A useful English lesson about vowels and consonants. - Learn English - Lesson 14 - with Mr Duncan

3,491 views ・ 2024-11-22

English Addict with Mr Duncan


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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In today's English lesson, we are going to look at something quite different.
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Something that is a part of English that we never really talk about, even though it is a very important part of using the language,
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especially when we are speaking It.
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Today we will take a look at the shape of words.That is to say, the way in which the letters of the alphabet create their own individual sounds within the words they form.
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Today we will look at vowels and consonants.
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What are they and why are they so important?
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In English, just like any other language,
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there are unique sounds that are used when speaking in that particular way.
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There are certain sounds that are only used in some languages.
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In English, there is a standard of pronunciation using certain sounds as well.
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They are normally divided into groups.
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First, we have vowels.
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They are the sounds that are made with an open mouth.
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We often associate vowel sounds with an open mouth.
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There are five vowel sounds in English.
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They are a e i o u
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The sound made by each letter is often described as a phonetic.
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The phonetic sound of each letter.
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This is the reason why we use phonetics whilst learning how to pronounce words.
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It is also important to remember that each letter has more than one sound.
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Let me show you how this works.
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Each vowel has two possible sounds..
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a - eɪ ə;
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a - eɪ ə; e - ee ɛ
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a - eɪ ə; e - ee ɛ i - aɪ ɪ
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a - eɪ ə; e - ee ɛ i - aɪ ɪ o - oʊ ɒ
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a - eɪ ə; e - ee ɛ i - aɪ ɪ o - oʊ ɒ u - yu ʌ
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eɪ - as in cake.
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ə; - as in animal.
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ee - as in ear.
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ɛ - as in egg.
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aɪ - as in island
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ɪ - as in insect
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oʊ - as in own
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ɒ - as in orange
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yu - as in use
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ʌ - as in under.
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It is also worth remembering that the combination of certain letters within a word can produce its own sound.
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For example, the word ‘sound’ has o and u in the middle.
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Together they produce... aʊ
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So the sound of a certain word is often created by placing two letters next to each other,
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or a combination of letters which are joined together to form a certain sound.
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Next we will look at consonants.
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Each one of these letters has more than one phonetic sound,
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which can quite often cause problems for those learning English as a second language.
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Some consonants are named in a way to make them different from each other.
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For example, the letter ‘w’ actually has a different phonetic sound than its given name.
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To use a ‘w’ in work, wonder, wish, and want.
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Its name is different from its actual pronunciation.
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There are 21 consonants in English, with some of them having hard to pronounce sounds, especially when combined together.
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They are b, c, d, f, g,
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h, j, k, l, m,
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n, p, q, r, s, t,
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v, w, x, y, z.
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It is worth noting that the letter ‘z’, when named, is pronounced differently in American English.
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Here in British English, we say ‘zed’, whilst in American English it is pronounced ‘zee’.
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Let's look at some examples of consonants in words.
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These examples are simple to read and pronounce, so feel free to repeat them after me.
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Okay, let's go
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B ball bank bite
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C carry cat cool
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D day date dip
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F fan fun fill
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G get go gun
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H hello hat hand
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J jump jam joy
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K kill kick kind
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L lick look let
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M me man mint
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N no net nap
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P put pat pen
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Q queue quit quiet
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Q and U normally follow each other in a word. (qu)
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R run rope rip
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S stop see sink
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T top tell tap
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The ‘t-h’ sound in ð this that there <i>and...</i> θ thought think thank
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V van vet veil
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W want weak work
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X xylophone xenophobia x-ray
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The x sound at the start of a word is normally pronounced as the letter z
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Y yes yell yellow you
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Z zoo zip zero
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The list of words I've just given you can be used as a guide to how consonants are pronounced in common English words.
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The hardest formation or combination of letters together in a word occur in such words as... ‘think’ ‘throw’ ‘thought’, ‘this’ ‘that’ and ‘there’.
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These sounds are called digraphs.
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A digraph is the combination of two letters put together to produce a unique sound.
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For example, the c-h in chair, the s-h in shop, or the p-h in phone.
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There are many unique sounds within English that are not used in other languages.
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My advice is to practise these sounds as much as you can.
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Daily practise really does help.
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The more you do it, then the easier they will become to say.
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If there are any words you want me to pronounce for you,
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then please leave a message in the comments section below.
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