American English Sounds

Vowel Sounds
1. /i/ [long e] green, tree See a green tree near the sea.

2. /ɛ/ [short e] get, ready Get ready for bed, Ben.

3. /ɪ/ [short i] in, sit Micky sits in the kitchen.

4. /æ/ [short a] black, hat Jack’s cat had a black hat.

5. /ɑ/ [short o] clock, top Robin’s clock is on top.

6. /ə/ [short u, schwa] the, pup A pup runs up to Budd.

7. /ɔ/ [aw] saw, yawn Dawn saw him yawn.

8. /ʊ/ [oo] cook, book It’s a good cook book.

9. /u/ [long u] new, shoes Sue has blue shoes for school.

10./oʊ/ [long o] boat, go I hope the boat floats.

11./eɪ/ [long a] they, play Play eight games today.

12./aɪ/ [long i] I’m, fine Mike tried to have a fine time.

13. /aʊ/ [ow] how, loud How loud is the sound now?

14. /ɔɪ/ [oy] toy, coin A boy enjoyed a toy.

15. /ɚ/ [er] her, first, word What were her first words?

Column 1 - International Phonetic Association (IPA) symbols. Column 2 – letter names (orthographic symbols).

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 American English Sounds

Consonant Sounds
1. /p/ pig, happy, rope
2. /b/ bus, rabbit, cab
3. /t/ tiger, attack, seat
4. /d/ dog, muddy, send
5. /f/ fish, sofa, cough
6. /v/ very, cover, give
7. /k/ kite, anchor, pick
8. /g/ (hard G) goat, begin, leg
9. /s/ soap, basic, ice
10. /z/ zebra, busy, rose
11. /ɵ/ [th-unvoiced] thanks, bathtub, teeth
12. /ð/ [th-voiced] this, father, bathe
13. /ʃ/ [sh] shoe, pushing, wish
14. /ʒ/ [zh] genre, measure, beige
15. /ʧ/ [ch] chicken, inches, catch
16. /ʤ/ [j] (soft G) jacks, manager, edge
17. /h/ hat, inhale
18. /j/ [y] yo-yo, player
19. /w/ window, tower
20. /r/ rabbit, forest, car
21. /l/ late, allow, pull
22. /m/ make, famous, come
23. /n/ net, peanut, fun
24. /ŋ/ [ng] hanger, sing
Sounds #1 – #16 are “brothers”. For each pair, they are made in the same place in the mouth.
The only difference is the second sound has a vibration of the vocal cords.

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 How to Teach English Sounds
The English ALPHABET has 26 letters (21 consonants and 5 vowels),

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z (Lower case represented here.)

However English SOUNDS are about 40, as we combine letters to make new sounds.

On these practice sheets are lists of the sounds used in North American English. Vowel
spelling is simplified to assist beginners to learn basic vowel-letter correspondence. (I’ve
avoided the spelling variations, when possible). Advanced learners will need to eventually
learn the different spelling variations with vowels, particularly the letter “O”, since it can
be used for 6 different sounds. Also short sentences are added for vowels to provide
additional practice.

Consonant spelling has more variations represented here. For example, the sound “f” is
spelled with “f” (sofa) and “gh” (cough). Your students will eventually need to know it is
sometimes spelled “ph” (phone). I have also included “j” in “jacks”, “g” in “manager”, and
“dg” in “edge”. These are 3 different ways we spell the /ʤ/ sound in English. Take the
time to point out different spelling patterns.

Pronounce the sound using the sound, and not the letter. Say “In English we say /p/ or
/b/”, and not “We say PEE or BEE.” Or “The sound is /p/” and not “The sound is PEE.”

Do you need to teach the International phonetic alphabet? You can. The IPA is an
internationally recognized set of phonetic symbols, based on one-to-one correspondence
between sounds and symbols. It is the special letters you see in a dictionary after a word,
often with slashes (/ /) before and after. This indicates how the word is pronounced. The
IPA gives each sound its own distinct symbol, some of which still look familiar to you and
students as English letters. You can teach students these new symbols, but it isn’t
necessary. Some students want to know and use IPA. Others will prefer a common
spelling (the orthographic symbol).

You must alert your students to words that are not pronounced like they are spelled.
“Said” is pronounced “sed”, “mother” is pronounced “muther”, “work” is pronounced
“werk”. For beginning lessons, try to use only the more common spelling patterns. Once
your students master those, the spelling exceptions will be easier to learn.

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Ideas for teaching:

1. Teach Minimal Pairs. A minimal pair is two words in which only one sound
(phoneme) varies such as “long” and “wrong” (the beginning sound is the only
difference.) Use minimal pairs to practice the sound differences. Minimal pairs can
be used in sentences: “That road is (long/wrong)”.

2. Have students repeat word lists with eyes closed. If the spelling is creating
confusion, employ auditory skills only. Students repeat after the teacher,
concentrating on how the word sounds. For example these words all have the
same vowel sound /ʊ/, despite different spelling.
put
foot
could

3. Teach rhyming. Again use auditory skills to practice and memorize rhyming words.
For example these words rhyme, despite different spelling.
father bed
bother said
read

4. Teach consonant clusters. Some consonant clusters, like “sh”, “ch” and “th”
represent a particular sound (phoneme). Again call this by its sound. Say “In
English we say /ʃ/”, and not “We say ESS AITCH.” Or “The sound is /ʃ/” and not
“The sound is ESS AITCH.”

5. Use tongue positions and mouth movements. Demonstrate rounded or spread

lips, and the position and movement of the tongue and jaw. Some English vowels
use a bigger mouth opening than many other languages. Point out and practice
the differences.

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©2021 Paula Gallay All Rights Reserved