English is the most popular language studied as a foreign language. More and more people dream of mastering it perfectly and actively use it in their life.
At the moment, learning English is very popular. A huge number of foreign language specialists are annually graduated from universities. Universities train both professional translators and teachers.
But is English difficult to learn? Is it easy to read on it?
How difficult is it to learn English?
There is great news for learners of English. Because if you make a comparison with the Russian language, then it is absorbed much easier. It is known that the English-speaking person needs to spend a greater amount of effort in order to somehow communicate in Russian than to the native speaker of the Russian language — to study English to a roughly similar level. This means that English is quite easy to learn, having spent not so much time and effort on it, as it would require the study of Russian.
The curious fact is that native English speakers envy the Russian speakers. Because from birth they got the opportunity to speak their native language, and the rest have to work long and hard to learn it. But, in turn, Russian speakers are also envious of the British. After all, it is rather difficult for Russians to understand how words are read in English. Of course, this topic is explained at school, but, unfortunately, not all learn it.
In English, a large number of nouns also play the role of verbs, and, most importantly, this happens without changing the spelling. That is, you should remember only one word, and learn two at once.
English is quite easy to use. In most cases, it is very easy to compose a phrase in it - as in a simple and logical constructor.
What difficulties can you encounter when learning English?
The main difficulty in English is the pronunciation and rules for reading English words. To do this correctly, it is not enough just to learn the alphabet and the basic set of rules. Of course, systemic dependencies are present, but, unfortunately, exceptions are almost half of all words in English vocabulary. Therefore, language learners have no choice, and the pronunciation of exception words they just need to remember.
It should also be noted that there is one difficulty in English pronunciation that is not easy to handle. It lies in the fact that several sounds have no analogue in Russian. You need to get used to it. However, to begin with, the perfectly correct pronunciation is not required at all . This is acquired with experience in the process of communicating with indigenous native speakers. For a perfectly understandable English speech, Russian transcription will be sufficient at first.
The English-speaking world is so huge that there are many different dialects in it. Therefore, for starters, the most important thing is to be understood. And you could translate what foreigners say. There is no doubt that with practice, the pronunciation will be honed and become better and better.
And now it is necessary to give an answer to the question of how English words are read.
English letters and sounds
Regarding the rules of reading in the language being studied, it is important to note that they are extensive and quite complex, because there are some discrepancies between letters and sounds. What is this expressed in? The English alphabet has 26 letters and as many as 44 sounds. This affects reading. Different letters can produce different sounds, being in different positions. This is usually conveyed using symbols called transcription. Therefore, it is very important to know how English words are read, otherwise many mistakes can be made. Dictionaries along with the concept in square brackets indicate transcription, which facilitates the study of vocabulary.
General rules
Now we will talk about general reading rules. After all, every beginner to learn English should know how English words are read. So:
- First, you need to understand that the rules in English do not work all the time.
- Secondly, the language being studied is vocal, in connection with this there is a vowel sound in each syllable.
- Thirdly, you need to know that if two consonants are combined and create a new sound, this is usually called a consonant digraph. These include sh, ch, th, ph and wh.
- Fourth, when a syllable ends in a consonant, the vowel will always be short.
Types of Vowel Reading in English
There are 4 types of vowel reading:
- The first type is open syllable. It ends with a vowel, which in this case is read according to the alphabet.
- The second type is a closed syllable that ends in a consonant. In this case, the vowel becomes concise.
- The third type of reading is the combination of the vowel + letter “r”, which affects the sound of the vowel in the root of the word, giving it a length.
- Type IV reading is a combination of a vowel + the letter “r” + a vowel . “R” in this case also will not be read.
In general, English is not so difficult, but students will still encounter some difficulties. To understand how English words are read, it is necessary to memorize not only reading rules, but also exception words.