Today it is impossible to imagine a world without English. All intercultural communications are carried out today in this language of the Romano-Germanic group, therefore, a modern educated person must certainly own it. But where do you start learning? The answer is obvious - with familiarity with the letters and sounds of the English alphabet.
General English Alphabet
First of all, it is necessary to define the concept of "alphabet". The alphabet is a stable system of graphic signs with which you can transmit sounds and human speech. Such a system of symbols is one way of encoding information in the form of written speech. The basis of the English alphabet is now the โdeadโ Latin language, the progenitor of all the dialects of the Romano-Germanic family. There are 26 letters in English. They completely repeat the composition of the Latin language, only in a different way they are called and mean slightly different sounds. Of these, respectively, 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 you study the grammatical and syntactic features of one of the most popular languages โโin the world, you need 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 arranged in the correct and only correct order, on the basis of which dictionaries, pointers, etc. are compiled. It is necessary to remember the English sounds and letters in this order. 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. The well-known symbol & is not part of the modern English alphabet, but this was not always the case. The ampersand was once a full letter.
Vowels
English vowels and sounds make up only a quarter of the alphabet. There are only 6 vowels. The most common of them is E. O and U, by contrast, are not used too often.
A very effective way to learn and memorize vowels at the first stage of learning English is to prepare cards. On them you need to write the simplest words that begin with these letters, as well as select the appropriate pictures. For example, the letter apple begins with the letter A, the letter E with the egg, the icon with the I icon, the opera with the O key, the uniform with the U uniform with the yard ) This technique of studying vowels will not only allow you to remember the characters themselves and their number in the foreign alphabet, but also to see how they are used in words.
Consonants
English consonants and sounds are, in essence, the basis of the language and its alphabet. There are 20 consonants. The most common English letters are Cc, Hh, Tt. Their antipodes are Vv, Xx, Zz.
How to learn consonant English letters and sounds? The cards will help again in this case. So, the simplest word for the letter B - book (book), C - chicken (chicken), D - dog (dog), F - fox (fox), G - golf (golf), H - hat (hat), J - jam (jam), K - knife (knife), L - lemon (lemon), M - mask (mask), N - nut (nut), P - pen (pen), Q - queue (turn), R - rain (rain), S - sweet (candy), T - table (table), V - vase (vase), W - worm (worm), X - xerox (copier), Z - zebra (zebra).
Vowel Pronunciation Features
The pronunciation of vowels depends on many factors. Firstly, it is affected by the place of the letter in the word. Secondly, adjacent vowels and consonants . Thirdly, in the open or closed syllable is a vowel. There is a universal way to pronounce English letters and sounds correctly. Transcription - this is what you need to turn to when you have doubts about how to read or pronounce a particular word.
So, in an open syllable, vowels 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 (oven), a stone (stone), a tube (pipe), type (type), gene (gene), etc.
In some words in a row, two identical vowels can go. They are read in a special way. For example, the combination oo is usually read as [u:] (book, zoo, look, moon, etc.). There are exceptions to this rule: these are two words - blood (flood) and flood (flood) - in these nouns the combination oo is pronounced as [a:]; in the words floor (floor) and door (door) this letter combination is read [โ:].
It is worth noting that the letter e at the end of words is not readable. In the middle of a word in combination ee, this letter is pronounced [e:] (beer, meeting, to seem, to see).
Consonant Pronunciation Features
Consonant English sounds and letters in most cases are pronounced the same as they sound in the alphabet. However, there are combinations of letters that need to be pronounced especially. So, one of the most common letter combinations is th. It gives a sound [ฦ] and is found in such words as thing (thing), oath (oath), to think (think), through (through), etc. To correctly pronounce this sound, you need to put the tip of the tongue between the front teeth and try to say the sound "c."
Another common combination of English consonants is gh. If it is located at the end of a word, it most often gives the sound [f] (to laugh - to laugh, thigh - hip, to cough - cough, etc.). Another pronunciation option for this letter combination is not to read it at all. In such words as taught (the second form of the verb teach is to teach), tight (dense), light (light, light), etc.
The English letter Cc also has some pronunciation features. In this case, it all depends on adjacent vowels and consonants. 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 [k].
Another common letter combination 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 learning English letters and sounds: reading by ear
"How to learn English letters and sounds?" - this is the question most often beginners ask themselves to learn this foreign language. There are many methods, both modern, using technical innovations and the Internet, and time-tested effective methods.
So, consider the first one. This is a reading aloud of the simplest words at the initial stage of study, and later on of more complex lexical units and whole texts. Reading aloud helps to memorize letters and corresponding sounds, and also helps to set the necessary intonation. Do not forget how to pronounce English letters and sounds in the initial stages. Transcription is what should be constantly addressed. Each dictionary has transcription, including how to pronounce letters. That is, it is reduced not only to words, but also to the alphabet at the beginning of the dictionary.
The second method of learning English letters and sounds: writing them
The best way to memorize letters of a foreign alphabet is to practice writing them. So, if an English lesson is held at a school for teenagers or at home for preschool children, the teacher can give his pupils a task that will help them quickly and interestingly learn English letters and sounds.
Cards are what a child has to do. Let each card contain a letter of the English alphabet, and also write the simplest word that begins with this letter. It is recommended that you draw an appropriate object to visualize the word and its capital letter. This technique is especially effective for children of primary school and preschool age, because, firstly, they will not be bored in the classroom, 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 with the preparation of cards that you can start the lesson "Learn English letters and sounds."
The Third Method for Learning English Letters and Sounds: Listening
Listening is an equally effective way to memorize simple words, their compatibility in a sentence, as well as English letters and sounds. A table with the alphabet and transcription should always be at hand. Listening to audio recordings in the studied foreign language will allow you to quickly adapt to English speech, adapt to the intonation and pace of the speakerโs speech, and also strive to understand each word individually, 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 individually, to the accents placed in words and sentences. The standard task for listening is to listen to the text and select the statements that correspond to it. The teacher may also ask his students to briefly retell the content of the monologue or dialogue they have heard and answer the questions asked.
The fourth method of learning English letters and sounds: communication with a native speaker
English sounds and letters, words, sentence construction and grammar can be studied both in theory and in practice. The best way to quickly learn how to speak a foreign language and understand your interlocutor is to dive directly into the environment, that is, communicate with an Englishman, an American, or any other person who speaks that language from birth. It will allow you to develop the skill of spontaneous monologic speech (without preparation), that is, correctly apply grammatical rules and constructions when constructing sentences. This ability makes it possible to communicate with foreigners on an equal footing, build a constructive dialogue and be an interesting and educated interlocutor who can competently build his speech and confidently express his thoughts.
An equally important aspect of language learning is speaking with competent intonation. Communication with a native English speaker will smooth out the Russian accent and put the pronunciation. It is necessary to constantly practice this, because Russian pronunciation cuts the ear very much to foreigners and prevents the building of a dialogue.
So, the mentioned methods are basic when learning foreign languages. But you do not need, for example, just to read, just listen to notes or learn English sounds and letters. To achieve a quick result, you need to combine various exercises and work on a program that the teacher will advise. Only in this case it will be possible to master the English language perfectly, but you need to be engaged every day at least for an hour.