Now you have already passed the first stage of learning English - you have learned the alphabet. You already know what the letters are called and know how to write them. But this does not mean at all that you can read any word in English correctly. In addition, you need to improve your pronunciation with the help of a professional teacher or tutor so as not to make mistakes at first.
Unlike many other foreign languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian), where words are read the same way they are written, you just need to learn how the letters are pronounced. In English, everything is much more complicated and confusing. But remembering the simple laws of reading words in English. Very soon you will realize that things are much simpler.
The thing is that in English the number of sounds predominates over letters, and in order to convey them in writing, it is necessary to combine several letters in a certain order. And this is done in various ways. And the pronunciation and recording of some sounds depends on what letters surround them. And all this needs to be remembered!
To make it easier to remember letter combinations, English linguists have developed a number of rules for reading words in English. Even if you know the language well enough, it is still advisable to double-check an unfamiliar word in the dictionary, make sure of its translation and remember the transcription, that is, how it is pronounced.
At school, most teachers only briefly mention how to reproduce words in English or do not talk about them at all. They refer students to dictionaries with transcriptions, citing the fact that “there are many exceptions to the reading rules.” Protect your children from such teachers!
Yes it is. Indeed, there are many exceptions to the rules for reading words in English. But this does not mean at all that we should remain silent about them. Rather, on the contrary, first of all you need to talk about them. Still, most words follow rules.
Knowing the basic rule of how words are read correctly, it will be much more interesting and easier for you to learn the language itself. And exceptions can be remembered as they come during training, repeating the rules that these words do not so stubbornly refuse to obey.
Rule for reading words
Bye! Successes!Technique of reading English according to Zaitsev’s method
Transcription is a recording of the sound of a letter or word in the form of a sequence of special phonetic symbols.
Why is transcription of English words needed?
Knowing English transcription is useful. This makes it possible to easily read and correctly pronounce an unfamiliar English word on your own, without outside help. Just look in the dictionary or use online services.
Review of Internet resources
The Lingorado transcriptor has the following features and functions:
- British or American pronunciation of words. When choosing a British dialect, in accordance with British phonetics, the [r] at the end of a word is voiced only if the next word in the phrase begins with a vowel sound.
- Familiar symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
- Transcription of the text preserves the original sentence format, including punctuation marks, etc.
- The ability to display transcriptions taking into account the weak position of words in a sentence, as happens in live, connected speech (the “Take into account weak position” checkbox).
- Unfound words typed in uppercase are interpreted as abbreviations (the transcription of abbreviations is displayed letter by letter, separated by a hyphen).
- To make it more convenient to check the original, parallel output of the transcription in two columns with the original English text or interlinear translation is possible. Simply indicate the desired option under the input field.
- Needed English lyrics in Russian letters? Please! There is a corresponding checkbox next to the input field for those who have never learned English (however, phonetic transcription is easy to learn and is always preferable).
- In cases where a word may be pronounced differently, you can choose from several transcription options. Such words are displayed as links (in blue). If you hover your mouse over them, a list of pronunciation options will appear. To sort through the options in the text (in order to then print or copy the text to the clipboard with the correct pronunciation), you need to click on the word with the mouse.
Keep in mind that multiple transcriptions may reflect variations in pronunciation within the same meaning, as well as pronunciation of different meanings of a word. If you are not sure which option is needed in your case, check the dictionary. - In addition to commonly used words, the dictionary base includes transcriptions of a huge number of geographical names (including the names of countries, their capitals, US states, counties of England), as well as nationalities and the most popular names.
- Unfound words (shown in red) are registered, and if repeated in queries, they are regularly added to the dictionary database.
- If your browser supports speech synthesis (Safari - recommended, Chrome), you can listen to the transcribed text. Details at the link.
- Instead of the “Show transcription” button, you can use the Ctrl+Enter key combination from the input field.
- Also available
Transcription is a recording of the sound of a letter or word in the form of a sequence of special phonetic symbols.
Transcription may not be of interest to everyone, but it is, without a doubt, useful. Knowing the transcription, you will correctly read an unfamiliar word without outside help. During classes, you can read the transcription of a word yourself (for example, from the blackboard) without asking others, thereby making it easier for yourself to assimilate lexical material, etc.
At first there will be errors in correct reading, because... There are always some subtleties in pronunciation. But this is just a matter of practice. A little later, if necessary, you will be able to transcribe the words yourself.
Transcription is directly related to reading rules. In English, not everything that is seen (letter combinations) is read (as in Russian and Spanish, for example).
When textbooks (mostly domestic ones) talk about reading rules, much attention is paid to the type of syllable. About five such types are usually described. But such a detailed theoretical presentation of the rules of reading does not greatly ease the fate of a beginner, and can even mislead him. It must be remembered that a good knowledge of the rules of reading is a great merit of practice, not theory.
Your attention will be presented to the basic rules for reading individual letters and letter combinations. “Behind the scenes” there will be some phonetic aspects that are difficult to convey in writing.
A little patience! Both transcription and reading rules are easily learned in a short time. Then you will be surprised: “How easy it has become to read and write!”
However, do not forget that, despite its wide distribution, the English language does not cease to be a LANGUAGE, full of exceptions, stylistic and other delights. And at any stage of language learning, and especially at the beginning, look into the dictionary more often.
Transcription icons and their pronunciation
| Symbols. Consonants |
Pronunciation of sound (similar to Russian) |
Symbols. Vowel sounds |
Pronunciation of sound (similar to Russian) |
| [b] | [b] | Single sounds | |
| [d] | [d] | [ Λ ] | [a] - short |
| [f] | [f] | [a:] | [a] - deep |
| [ 3 ] | [ and ] | [i] | [ and ] - short |
| [d3] | [j] | [i:] | [ and ] - long |
| [g] | [ G ] | [o] | [o] - short |
| [h] | [ X ] | [o:] | [o] - deep |
| [k] | [ To ] | [u] | [y] - short |
| [l] | [l] | [u:] | [y] - long |
| [m] | [m] | [e] | as in the word "plaid" |
| [n] | [n] | [ ε: ] | as in the word "honey" |
| [p] | [ P ] | Diphthongs | |
| [s] | [ With ] | [əu] | [ OU ] |
| [t] | [ T ] | [au] | [au] |
| [v] | [ V ] | [ei] | [ Hey ] |
| [z] | [z] | [oi] | [ Ouch ] |
| [t∫] | [h] | [ai] | [ouch] |
| [∫] | [w] | ||
| [r] | Soft [r] as in the word Russian | ||
| [ O | A sign of softness as in the Russian letter E (Christmas tree) | ||
| Sounds without analogies in Russian | |||
| [ θ ] | [ æ ] | ||
| [ ð ] | |||
| [ ŋ ] | Nasal, in the French style, sound [n] | [ ə ] | [neutral sound] |
| [w] | |||
Notes:
In many school textbooks and in some domestic dictionaries this sound is designated as [o]. But, in modern English dictionaries this sound is usually designated as shown in the table.
Diphthong is a complex sound that consists of two sounds. In most cases, a diphthong can be "broken" into two sounds, but not in writing. Since in many cases one of the component sounds of a diphthong, if used separately, will have a different designation. For example, the diphthong [au]: a separate transcription icon like [a] does NOT exist. Therefore, most diphthongs are not indicated by a combination of different transcription symbols, but by their own sign.
In many school textbooks and in some domestic dictionaries, this sound is designated as [ou], which is more clear. But, in modern English dictionaries this sound is usually designated as shown in the table.
This sign often denotes unstressed vowel sounds in transcription, regardless of the letters (combinations) that produce this sound.
Reading rules
English words have several types of syllables. However, to understand the entire system, it is necessary to remember and distinguish between the following two types: open and closed.
Open syllable ends with a vowel: game, like,stone- a vowel letter in a word is read the same way as in the alphabet.
Closed syllable ends with a consonant: pen, cat, bus- a vowel in a syllable gives a different sound.
Stress in transcription and words is indicated by a vertical line before the stressed syllable.
Single vowel sounds
| Sound | Rules |
| [e] | usually given by the letter e in a closed syllable: get [get], vet [vet] as well as the letter combination ea: dead [ded], pleasure [´ple3ə] Note: the same letter combination often produces the sound [i:] (see below) |
| [i] | usually given by the letter i in a closed syllable: hit [hit], kill [kil] as well as the letter y in a closed syllable: gym [d3im], cylinder [´silində] Note: the same letters in an open syllable make the sound [ai] (see below) |
| [i:] | appears in the following letter combinations: e + e (always): meet [ mi:t ], deep ; letter e in an open syllable: tree [tri:], Steve [sti:v]; in the letter combination e + a: meat [ mi:t ], beam [ bi:m ] Note: the same letter combination (ea) often produces the sound [e] (see above) |
| [o] | usually given by the letter o in a closed syllable: pot [pot], lottery [´lotəri], as well as the letter a in a closed syllable after w: wasp [wosp], swan [swan] |
| [o:] |
|
| [ æ ] | usually given by the letter a in a closed syllable: flag [ flæg ], married [ ´mærid ] |
| [ Λ ] | usually produced by the letter u in a closed syllable: dust [dΛst], Sunday [´sΛndei]. And: double: double [dΛbl], trouble [trΛbl] ove: glove [glΛv], dove [dΛv] Note: but there are also exceptions: move [ mu:v ] - (see below); flood [flΛd], blood [blΛd] - (see above) |
| [a:] | appears in the following letter combinations:
3. Rarely: salmon [sæmən] |
| [u] [u:] |
The length of this sound varies in most cases for historical reasons rather than for orthographic reasons. That is, for each word it is determined individually. This difference in longitude does not carry a huge meaning-distinguishing load, as in other sounds. And in oral speech it does not need to be specifically emphasized. This sound occurs in the following cases:
|
| [ ε: ] | occurs in closed syllables with the following letter combinations:
|
| [ ə ] | Neutral sound is produced by most unstressed vowels: vowel combinations: famous [feiməs], computer [kəmpju:tə] |
Vowel diphthongs
| Sound | Rules |
| [ei] |
|
| [ai] | usually occurs in the following cases:
|
| [oi] | usually occurs in the following cases:
|
| [au] | appears in the following letter combinations:
|
| [əu] |
2. the same letter combination often produces the sound [au] (see above) |
| [iə] |
|
| [eə] | give the following letter combinations:
|
| [aiə] | give the following letter combinations:
|
Consonants
| Sound | Rules |
| [∫] | There are several letter combinations that always produce this sound (among others):
|
| [t∫] | always occurs in:
|
| [ ð ] [ θ ] |
These two sounds are made by the same letter combination th. Usually, if this letter combination is in the middle of a word (between two vowels), then the sound [ð] appears: without [wi´ðaut] And, if it is at the beginning or end of a word, then the sound [θ] appears: thanks [θænks], faith [feiθ] |
| [ ŋ ] | The nasal sound occurs in the letter combination vowel + ng: sing [ siŋ ], hungry [ ´hΛŋgri ], wrong [ wroŋ ], hang [ hæŋ ] |
| [j] | softness in sound may occur in some cases, and not manifest itself in other similar cases, for example super [ ´s u: p ə] (see dictionary):
|
Elena Britova
Academic manager of the TransLink-Education company, certified trainer in speed reading and memory development.
The English alphabet has 26 letters and 44 sounds. If in some languages each letter represents only one sound, then in English one letter can convey up to four sounds, and in some cases even up to seven. Hence the favorite English saying: “We write ‘Liverpool’, but we read ‘Manchester’.”
In addition, articulation (movement of the tongue, lips, mouth) differs significantly from Russian. There are sounds similar to Russian ones, but when pronouncing them, the organs of articulation work differently.
If you want to get rid of your accent or at least get closer to speaking English, all the differences need to be taken into account. Here are some tips on how to improve your English pronunciation.
1. Learn the alphabet
Many adults consider this a childish exercise. But one day you will definitely be asked: “Please, spell your name.” This is where knowing the letters of the English alphabet comes in handy. In addition, abbreviations, street names, house and flight numbers may contain letters, and, for example, at the airport they will definitely be pronounced as in the alphabet.
2. Practice articulation when pronouncing consonants
Once you have mastered the letters of the alphabet, feel free to move on to studying the sounds they convey. Train yourself to use correct articulation right away. First learn to pronounce sounds individually, bring them to automaticity, and then move on to words, phrases and sentences.
In the English language there are consonant sounds that, at first glance (or rather, hearing) are pronounced as in Russian.
1. Check where the tip of the tongue is when pronouncing the sounds [d] - [t], [n], [r], [s], [z]. Does it hit your teeth? Congratulations, you can pronounce the Russian alphabet. Among the native English, the tip of the tongue at this time is on the alveoli (the largest tubercle on the upper palate). Give it a try. Now you have purely English sounds. Practice: bed - ten, not, rat, sun, zoo.
2. Draw a hare when pronouncing the sounds [f] - [v]. The upper teeth must be placed on the lower lip. Practice: fat - vet.
3. Remember that the [l] sound is always hard: London [ˈlʌndən].
4. When practicing the [w] sound, take a candle: this is the best way to learn how to pronounce it correctly. Curl your lips and stretch them forward (like little children stretch out for a kiss), and then smile sharply. Then this sound will come out. When training, hold the candle at a distance of 20–25 cm from your lips. If the flame goes out when you make a sound, then you are doing everything right. Practice: say the word well.
5. Warm your hands when practicing the [h] sound. It has nothing in common with Russian [x]. Imagine that you are very cold and are trying to warm your hands with your breath. You bring them to your lips and exhale. During exhalation, a light, barely audible English sound [h] is formed. As in the word home.
6. Practice the sound [ŋ] when you have a bad runny nose or imagine that you have one. There is no such sound in the Russian language; it is conveyed by the combination ng in English. Press your tongue like a spatula against your upper palate and release the sound through your nose. It’s a bit like [n] if you pronounce it when you have a bad runny nose. Don't forget that your tongue is still touching the alveoli, not the teeth. Practice: interesting [ˈɪnt(ə)rɪstɪŋ].
7. Be the snake and the bee to practice [ð] - [θ]. These sounds are absent in Russian and are formed by combining the letters th in English.
[ð] - voiced sound. Lightly bite the tip of your tongue with your teeth and pronounce the sound [z]. If during training your lower lip and tongue are ticklish, then you are doing everything right. If not, you may have bitten the tip of your tongue too hard, loosen your teeth a little. Say the word this [ðɪs], does it work?
[θ] - dull sound. The articulation is the same, we just pronounce the sound [s]. To practice the dull sound [θ], say the word thank [θæŋk].
3. Learn four types of syllables for correct vowel pronunciation
The reading of vowels depends on the type of syllable in which they are found:
- open (syllable ends with a vowel);
- closed (syllable ends with a consonant);
- vowel + r;
- vowel + re.
In the first type of syllable - open - the vowels are read as in the alphabet (this is where knowledge of the alphabet came in handy for us!). For example: plane, nose, tube, Pete.
In the second type, you need to memorize the pronunciation of each vowel:
- [æ] is an open sound, not long. The letter conveys it A in a closed syllable. Test yourself: sit at the table, straighten up, place one elbow on the surface, bend your hand under your chin. You will have some space between your chin and your wrist, if, of course, you straighten your back. Now we lower the lower jaw down so that it reaches the hand, and pronounce [e]. Practice with the word bag.
- [e] is often confused with the previous sound. When pronouncing [e], you just need to slightly raise the corners of your lips up, as if smiling slightly. These are two different sounds, and they are not similar to each other, and especially not to Russian [e]. Practice: pet .
- Short sounds [i], [ɔ], [ʌ], [u] are pronounced intensively, not into a chant: big, box, bus, book [bʊk].
In the third and fourth types of syllables the letter R is not readable, it only forms a syllable and lengthens the vowel sound: car, sort, turn.
, [ɔ:] - special sounds. Imagine that you are at an appointment with a doctor who is examining your throat. The root of your tongue is pressed with a stick and asked to say “Ah-ah.” This is exactly the position the tongue should be in when pronouncing the sounds [a] and [o]. If this makes you want to yawn, then you are on the right track! Try it now: car , sort .
4. Remember the correct accents
Most often in English the stressed syllable is the first. If you need to pronounce a word, but there is no one to ask or there is no dictionary at hand, put the emphasis on the first syllable. Of course, it’s better to immediately memorize words with the correct stress or check yourself in the dictionary.
5. Don't forget four important rules
- The English language completely lacks soft consonants.
- Voiced consonants are not devoiced at the end of a word.
- Vowels can be long (in transcription they are designated [:]) and short.
- No unnecessary - especially sharp - movements of the lips.
Learn a few phrases to practice correct pronunciation:
- Very well [‘veri ‘wel].
- World Wide Web or WWW [‘w əuld ‘waid ‘web www].
- Eleven benevolent elephants [ɪˈlevn bəˈnevələnt ˈelɪfənts].
- Stupid superstition [ˈstjuːpɪd ˌsuːpəˈstɪʃ(ə)n].
- Pirates Private Property [ˈpaɪrəts praɪvət ˈprɒpəti].
And remember: different sounds have a meaning-distinguishing function. For example, man (“person”, “man”) and men (“men”); ship [ʃip] (“ship”) and sheep [ʃi:p] (“sheep”) and so on. Many people read the word three (“three”) as (and this means “tree”) or (“freedom”), not taking into account that th [θ] is read differently, it simply is not in the Russian language (remember the exercise "bee"). Knowing the correct pronunciation of words, you will definitely not get into trouble!
On our website we present to your attention a module that is quite useful in learning English: Sound Word. With its help, you can easily find out the pronunciation of English words and their transcription. In order to use it you need to enter the word you need and press the button "listen!".
After a short pause, the module will give you a transcription of the given English word, its pronunciation and, of course, translation. For the convenience of English language learners, there are two pronunciation options for the word: British and American. You can also listen to the pronunciation of English words online.
What is transcription?
Phonetic transcription is how the pronunciation of English words looks (graphically) in writing. Absolutely every single sound is recorded separately. Phonetic transcription is indicated only in square brackets, and special phonetic symbols are used to write it.
Why is transcription of English words needed?
English transcription is always useful to know for everyone, without exception, for everyone who studies the language. This will give you an advantageous opportunity to read with ease and greater accuracy and, as a result, correctly pronounce an unfamiliar English word on your own, without resorting to the help of a teacher. All students of the English language are well aware that reading English words is a rather specific process, which is based not just on the usual “folding” of words from letters, i.e. both it is written and read, but rather on the transformation of certain letter combinations into correspondingly certain combinations of sounds. Naturally, there are also certain rules for reading and pronunciation of English words, which must be clearly known and impeccably applied in practice. But believe me, there are many more words that do not obey these rules in the English language. And here transcription comes to our rescue, which allows us to find out the correct pronunciation of an English word, and, as a consequence, its correct reading.