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 the consonants 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. When forming the same plural of nouns, it 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 placed 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.
Since learning English for children begins in elementary schools and kindergartens, it is worth giving practical examples to help children learn the correct pronunciation. It is worth saying that all exercises can be divided into listening exercises(based on understanding the pronunciation of the speaker and imitating him: teacher's speech, audio recordings) and playback exercises(sounds, syllables, words, phrases, sentences, tongue twisters, rhymes, short poems are used here).
Consider examples of articulation of English sounds that will be interesting for the child to perform. After completing a set of training exercises, children acquire articulation skills and subsequently work on phonetics is facilitated.
Exercise for pronunciation of sounds [p], [t], [k]:
Put a couple of pieces of paper on your palm, bring your palm to your lips (at a distance of 5 cm) and pronounce [p] in the words "pen", "ten", "keik" with a breath. When exhaling these sounds, pieces of paper should fly off the palm of your hand. To compare aspiration in English and its absence in Russian for words with sounds [p], [t], [k], let the child first pronounce the words "desk", "tempo", "case" in Russian, and then, as it were, in -English (these words are only the first sounds in English). This will show him the obvious difference in pronunciation. (Of course, this pronounced aspiration does not apply to all cases of pronunciation of the sounds [p], [t], [k]).
Zuki [t][d]:
Let the child pronounce these sounds at the beginning of the words tent, time, take, tall, teach, dance, dark, day, deal, dinner; in the middle and at the end of words: at, hat, add, factory; got, active, and, bad, bed, child, cut, flat, good.
Sound discrimination exercises (long and short) - [I]
How fast are the clocks? Like this: . How are they lagging behind? Like this: . Or the difference in pronunciation in owls it and eat. Suggest a small game: "If I say the word it, clap your hands once, and if eat, clap 3 times."
Sound [w]:
Let the child imagine a crying baby and try to say "wah-wah".
Sound [r]:
The dog growls when he drinks water r - r - dr - drink.
Sounds [z] and [p]:
Mosquitoes fly into the window and buzz, or a bee flies and buzzes like this: [p - p - p].
Sound [b]:
Throw pebbles into the river with your child (or imitate) and have him repeat the sound [b]. Always pay attention to how easy everything is to learn and how easy it is for him to succeed.
Sound recognition (for example, [t]):
"Clap your hands when you hear a word that has a [t] sound" and list the different words: bed, TVset, jet, book, tomatoes. Or "Count how many times the sound [z] occurs in the sentence":
Tom is not so brave as his brother.
Sound [g]:
Play geese, let the baby imagine how the geese screamed.
Sound [h]:
Clean grandma's glasses, have the child blow on them, pronouncing the sound [h]. If the sound is correct, then the windows should fog up. At the same time, try to compare "cold", "hut", "halvah" with Russians. Such methods of mastering English sounds on Russian-language material are very effective. For example, [d] - dom, dasha, Dяdya, [r]: fish, cancer, joyful.
Sound [m]:
Let the baby pronounce [m] as if he saw some kind of treat.
Sound [s]:
Blow air out of the balloon.
Listening Orientation:
Let the child repeat from each pair of words the one that was spoken.
play-played, stop-stopped
Rate-rated, skim-skimmed
Read the rhymes and end them with suitable words that you previously discussed with the child.
Eg:
Little Rat, Little Rat, give me your... (hat).
Dear Cat, Dear Cat, where is your ...(bed).
Poor Mike, Poor Mike lost his.. (bike).
Dirty Tad, Dirty Tad has no ...(flat).
Tad is not crazy, he is just ...(lazy).
A snake says ...(sh-sh-sh).
A bug sings ...(dzi:-dzi:).
You can come up with short poems with a rhyme of one syllable:
Sam is in a tram.
Mike is on his bike.
Now our town is brown.
Invent similar rhymes yourself or remove the endings from the finished ones. Correct your child's phonetic mistakes by repeating a line from a rhyme with the correct pronunciation. So the correction will not be so obvious.
You can also make up stories with sounds yourself and learn pronunciation from them.
As practice shows, children learn everything new with interest and enthusiasm. And although at the age of three years they do not fully understand and understand the reasons why they are spoken to, for example, in English, which is not at all familiar to them. But, unlike adults, they are happy to learn the language, without wondering why it is necessary. How to teach English to children because the process of cognition is important for the child, and not the result?
Psychologists and specialists in psychophysiology recommend starting, directly, training at the age of six. This has a positive effect on the further formation of the mental functions of the baby and stimulates general speech processes and the rapid development of memory. The methodology of how to teach English to children is based on 7 main provisions.
Successful Secrets to Teaching Children English
- Learning English should bring joy, both to a child student and an adult teacher. At the first stage of development, children listen more than reproduce, they recognize high notes and an elevated tone of voice very well. This indicates a positive attitude. A story about the surrounding world and a demonstration of familiar objects that have their own English names are required. Particularly deep knowledge of the English language is not needed at this stage, only positive emotions are important. Do not bother the child when there is no desire to listen, and do not demand much. Just rejoice in his real, albeit not great successes, and do not skimp on praise.
- The youngest are taught foreign language communication, not the language. We must remember that language is not a goal, but a means of communication. In order for a person to speak, he must have a need to do so. In other words, you need a motive for the statement and situations close to the child that you think over in advance.
- The selection of speech models should be carried out according to needs and age criteria. Respect the desire of the little one in choosing the subject. Let small dialogues gradually become habitual.
- Play and visualization are not only the most effective methods, but also a form of learning. Classes should be exciting, because it's great to have fun with your child, watching how subconsciously he, like a sponge, absorbs information, looking at pictures, and voices the heroes of a fairy tale.
- How to teach English to children, of course, using cognitive activities. Children discover the world through play. Adults must support and transform the expression of curiosity into a learning process.
- Classes in the system are the basic form of education for preschoolers. The introduction of the new, practice and consolidation, as well as the systematic repetition of the material will become the main types of work, this is required by the features and specifics of children's memory.
- And the most important point of how to teach English to children - Success breeds Success. For parents, the child is the kindest, smartest, quick-witted. In every action of the child, you need to find something that he does better, it is important for the child to remember this feeling of success, which will help in further learning English.
Young children learn English faster and more fluently than adults. This is explained, firstly, by the instinctive desire to imitate adults, since for them this is the main way of feeling the world; secondly, syncretism and complexity of children's perception, which makes it possible to master large volumes. Thus, teaching English is an organized process in the form of fictional, imaginary or real situations of communication, when the child develops a need and his own desire to use foreign language material learned through the game in personal speech.
In recent years, they begin to study English already in elementary school, when children still retained an interest in the educational process.Unfortunately, almost no attention is paid to phonetics in the school curriculum. As a rule, high school students speak good English, but their pronunciation only remotely resembles modern English. It is almost impossible to correct pronunciation at this age, so phonetics should be dealt with at the beginning of training.
In recent years, they begin to study English already in elementary school, when children still retained interest in the educational process and listened to funny stories and fairy tales with joy. If you come up with some interesting stories about English sounds, the lesson will be more interesting, and the story will be remembered by the child for a long time.
I will give a few examples of the description of the articulation of English sounds. They provide specific recommendations for staging sounds, but without complex terms. Each of the examples is a small phonetic exercise.
Cake with candles
Let the child imagine a birthday cake with candles. Ask him to "extinguish the candles" on the sound [p]. This sound is pronounced with a breath. When doing this exercise, give your child a small piece of paper. Ask the child to bring the sheet close to their face and make the sound [p]. If you pronounce the sound energetically enough, quickly closing and opening your lips, the leaf should deviate. The angle of deviation of the leaf during the pronunciation of this sound indicates how well this exercise is performed by the child.
How does the dog breathe?
Invite the child to portray a dog that is hot. In this case, the child will put the tip of the tongue on the lower teeth. Try to pronounce the sound in this position.
Sly little mouse
Ask your child to imagine how a small mouse tiptoes quietly around the room where the cat is sleeping, trying not to wake her up. Let the baby show how the mouse walks, pronouncing the sound [t]. This exercise is also suitable for group work. You can diversify it by asking one of the children to portray an awakened cat when she runs after a mouse. The teacher can also play the role of a cat. Also use a sheet of paper for this exercise.
The girl got sick
When staging the sound [k], we tell the child a short story: “Once a little girl was walking on the street. It suddenly began to rain. She didn't have an umbrella. She ran home through the puddles and got her feet wet. In the evening she began to cough - ".
Throwing pebbles
Invite the child to portray how he throws pebbles into the river. Pebbles will fall into the water, making the sound [b].
Play geese with your baby by asking him to imagine how the geese flapped their wings and screamed [g].
We warm pens
Invite the baby to warm the hands or exhale on the mirror or glasses [h]. If the sound is pronounced correctly, then the hands will feel warm, and the windows will fog up. Make sure that the child gets an almost silent English sound [h] and there is no overtone characteristic of Russian [x], when the back of the tongue is pressed against the soft palate in the oral cavity.
Let the baby close his lips and say [m] as if he saw something very tasty.
Invite the kids to show how bugs buzz when they fly or crawl in the grass.
Similar to the exercise about bugs, the child is invited to portray buzzing flies.
When pronouncing the sound [w], ask the child to remember how the baby cries. When performing this exercise, the child will pronounce the sounds "wa".
We blow off the balls
Have the children imagine balloons coming out of air.
Remind your child how the wind howls outside the window in winter. Ask him to make this sound.
At the doctor
Let the child imagine a situation in which he visits a doctor and shows him the neck. In order for the doctor to examine the throat well, the child needs to make a sound.
The exercises listed above are not mandatory, however, they greatly facilitate the work of the teacher of primary and secondary classes.
We start learning any foreign language from the alphabet. First, we get acquainted with the letters and their sounds, then we gradually try to pronounce these letters in a complex, smoothly moving on to the rules for reading these combinations. Full reading is our goal. The written design of words offers us a visual support for the material being studied. And having conquered this type of activity, we understand that now all facets of the language are available to us, because with the help of reading we extract any necessary information from the text. And with this information, we can learn whatever we want.
Reading in any language, not only foreign, but also native, develops our thinking, because on a subconscious level we remember how people communicate or behave in certain situations. Doors to any areas of knowledge are open to us. We are able to learn everything about what interests us. And a fairly high level of literacy among reading people is a well-known fact! Reading in English helps to practically master the language, contributes to the study of the culture of this language, helps our self-education. Just imagine! Works of foreign authors become available to you. You are aware of all the news in English that have not yet been translated. You get acquainted with any knowledge that would have remained unknown to you if it were not for the opportunity to read about them. An analysis of the educational activity of schoolchildren indicates that if students do not have well-developed reading skills, they poorly use the mastered language material in a communication situation.
How to start learning to read in English?
Basic reading rules for children
Teaching children to read in English should begin in two stages.
First: we learn the English alphabet, and it is possible not in alphabetical order, but starting with the letters used in words that the child has already learned and learned to pronounce well. For example, the words:
table, dog, cat, apple, water, tiger, lion, car, house, etc.
It is very important to start learning with understandable and familiar words: knowing the pronunciation and seeing the word itself, the brain learns to draw analogies, and the child's brain works intuitively and twice as fast as an adult.
How to teach the English alphabet
Learning the alphabet is easier to conduct on a card, which additionally provides a transcription of the sound of each letter.
How to remember the alphabet:
- We learn a few letters a day and use them in words.
- We note that the phonetic sound of a letter in the alphabet and a word can be completely different.
- We consolidate the learned letters with fun lessons.
Children learning the rules of English phonetics
The second stage begins at the very beginning of learning to read and runs parallel to it all the way. Children will learn the following rules:
- the same letters and letter combinations in words can be pronounced differently;
- some letters are written but not read;
- one letter can be read by two sounds, and vice versa: in a letter combination there can be 2-3 letters read by one sound.
All this is called phonetics, and in order to learn it, you need to know the rules of transcription and know:
- What's happened long vowels sounds:
those are the ones that are pronounced long.
- What's happened short vowels sounds:
are pronounced briefly, sometimes their sound corresponds to the Russian sound, and sometimes to a special, so-called neutral, intermediate between two adjacent (-o and -a, -a and -e) sounds.
- What's happened diphthongs and triphthongs:
These are sounds consisting of two or three elements.
- What's happened voiced and voiceless consonants:
English voiced sounds are more energetic than Russian ones and are not deafened at the end.
Reinforcing techniques for teaching reading
To explain the phonetic rules, it is desirable to have cards with the transcription of sounds in these categories.
Demonstrating the card, we memorize the rules for pronunciation of each sound, in accordance with Russian sounds. If there is no Russian analogue, then the pronunciation of the sound is signed in detail, indicating the location of the language or finding a similar sound.
For example, such a rule for pronouncing the sound [θ]:
When pronouncing the sound [θ], you need to position your tongue, as if you are going to pronounce the sound “s”, only place its tip between the teeth.
Or the following rule for pronouncing the sound [ə]:
The sound [ə] is pronounced as the middle between -o and -a, or unstressed -o and -a in the words “water” and “room”.
In the process of teaching phonetics, we fix the rules of reading on examples of words.
Learning to read in English means mastering this type of activity from the very beginning. A good basis for productive reading is an excellent knowledge of all letters with sounds, combinations of these sounds in various combinations. To master this material, it is necessary to carefully explain or analyze the rules of reading. It is very convenient when they are divided into categories and shown in the form of a table with the pronunciation of a particular sound and its variations. Learning to read actually begins with the second lesson, when children get acquainted with four letters at once in blocks. For the assimilation of each block I take three lessons. At the first lesson of the block, using a presentation and colorful pictures, students get acquainted with the letters, recognize their sound counterpart, and remember.
From the first lesson, a game fairy-tale situation is introduced: a magical city of letters “ Amagictownofletters ” . As you get to know the alphabet, letters are attached to a sheet of drawing paper, populating their houses. Each letter has its own clothes - sound, and some have several clothes in their wardrobe. For better memorization, I have come up with small fairy tale stories that help children learn the sounds of such English letters as: C, G, Q, A, I, E, etc.
For example: The letter E is often offended, and when her letter friends put in the last place in a word, she is offended and silent. Or this example: The letters C and G have two pairs of clothes in their wardrobe. They put on the most elegant clothes (sound analogues to the name of these letters in the alphabet) only when meeting with the letters E, I, Y. When meeting with the rest of the letters, they put on dresses - the sounds [k] and. The children themselves gave them nicknames - “ liar letters" .
Learning to read in English is impossible without the accumulation of vocabulary in a passive vocabulary. Of course, the more words we know, the clearer we read and the more competently we pronounce the presented sentences. Of course, it is worth starting to read immediately after mastering the alphabet, but you should not forget about memorizing new words. The use of game situations and ICT increases the motivation of students in learning a foreign language, attracts with colorfulness and novelty and creates a comfortable learning environment. Computer Tutorial“Professor Higgins. English without an accent” in the absence of a language laboratory helps to work out pronunciation. Often students themselves offer fabulous situations for memorizing reading, for example, diphthongs. Two years ago, a student suggested such a fabulous situation for learning to read the diphthong ou : O and U often go for walks in the forest and constantly lose their way home. They call for help, which corresponds to the Russian AU! When children come up with their own associations for memorization, this gives a 100% result in the acquisition of reading skills.
At this stage, tasks using a computer also help to master the principles of reading: “Take the words home” (the student must rank the words according to the type of syllables), “Remove the extra word” (or “Find the saboteur” students find a word that does not correspond to this type of syllable), “ Collect the cubes” (or “Build a house”, where students build a house from bricks - words that are the same according to the principle of reading), etc. Such a system of building lessons is one of the most effective means of teaching reading. The game has such a feature as versatility: the use of game techniques can be adapted to different goals and objectives. Game techniques perform many functions in the process of child development, facilitate the learning process, help to learn new material and unobtrusively develop the necessary competencies. And the active use of computer technologies in the classroom helps to increase the organizational and educational and methodological work of the teacher, intensify learning, actively teach - the student himself achieves new knowledge, increases student motivation, individualizes and differentiates learning, and creates a comfortable learning environment. By the way, in the process, knowledge that relates to word formation in English and its methods will be very useful. If you become familiar with suffixing and prefixing, conversion and compounding, it will be much easier for you to recognize unfamiliar words. Knowing the meaning of this word in any part of speech, you can easily understand the meaning of words derived from it. For example: polite - polite, impolite - impolite, politeness - politeness.
At first, learning to read in English should take place only with a visual demonstration of the correct version of this process. In other words, it is necessary, if possible, to listen to an audio recording of the proposed text created by a native speaker. It is necessary to pay attention to pronunciation, intonation, pauses, rhythm of speech. You can listen to this passage several times if you wish. As an option, competent reading of the text by the teacher as an example is suitable. If this is a lesson, you can listen to the whole class and determine who is better at the task at hand. And, of course, in the process of teaching reading, it is necessary to listen to each student in order to control his ability to this type of activity.
Learning to read in English also involves understanding what the text is about. To broaden your horizons, it is recommended to read texts of different genres and directions. In this case, the lexical material will also receive its worthy improvement. It depends on how deeply and in detail the material is understood, whether the person who reads it can use it in other areas of his life. To assess the degree of assimilation of the read, you can try to choose a title for the text of several words, but well reflecting the meaning of what was read.
Even if you learn English via Skype or study with a tutor in person, learning to read in English is impossible without independent work. Read as often as time permits. You can take any literature, as long as it is to your liking. First, you have to constantly rummage in the dictionary in search of an unfamiliar word. But, over time, you will learn to capture the main meaning of the text without translating individual words. And sometimes it is not required. At any stage of learning, reading should be interesting and understandable for the child, as well as pursue the goal of developing basic reading skills: decoding written language, highlighting the general meaning of the text, finding the requested information, drawing conclusions about the hidden context of the text and understanding the intentions of the author.
The very process of learning to read in English is quite complicated and requires not only knowledge, but desire and perseverance. It is not possible to achieve the desired result in one way, grab another. Just don't quit doing it halfway through.
Sources
- http://www.o-detstve.ru/forteachers/primaryschool/educprocess/2178.html
http://engblog.ru/teaching-reading
http://englishfull.ru/deti/chteniya.html
http://go.mail.ru/search?frc=purplecrow1&q=http%3Awww.bbc.co.uk%2Fchildren&gp=789701
E.I. Passov, N.E. Kuzovlev. Foreign language lesson. - M.: Glossa-Press, Rostov-on-Don: "Phoenix"; 2010 p.640.
Cameron L. Teaching Languages to Young Learners. -M.: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2001.
