words in which they are pronounced.

Table of English sounds:

Consonants
[ f ] five	[ d ] do	[ v ] very	[ k ] key
[ θ ] thick	[ g ] gas	[ ð ] this	[ tʃ ] chin
[ s ] so	[ dʒ ] Jim	[ z ] zoo	[ m ] mother
[ ʃ ] ship	[ n ] no	[ ʒ ] pleasure	[ ŋ ] long
[ h ] horse	[ l ] less	[ p ] park	[ r ] river
[ b ] book	[ j ] yellow	[ t ] tea	[ w ] white
Vowel monophthongs
[ i: ] eat	[ ə ] paper	[ i ] it	[ ʌ ] cup
[ e ] pen	[ ʊ ] cook	[ æ ] bad	[ u: ] school
[ a: ] art	[ ɜ: ] girl	[ ɒ ] box	[ ɔ: ] all
Vowel diphthongs
[ ai ] like	[ eə ] air	[ aʊ ] house	[ ʊə ] poor
[ ɔi ] boy	[ əʊ ] home	[ ei ] lake	[ iə ] ear

Classification of English sounds

In accordance with the mechanics of education, English sounds are primarily divided into vowels And consonants phonemes. The pronunciation of vowels is associated with active vibration of the vocal cords and the free passage of exhaled air through all organs of speech. Consonants, on the contrary, are formed by overcoming various barriers, cracks and passages formed by the muscles of the vocal apparatus when the air stream exits.

Consider in more detail the classification of sounds in English on certain signs of articulation (the position of the organs of speech when pronouncing sounds) and their comparison with Russian sounds.

English consonants

When pronouncing consonant sounds, the air on its way encounters various obstacles formed by the active organs of speech: tongue, lips, teeth and alveoli.

If the organs of speech close in such a way that they completely block the passage for air, then we pronounce stop consonant. These consonants are also called explosive, since a small explosion is heard when the organs of speech are opened.

[ p ] , [ b ] , [ t ] , [ d ] , [ k ] , [ g ]
stop plosive English sounds

[ P ], [ b ], [ T ], [ d ], [ To ], [ G ]
occlusive explosive Russian sounds

If air passes out through the nasal cavity, then such occlusive sounds are called nasal.

[ n ] , [ m ] , [ ŋ ]
nasal occlusive English sounds

[ n ], [ m ]
nasal occlusive Russian sounds

If the organs of speech do not close completely, but leave a narrow passage - a gap for air, then we pronounce slotted consonant.

[ θ ] , [ ð ] , [ ʃ ] , [ ʒ ] , [ s ] , [ z ] , [ h ] , [ f ] , [ v ] , [ w ] , [ r ] , [ j ] , [ l ]
slotted english sounds

[ With ], [ h ], [ f ], [ V ], [ sh ], [ sch ], [ and ], [ l ]
slotted russian sounds

Among the consonants are occlusive-slotted sounds. They are called so because the opening of the barrier in them is slow; the complete obstruction goes into the gap.

[ tʃ ] , [ dʒ ]
occlusive-slit english sounds

[ c ], [ h ]
occlusive-slit Russian sounds

An obstruction to the path of exhaled air can be formed by various organs of speech. If the lower lip approaches the upper, then there are labial consonants.

[ p ] , [ b ] , [ m ] , [ w ]
labial english sounds

[ P ], [ b ], [ m ]
lip-labial Russian sounds

If the lower lip touches the upper teeth, then such consonants are called labiodental.

[ f ] , [ v ]
labio-dental English sounds

[ f ], [ V ]
lip-tooth Russian sounds

If the tip of the tongue is between the lower and upper front teeth, then it is pronounced interdental consonant. There are no such sounds in Russian.

[ θ ] , [ ð ]
interdental English sounds

Russian consonants [ T ], [ d ], [ n ], [ l ] - dental, as the end of the tongue rises to inner surface upper teeth. English consonants [ t ] , [ d ] , [ n ] , [ l ] , [ ŋ ] - alveolar, as the tip of the tongue touches or rises to the alveoli.

[ k ] , [ p ] , [ s ] , [ t ] , [ f ] , [ h ] , [ tʃ ] , [ ʃ ] , [ θ ]
voiceless consonants in English

[ To ], [ P ], [ With ], [ T ], [ f ], [ X ], [ h ], [ sh ], [ sch ]
voiceless consonants of the Russian language

[ b ] , [ v ] , [ g ] , [ d ] , [ z ] , [ l ] , [ m ] , [ n ] , [ r ] , [ ʒ ] , [ dʒ ] , [ ð ]
voiced consonants in English

[ b ], [ V ], [ G ], [ d ], [ and ], [ h ], [ l ], [ m ], [ n ], [ R ], [ c ]
voiced consonants of the Russian language

English vowel sounds

To classify English vowels, the various positions of the tongue relative to the hard palate are considered, as well as which part of the tongue is involved in articulation and how high the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate.

Distinguish front vowels, when the tip of the tongue rests against the base of the lower teeth, and the back of the tongue comes quite close to the hard palate: the English vowel [ i:] and Russian [ And ].

If the tongue is pulled back and the tip of the tongue is lowered and the back of the tongue is raised to the soft palate, we pronounce back vowel sounds: English sound [ a:] and Russian sounds [ O ], [ at ].

According to the position of the lips rounded And undestroyed vowel sounds. For example, when pronouncing the Russian sound [ at] lips rounded and pushed forward: [ at] is a rounded vowel. When pronouncing [ And] lips slightly stretched, but not pushed forward: sound [ And] is an unrounded vowel.

The quality of a vowel depends on the tension of the muscles of the organs of speech: the more intense the articulation, the more distinct and brighter the sound. Accordingly, vowels are distinguished tense And relaxed. For example, the English vowel [ i:] is pronounced with more tension than [ i ] .

Pronunciation of English sounds

Referring to the contents of our guide to English phonetics, for each of the English sounds you will find detailed description features of its pronunciation and articulation, ways of writing and sound examples, as well as comparisons with other sounds and their Russian counterparts.

It seemed like an impenetrable jungle with 26 dangerous predators hiding in the wilds. However, now you will probably easily name and arrange all the letters in the correct order, and even flash a few facts that are far from known to every philologist.

After reading this article, the topic of English transcription and pronunciation will be transferred from the room of fear to the room of laughter. Today's program:

Getting rid of the fear of reading and the study of graphic symbols
. acquaintance, memorization and memorization of diphthongs, vowels and consonants (classification of sounds), arranged in unique tables
. pause for downloading and printing English transcriptions in pictures
. a clear and concise explanation of the use of English sounds by comparing them with Russian relatives
. consolidation of the material covered with a 10-minute video about English transcription

Are you still afraid? Then we are coming to you!

Graphic symbols of transcription in English

Before you plunge into the pool of English reading with your head, we strongly recommend that you heed the advice of experienced divers. Naturally, the child learns to sit first, and then to walk, and not vice versa - the same thing will happen to us: first learn to read the transcription, and then pronounce it (in the head or out loud). You should not get carried away only by reading, otherwise you risk digging into the jungle of theory and breaking away from practice.

First you need to learn and clarify all the questions regarding each transcription symbol. Then listen online as many examples as needed for a clear and precise idea of ​​how this symbol sounds in live speech. Learn strictly from examples of sounds not taken out of context (like Rian's "uh-uh" in the hit "Umbrella"), but in a specific combination of letters found in words. Then, first listen to each new word and only then check what you catch with your ears with the alphabetic dictionary transcription enclosed in square brackets. By the way, about them and other essential companions of transcription:

Square brackets. They signal that inside is exactly transcription.
For example, English is a word, and ["ɪŋglɪʃ] is its transcription;

‘ - main emphasis. Placed BEFORE the stressed vowel: around [əˈraʊnd];

, - secondary accent. Placed BEFORE the vowel: ["hæmˌbɜːgə];

: - vowel length.

The proposed option will seem at first glance not the fastest, but the wise one will not go uphill - the wise one will bypass the mountain. As a result, the time spent is converted into the comfort of speech perception: you no longer need to painfully strain your ears, trying to recognize unfamiliar sounds. And soon unfamiliar "squiggles" will acquire a meaningful sound. Isn't it magical? This is the secret of not only the correct pronunciation, but also the ease of listening to speech.

Foundation of English transcription

Since “it’s great that we are all here today” about the study of transcription, let's get to know it better. There are two types of transcription: phonetic and phonemic. You are mistaken if you think that you have taught/will learn phonetic transcription to a more familiar ear. She, as a rule, is of interest to serious uncles and aunts of linguists, our choice is the study of phonemes (sound language units). Simply put, if two sounds are very similar, but the difference between them can change the meaning of the word, then they form two different phonemes. In Russian, this is not so noticeable, because if you call a cat at least “cat”, even “koooooot”, he will still come, but the meaning of the word will not change. One phoneme for two different sounds. In English, the number will not work: "cot", "caught" and "coat" contain different phonemes. Why so many "smart letters"? In addition to the fact that dictionaries contain phonemic transcriptions, remember this and do not let yourself be confused:

Pope(dad, papal):
1) is a phonetic transcription, it is emphasized here that the first [p], unlike the second, is pronounced with aspiration (aspiration after consonants sounds p,t,k before vowels)
2) is a dictionary (phonemic) transcription.

What else do you need to know about transcription? That there is a different syllable in it:

- open(there is no consonant after the vowel) - New
- closed(after the vowel there is a consonant) - York

- vowel: single - [e], diphthong - [ɔʊ], triphthong - [ɑiə]
- consonant:[d]

English vowel sounds (with online pronunciation)

There are fewer vowels in English than consonants, but more than diphthongs. This picture clearly shows the difference, for example, between the sounds [I] and. Anyone who has even heard of the existence of the imagination will distinguish between the words "fish" and "tree", which, like rebuses, contain the sounds mentioned. You can reread the rules as much as you like, or you can study the transcription in pictures in detail once, which visualizes examples of the use of sounds. For memory training, you can download and even print a picture, this option is provided. For audials, it is possible to hear every sound online in a word after clicking on the speaker icon.

English consonants

Consonant sounds in English are not twin brothers in Russian at all. The articulation of their creation is seriously different. However, we are here not to intimidate with smart words, but rather to make life easier for beginners in English, so we painted the voiced consonants in purple, and the deaf ones in blue. During the formation of the same plural nouns is very important to feel and know the difference. 24 new words serve as a bonus to the learned sounds. We train visual memory and save English transcription in pictures for re-use when needed! Audials still click on the speaker icon under each letter to pronounce sounds in online transcription.

Diphthongs (double vowels) of English

And it would be scary from the presence of 8 diphthongs in English, if not for the wonderful pictures, thanks to which the study turns into an entertaining charade. It is enough to look at the picture, hold your eyes, voice the diphthong by pressing the speaker icon under the letter and practice correct pronunciation. Anyone who appreciates the creative approach to business is allowed to download a picture for a long memory!

From theory to practice
Some time will pass, the dictionary will be covered with a thick layer of dust or removed from the bookmarks (in the electronic version), because the translation of the necessary words is known, the sound is familiar - what other America can you discover there? Do not believe it, it is precisely the clarification of the transcription of what seems to you well-known words that is the very unplowed field that is worth crossing in order to improve the sound of speech.

Let's give an everyday example: the frequently used word "real" has a phonemic transcription a), b) or c)?
The first option is fictional and erroneous, the second and third are British and American pronunciations. What is the moral of this fable?

So that you are not painfully ashamed of your reading, we recommend that you at least briefly familiarize yourself with these tables as follows:
- read the line from left to right;
- listen to the perfect pronunciation of the sound;
- we take a mirror in our hand and train hard (you will surely like to train [æ] or [ð]).

Table of English sounds similar to Russian
These sounds in English transcription do not have to be explained on the fingers.

Sound	Example	Explanations
[ɑː]	car, far, garage	Sounds like a long "ahh". Remember the cartoon about Mowgli, where was the wise Kaa?
[ʌ]	up, but, love	Short sonorous "a". Something similar in Russian "ai".
[ɔː]	more, board, floor	Sounds like a long "oo". Imagine surprise.
[b]	book, board, tab	Russian energetic "b". When you are walking down the hallway in the dark and suddenly you stumble
[g]	green, grace, agree	Russian "g", but not as energetic.
[f]	forest, atmosphere, enough	Very energetic Russian "f".
[k]	kill, cord, school	Russian "k". Before a stressed vowel, it is pronounced aspirated (if you put your hand in front of your lips and say "keel", then your palm should feel your fresh breath)
[m]	mother, lamb	Russian "m".
[n]	nine, note, intrusion	Russian "n".
[p]	pub, gallop, open	Russian energetic "p". Before a stressed vowel - with aspiration.
[v]	vest, vocal, give	Russian "in".

Now let's look at some tricky examples in practice:

subtle - hardly distinguishable
"Sutl" and only like that, no "subtle" with a drum "b" in the middle.

palm - palm
Naturally, everyone wants to be under a palm tree, but here it does not smell like it. Not “palm”, not “by:lm”, but “pa:m”, as in “car” and “path”. In company with a palm turn out to be calm- "calm" and balm- "balm".

halt - stop
Drive away the analogy with the German "halt" - the correct pronunciation is "ho: lt".

won - won, won in the past from "win"
Wonderful if you pronounce "won" like "one" - .

of - preposition of belonging
Only a botanist would think of checking the sound of a two-letter word? Oh well. "Of" and no nails? Remember: "Of" is pronounced with "v" at the end. The full form is [ɔv], the reduced form is [əv]. Always.

Table of English sounds that have something in common with Russian
These sounds cause the greatest temptation and at the same time danger: the relative similarity with the usual pronunciation in Russian threatens with an absolutely wrong sound. Pay enough attention and understand the differences well.

Sound	Example	Explanations
[i]	fit, bit, symbol	The middle between "s" and "i". Pronounced very briefly, as at the end of "apchi".
	cheese, tree, sea	What photographers ask us to say on camera. As in the Russian word "syyyr", but with a touching smile.
[ɒ]	hot body rock	Average between "o" and "a". That is, by no means the Vologda “o”.
[u]	cook, foot, woman	It looks like a Russian short "u", but it is easier to pronounce and the lips are slightly stretched. It turns out like "y" with a half smile. No pouty lips.
	true fool shoes	Like the previous sound, but longer.
[e]	get, bed, head	Intelligent "e". As in the Russian word "tin".
[ə]	about, until, alias	Average between unstressed "e" and "a".
[l]	let, laughter, illegal	Softened Russian "l". Something between the sound of the word "la" and "la".
[s]	stress, sunday, citizen	Muted Russian "s". He never whistles. Remember the song "Girl" by the Beatles? Now, if their famous inhalation “sssss” is pronounced with an exhalation and briefly, then you get beautiful English [s].
[z]	zero, cosmonaut, xenon	Everything is the same as about the sound [s], only loudly.
[t]	tree, trunk, receipt	Looks like Russian "t". But the tip of the tongue should not be put to the teeth, but to the tubercle behind the upper teeth.
[d]	drink, ad, diligent	Similarly: like the Russian "d", only the tip of the tongue rests on the tubercle immediately behind the upper teeth.
[ʃ]	ship, action, special	Between the Russian "sh" and "sh". Does not whistle, because the tongue does not rest with force on the teeth, but gently touches them.
[ʒ]	pleasure, visual, garage	Softened Russian "zh". Doesn't ring or whistle.
	jump, jungle, logic	We connect English [d] with [ ʒ ] and get a soft "J".
	inch, chance, catch	We connect English [t] with [ ʃ ] and get something similar to the Russian "h". As in the word "kitsch".
[j]	yes, yet, you	Average between "y" and "i".
[ɪə]	hear, fear, beer	It looks like the Russian "ie" with an accent on "i".
	air, hair, care	Russian "ea" with an accent on "e".
	make, tray, ace	Russian "ei" with an accent on "e". "I" is pronounced very short.
	hi, sky, bye	Russian "ai" with an accent on "a". "I" is pronounced very short.
[ɔɪ]	boy, joy, coin	Russian "oi" with an accent on "a". "I" is pronounced very short.
	how, cow, hour, our	Russian "au" with an accent on "a". "U" is pronounced very short.
	fire, wire	Russian "aye" with a strong accent on the first "a". Pronounced quickly and fluently.
	our flower	Russian "aua" with a strong accent on the first "a". Pronounced quickly and fluently.

were - were
"Were" is not the same as "where" - . Instead of a diphthong, we use a neutral vowel - , an abbreviated form -.

debt - debt and doubt - doubt
Fans of the group "No doubt" had more than a dozen years left to clarify how the name of their favorite group sounds right. "Debt" and "daubt" are not so easy to pronounce. In English, there is no such Russian-speaking phenomenon as stunning or voicing a consonant, but throw away their words for a sweet soul: it is pronounced and.

good - good, book - book and look - look
The double "o" does not become a long "y" in these words. Therefore, you should not copy the howl of wolves to the moon - speak correctly with a short vowel -,,.

Table of English sounds that have nothing to do with Russian
Practice well in pronouncing these sounds online, at least your speech apparatus should get used to playing them correctly.

Sound	Example	Explanations
[ɜː]	earn, her, first	If the Russian "o" wanted to become "ё", it would sound exactly like that. Something like the sound when children tease by sticking out their tongue. But you need to achieve this sound without protruding anything anywhere. To do this, silently prepare your mouth to pronounce "yo", and say "oo" out loud.
[əu]	go, joke, own	Between the Russian "ou" and "yo" (without "y") with an emphasis on the first sound. "U" is pronounced very short.
[æ]	cat, apple, compact	It is very important not to confuse this sound with [e], otherwise instead of “bad” (bad) you get “bed” (bed). You need to stretch your lips wide, lower your lower jaw and say “uh” from the heart.
[h]	hot, head, uphill	Every Russian man knows how to pronounce this sound. When they ask you to “come on, breathe,” then all the men begin to speak English, because they pronounce [h] exactly as they should: a slight exhalation, vaguely resembling an “x”.
[r]	red, random, orange	Russian bears are fluent in English [r]. Try to growl, bending your tongue up.
[w]	well, what, windows	Fold your lips into a tube and stretch sharply. And now the same thing, but with sound.
[ŋ]	strong, sing, sink	Children are scolded for talking with their mouths full. But if you listen to the sounds made, then there many consonants sound exactly like [ŋ] . Open your mouth and, without closing it, say "n".
[θ]	thanks, ethical	Stick your tongue between your teeth and say "s".
[ð]	they, there, others	Stick your tongue between your teeth and say "h". The best practice is to say "Is this" 100 times. Never later confuse "z" with [ð].

folk - people, folk
The letter "l" has become a victim and is not pronounced at all -.

comb - comb
No "comb" - only "koum". The English "m" and "b" are quite insidious guys who will mess things up more than once. Be alert!

won't - will not - short for "will not"
Were tormented by the question of how the cunning English distinguish between "want" and "won't" in oral speech? It’s just worth pronouncing the negation in the future tense correctly -. That's all the magic.

salmon - salmon
Not "Salmon" and certainly not "Solomon". Salmon is on your mind - as in "cat" and "apple".

Bonus for the most patient

The human brain is the eighth wonder of the world, the deep possibilities of which we can only guess so far. Something important for us now is known for certain: there is a speech center in the brain. There is no special center responsible for reading, but there is for speech. That is why we strongly recommend repeating the words out loud for the hundredth time. It is out loud, and not to yourself, because in this case, muscle memory is also connected. Naturally, words can "live and sound" in your head. The main thing is not to get stuck and stop at the stage of deciphering the transcription symbols, choosing the necessary rule for each sound. In this case, only the speed of a snail is ensured.

If the language is still alive after previous exercises, then we bring to your attention a video that is better to see once than to hear about it 100 times. All phonetic transcription of English in 10 minutes. Clear, concise and very clear.

Phonetics is the branch that studies sounds. Its main goal is to teach you how to pronounce English sounds and words correctly, as well as to develop your ability to perceive the speech of native speakers. Therefore, in order to learn how to speak and read English competently, 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 based on the Latin alphabet, it 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 learners of this language, so you need to understand how they are used in speech and for what.

As mentioned above, a distinctive feature of the English language is a 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 nearby. Based on this, it is necessary to speak very carefully and accurately. Incorrect use of this or that sound leads to misunderstanding.

For example, the word "bed" (bed) and the word "bad" (bad) They are pronounced and spelled almost the same, so it's easy to get confused. At this stage of learning English, many begin to transcribe the pronunciation in Russian in order to facilitate the memorization process.

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

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

First of all, you should have a dictionary in which you will designate all sounds in traditional transcription, and after that, next to them, their sound in your native language.
Special cases pronunciation is also worth pointing out, indicating that this word needs to be pronounced somehow in a special way or written down that it is impossible to give an analogy to the Russian sound. London - London For convenience, phonemes are best divided into groups. For example, consonants, vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs. You also need to constantly practice and perform exercises of this type:

The main city of Great Britain is London. London- 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]

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

Now let's move on to their spelling and pronunciation.

Sounds of English

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

Sound
Vowels
[ı]	short [and], as in "outside And»
[e]	similar to [e] - "w e st"
[ɒ]	short [o] - "in O T"
[ʊ]	short, close to [y]
[ʌ]	similar to Russian [a]
[ə]	unstressed, close to [e]
	looks like a long [and]
[ɑ:]	deep and long [a] - “g A lka"
[ə:] = [ɜ:]	long [ё] in "sv yo cla"
	long [y], like "b at lka"
[ᴐ:]	deep and long [o] - "d O lgo"
[æ]	Russian [e]
Diphtogi (two tones)
	[hey] - same
[ʊə]	[ue] - poor
[əʊ]	[oh] - tone
[ᴐı]	[oops] - join
	[ah] - kite
	[ea] - hair
[ıə]	[ie] - fear
Tripthongs (three tones)
	[aue] - power
	[yue] - European
	[ae] - fire
Consonants
[b]	Russian [b]
[v]	analogue [c]
[j]	weak Russian [th]
[d]	like [d]
[w]	short [y]
[k]	[k] breathy
[ɡ]	like [g]
[z]	like [h]
[ʤ]	[d] and [g] together
[ʒ]	how [f]
[l]	soft [l]
[m]	as M]
[n]	like [n]
[ŋ]	[n] "on the nose"
[p]	[p] aspirated
[r]	weak [r]
[t]	[t] aspirated
[f]	like [f]
[h]	just exhale
[ʧ]	like [h]
[ʃ]	middle between [w] and [w]
[s]	like [c]
[ð]	voiced [θ] with voice
[θ]	tip of tongue between upper and lower teeth, no voice

Notes:

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

The meaning of correct pronunciation

As I have already said, it is very important and absolutely 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 critical for correct and accurate contact with primary native speakers. Pronunciation I repeat once again that some words that have approximately the same sound must be written down, their spelling memorized and their pronunciation taught. For better mastering and facilitating learning, you can create phrases and sentences with them, constantly pronounce them.

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Which comes first, reading or speaking?

How to teach a child English sounds

For some reason, very often, when English teachers decide to dedicate one or another stage of the lesson to preschool teaching children the phonetic structure of the English language (at an elementary level, of course), many of them consider it their duty to teach children the English alphabet. The knowledge that the child has mastered the English alphabet gives the teacher confidence that he has done a very important part of the work of teaching the basics of phonetics. But let's think about whether children really need the alphabet at a very early stage of learning. foreign language? Is it of paramount importance for children to learn the letters of the English alphabet and their corresponding sounds? My answer to this question is no.

Why? Yes, everything is very simple. To begin with, remember yourself in early childhood(as far as your memory will allow). What did you learn earlier, being in the mind of a two-three-four-five-year-old baby - letters or sounds? That's right, sounds (meaning mainly the sounds made by people). Go ahead. What kind of sounds did you learn in natural conditions during your development before your parents began to buy you alphabets in pictures? Were these only the sounds of the letters of the Russian alphabet? Not really. You unconsciously memorized ALL SOUNDS of the Russian language, and, of course, there are more of them than the sounds corresponding to the letters of the Russian alphabet. Russian has 33 letters and 42 sounds. Six vowels - [a], [i], [o], [y], [s], [e] and thirty-six consonants - [b], [b], [c], [v], [g ], [g], [d], [d], [g], [d], [s], [s], [k], [k], [l], [l], [m], [m], [n], [n], [n], [p], [p], [p], [s], [s], [t], [t], [f], [f ], [x], [xh], [c], [ch], [w], [u]. (Note that if Russian sounds often differ only in hardness-softness, and memorizing such paired sounds does not present any particular problems, then in English there are 23 sounds that are not even close in the English alphabet - [θ], [ð], [ʃ], [ʒ], [ɪə], [ʊə], [ɪ], [ə], [ʊ], [g], [ɔɪ], [ɜ:], [ɔ], [ŋ], [ r], [j], [h], , , [ɒ], [ɑ:], [ʌ], [æ].) As many as twenty-three (!) Sounds that you DO NOT TEACH children if you just teach them the alphabet !

Without a doubt, a child unconsciously learns to pronounce all the sounds of any language long before he learns about the existence of the alphabet, that is, letters (we will consider the cases of very early learning of the alphabet from the cradle as an exception). So, the child, before moving on to the study of the Russian alphabet, FIRST learns SOUNDS, not letters. Why is he doing this? He is learning to SPEAK! Therefore, it would be more logical to start teaching children to SPEAK in a foreign language from SOUNDS.

On issues related to the acquisition of cards of “men-sounds”, color book “Man-Svuki” and abstracts of English lessons for preschoolers Irina Murzinova, contact the author of the manuals and this site through the form

And why, then, you ask, are children generally taught the alphabet, the alphabet? Perhaps so that they can learn to READ in a foreign language? “Well, yes, when we teach children to speak, we introduce them to sounds, but when teaching children to read, we teach them letters, not sounds,” you say and you will not be entirely right. Remember the problem that often arises among your acquaintances and familiar acquaintances (“The child knows all the letters, but cannot read, cannot combine letters into words!”). This problem is precisely connected with an attempt to teach letters without sounds. How will the baby read the word "squirrel" knowing only the names of the letters? That's right - "be-e-el-ka-a".) You yourself teach him this, forcing him to remember how the letters are pronounced. And what needs to be done so that the baby correctly reads the word "squirrel"? Someone already guessed - read this word aloud to him and ask him to repeat it, looking at letter designation this word. You will teach him to read the word the way it “sounds”, hard [l] is noticeably different from the “alphabetic” version of this sound ([el]), soft [b '] is also a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT sound, not at all [be], even though they are similar. You will not remind your child about the letter “beee” (which actually contains a solid sound [b] that you do not need in this situation), if you do not want to confuse him and slow down the process of learning to read in his native language. In other words, reading also needs to be taught from sounds. Without sounds - nowhere. Why then do many (including authors teaching aids for preschoolers) believe that in order to teach a child to read in a foreign language, it is so necessary first of all to know the names and sequence of letters in the alphabet? My answer is that it's all about the stereotype that they follow: "Everyone has been doing this all their lives, and I will."

Indeed, at the later stages of teaching children a native or foreign language, the development of conversational skills will already be based on the ability to read, but do we really need the alphabet, the letters themselves, their names for this? As you can see, my answer is again no. Well, what's the use of a child to know that a letter is called a "double" if he cannot read it correctly in a word? The alphabet (the alphabet means the names of the letters in the language, arranged in a certain sequence), of course, can be learned, but the successful teaching of the child to read, knowledge of the names of the letters does not primarily affect, especially when teaching Russian-speaking children the English language (only when teaching reading consonants in a word, this knowledge is useful if their pronunciation is close to alphabetic). Watch a video from Youtube about how English-speaking children are taught to read in kindergarten and find where the names of the letters of the English alphabet are needed:

These children may not know the correct names of the letters of the English alphabet, but they will soon be able to read perfectly even without this “valuable” knowledge. While they are learning to read words, they are studying the correspondence of the sounds of the language and letters as signs in the word, and they can learn the names of the letters themselves later, even if they already know how to read perfectly. By the way, they can easily learn the names of the letters of the alphabet, already knowing how to read and knowing the letter-sound correspondences.

Thus, until children have learned to SPEAK English, there is no point in teaching them to READ in this language. So, at the very early stage of learning English, it makes no sense to study the English alphabet. True, when teaching children to read in English at school, nothing prevents the teacher from teaching children letters and sounds at the same time, because the school curriculum provides for the simultaneous mastery of the sound system and the alphabet. But it's still a school...

In preschool institutions, teaching English, in my opinion, should be a simulation of the simplest situations of COMMUNICATION, allowing children to learn to SAY simple communicative phrases in English. Before moving on to learning to read, it is important that children in the abbreviated form go through the same stage of mastering the sound system of the language that they went through with intuitive mastering. mother tongue. We all understand that these simulated situations are “not real”, that half an hour of classes two or three times a week is very little for a child to be able to “speak” English as if it were their native language. But, understanding this, we also recognize that learning a foreign language is useful for training brain activity, that it will make it easier for a child to master not only a foreign language at school, but also other subjects, and, finally, it is simply INTERESTING. Perhaps knowledge of the language will be useful to the child in the future, but I would not advise parents of preschoolers to emphasize this pragmatic component, all practical skills that are useful for life develop most effectively, first of all, from interest in any activity, therefore, it is interest in the language and must be cultivated in the little man.

But we digress a little. What have we come to in our reasoning? Oh yes, to the fact that you need to start introducing children to the English language with SOUNDS, not letters, learning a foreign language should start with speaking, not reading. How to start teaching children the sounds of English?

As you know, English is based on Latin alphabet, has 26 letters, which correspond to 44 sounds (not counting more three-element vowel combinations). We know that hallmark English is the presence of a large number of sounds, which does not correspond to the number of letters of the English alphabet. But this information is not interesting for children, so I strongly do not recommend starting learning sounds from it. What to do? This is where the funny little men Englishsound come to our aid. Englishsound is the surname of forty-four little men-sounds of the English language, and their names are the sounds of the English language themselves. Each little man has his own character, his own habits that make him (or her, since there are girls among the little men) unique. Children love to delve into the details, this feature can be used when teaching English sounds.

On issues related to the acquisition of cards of “men-sounds”, color book “Man-Svuki” and abstracts of English lessons for preschoolers Irina Murzinova, contact the author of the manuals and this site through the form

We created funny little people together with a talented Ukrainian artist Irina Kondrashova. I had an idea a long time ago (in one of Bonk's manuals there is a fairy tale about a tongue and seven diphthong gnomes, so I thought, why shouldn't all sounds, not only diphthongs, become funny little men), but it was not possible for me to realize it - where to get so much money to pay for the work of the artist to create 44 (!) Illustrations?. She wrote that she actively uses the idea with little men, but she has to invent and draw them herself, while they all turn out to be of the same type, similar to koloboks. That's when I made up my mind, I began to write letters to the websites of freelance artists, offering my price for 44 pictures with little men. They didn’t just ridicule me there, but even answered quite angrily that nothing would work out for me, that for such “penny” (and for me with my “state” salary it was by no means “penny”) no one would draw anything for me . But I believed that I would find an artist who would be inspired by the very idea, and he, or rather, she, responded. Irina and I spent several months in correspondence - she sent me sketches, and I wrote her my opinion about them and what it is desirable to correct in the image. When the first little men were already ready, I realized that they definitely needed poems. Why are the poems in Russian? To create motivation, because to encourage children to learn the language in early age you have to spend many times more time and effort, and you won’t be able to motivate them in English (dreams to speak only in English and interest children in gestures and facial expressions against the background of “abracadabra” unfamiliar to children remain only dreams). However, it is not at all necessary to study poetry in the classroom, since time is really not enough. You can use English to describe pictures with little people-sounds and other work with them, and children can read poetry at home with their parents, while they will again and again return to your English lessons in memory, remembering those English sounds , words and structures that were heard in the lesson.

"So it was a promotional article?" You ask, and you might not be entirely right. It was an OPINION ARTICLE, and little people-sounds do not need advertising. :-) It's just that now you have learned about the existence of a set of didactic materials for teaching English to preschoolers "MAN-SOUNDS" and didactic cards "Man-sounds" (they can only be purchased from me as the author so far) and you can use these materials in your classes on English in educational institutions preschool education.

Candidate of Philological Sciences I. A. Murzinova

You can contact the author of this article, the website site and the set of didactic aids for preschoolers “Sounds People” to purchase “Sound People” cards and for other questions (see the top menu of the site).

On issues related to the acquisition of cards of “men-sounds”, color book “Man-Svuki” and abstracts of English lessons for preschoolers Irina Murzinova, contact the author of the manuals and this site through the form

English transcription marks denoting the sounds of the English language	Description of human sounds
Consonants
1[f]	When the Englishsound people are having fun, this little man puts on a hedgehog mask and runs around, snorting [f]–[f]–[f].
2[v]	This sound is very diffuse. His name is Voldemar, but sometimes he even forgets his name. When asked what his name is, he tries to remember his name, while saying [v] - [v] - [v] and everyone thinks that this is his name.
3[θ]	This little man has got himself a pet - a dragonfly, walks with her, and when it's time to go home, he calls her [θ] - [θ] - [θ] So he was nicknamed - [θ].
4 [ð]	This little man loves ... bees, for a holiday he always puts on a bee costume and buzzes like a bee - [ð] - [ð] - [ð] So he was nicknamed - [ð].
5[s]	This little man is very quiet, does not like noise when other little men play around, he walks quietly and quietly - [s] - [s] - [s].
6[z]	This little man is buzzing like a fly.
7[ʃ]	This little man loves snakes, even hisses like them.
8[ʒ]	This little man buzzes like a bumblebee.
9[h]	This little man in winter often breathes on the window glass [h] - [h] - [h] and draws letters on it with his finger. He was nicknamed [h], his name is just a light exhalation.
10[p]	This little man is called [p] because he puffs all the time [p]–[p]–[p], all the time he is dissatisfied with something.
11[b]	This little man is freezing all the time - [b] - [b] - [b].
12[t]	This little man's name is [t], he likes to indulge in the morning (still in his pajamas), jump on the bed [t]–t]–[t].
13[d]	The name of this little man is [d], because he often plays with a toy car and says [d] - [d] - [d].
14[k]	This Englishsound often catches colds and coughs [k]–[k]–[k], which is how it was called – [k].
15[g]	This little man has a white dove, the little man coos[g]–[g]–[g] when talking to his pet.
16	This Englishsound is strict, tells everyone not to make noise, be quieter ––.
17	This man loves to play with toy airplanes.
18[m]	This little man loves the sound [m], he even eats only food that starts with this sound and says with pleasure.
19[n]	This little man loves to dance, often dances and sings [n] - [n] - [n] - [n].
20[ŋ]	This little man loves to have fun, but does not always like to make his bed in the morning. His mother asks him about it, and he: “nope”, [ ŋ ] - [ ŋ ].
22[r]	And this Englishsound likes to scare everyone. He dresses up as a tiger and roars – [ r ] – [ r ] – [ r ].
21[l]	A friend of the little man [r], dresses up as a lion and tries to roar like [r] too, but can't pronounce the sound [r], instead he gets [l].
23[w]	When Englishsound people are having fun, this one jumps and croaks like a frog [w]–[w]–[w].
24[j]	This man jumps like a monkey and makes friends with the monkeys.
Vowels
25	This little man loves to squeal merrily -–.
26[ɪ]	This one often hiccups [ɪ] - [ɪ] - [ɪ], so they called him - [ɪ].
27[e]	This little man is a little mischievous and mocking, he laughs like this: [e] - [e] - [e].
28[æ]	Does this little man keep asking everyone [æ]? [æ]? (especially when he doesn't feel like doing what he was asked to do).
29 [ɑ:]	This little man is inquisitive, asks a lot of questions, and when he gets an answer, he says [ɑ:].
30 [ɒ]	This little man constantly teases everyone [ɒ] - [ɒ] - [ɒ].
31 [ʌ]	This is the funniest English sound, he laughs like this: [ʌ] - [ʌ] - [ʌ].
32 [ʊ]	This little man is an athlete, loves to run, jump.
33	This little man often puts on a mask and depicts a wolf.
34 [ə:]	This man is small, but he wants to appear big and strong, so he roars like a bear in the forest.
35 [ə]	This little man often groans like an old man, [ə] - [ə] - [ə] - [ə].
36 [ɔ:]	This little man is often dissatisfied, it seems to him that everything around is bad, often groans [ɔ:] - [ɔ:] - [ɔ:].
Diphthongs and triphthongs
37	This little man constantly comes up with new games and convenes other little men, so he was called -.
38	This Englishsound is afraid of everything. The door creaks or the dog barks, the man screams -–.
39	This man loves dogs (and puppies).
40 [ɔɪ]	This man is ticklish.
41 [ɜʊ]	This little man is surprised all the time, everything seems interesting to him: [ɜʊ] - [ɜʊ] - [ɜʊ].
42 [ɪə]	When Englishsound people are having fun, this one crawls under the table and shouts [ɪə].
43 [ɛə]	When Englishsound people are having fun, this one swings and shouts [ɛə]–[ɛə]–[ɛə]–[ɛə].
44 [ʊə]	This one loves to jump rope.
	When little men and [ə] play together, they shout in unison.
	When little men and [ə] play together, they shout in unison.
[ɔɪə]	When the little men [ɔɪ] and [ə] play together, they shout [ɔɪə] in unison.

It consists of 26 letters, with 44 sounds. Therefore, you need to clearly know how this or that sound is pronounced, because the sound of the same letter may differ. This happens according to a certain system, such rules of the basis of pronunciation are universal. To know them is to know the language.

Correct pronunciation of vowels

The sounds of the English language can be divided into vowels and consonants. There are several rules for reading and pronouncing vowels such as E, A, Y, U, I, O.

To better remember and understand how the sounds of the English language are read correctly, a table with examples and transcription for convenience in Russian letters will help you remember reading rules faster.

• the type of pronunciation is associated with the presence of an open syllable in the word. Any syllable that ends in a vowel is considered open, including if the vowel is not readable.
• type of pronunciation - consonant syllable.
• the type of pronunciation is a vowel with the letter “r”. The letter G determines the lingering sound of the vowel, which is at the root of the word.
• reading type - 2 vowels and the letter G between them. In this case, the letter G is not readable. And vowels have a special pronunciation.

How are consonants pronounced in English?

The pronunciation of consonants in English also has its own characteristics. To understand how to read the consonants of the English language correctly, transcription in Russian letters will help you.

The letters sh are read as w, ch as h, tch - h, ck - k, wh as yo (for example, what) or x (for example, xy), ng as n, q as kv, nk- as nk and wr as p , th is pronounced as with interdental vowels if they are at the beginning of a word, but as in pronouns, functional words, between vowels.

Diphthongs in English: pronunciation rules

There are also vowel sounds that combine with each other. They're called diphthongs and are pronounced according to special rules. Vowel sounds in English and their pronunciation often depend on whether they are at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a word.

The diphthong is read as "ay". It is expressed in writing by vowels "i" and "y" in an open syllable with stress, the combination of letters "ie" and "ye" at the end of the word, as well as "uy", "eye", "igh".

i - line [line]
y - fly [fly]
ie - tie [thai]
ye - dye [give]
uy - guy [guy]
eye - eyebrow [aibrov]
igh - knight [knight]

[ɔɪ] is read as Russian "oh". On the letter it is passed through "oi", "oy".

oi - noisy [noisy]
oy - annoy
reads like "hey".

In writing, it is conveyed by the letter "a" in an open stressed syllable, and by the letter combinations "ai", "ay", "ey", "ea", "ei".

a - save [save]
ai - main [main]
ay - tray [tray]
ey - gray [gray]
ea - great [great]
ei-eight

It reads like "ay". the "a" sound is longer than the "y" sound. The letter is transmitted through the letter combinations "ow", "ou".

ow - town [town]
ou - pound [pound]

[əu] is read as an average between the sound combinations "ou" and "eu". On the letter - the letter "o" in an open stressed syllable, and the letter combinations "ow", "ou", "oa", "o + ld", "o + ll"

o - bone [bone]
ow - snow [snow]
ou - soul [soul]
oa - coat [coat]
old - cold [cold]
oll - roller [roller]

[ɪə] is read as "ie", "and" is long, and "e" is short. The letter is transmitted by the letter combinations "ear", "eer", "ere", "ier".

ear - gear [gie]
eer - deer [dee]
ere - severe [sivie]
ier - fierce [fies]

[ɛə] reads "ea" or "ee". The sound is a clear "e" and the average between "e" and "a". The letter is transmitted using the letter combinations "are", "ear", "air".

are - care [kee]
Bear - bear [bee]]
air - repair [rapeer]]

It is read as "ue", while "u" is longer than "e". Transmitted by the letters "ue", "ure", "ou+r".

ue - cruel [cruel]
ure - sure [shue]
our - tour [tuer]]

Combination of vowels with consonants

In English, there is such a pattern when some vowels are combined with consonants. For example, the combination al, if it is before the letter k, and after - other consonants. A combination of letters wo, if the previous syllable contains consonants. Wa - if this combination comes before vowels at the end, in this case, the exception is r or if it is combined with consonants, for example, warm. The combination igh has already been described by us among diphthongs, as well as the combination qua, if it is before consonants other than r.

And do listening exercises. You will only listen to the correct pronunciation of real American English!