7 secret pronunciation rules your teachers never taught you

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7 Secret Pronunciation Rules Your Teachers Never Taught You (but You Should

Teach Your ESL Students)

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English spelling is at best confusing and at worst a hot mess.

It is no wonder so many ESL students struggle with making the connection between written words in English and how they are

pronounced. Sometimes there doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. I am a big proponent o! teaching the phonetic alphabet

to ESL students" primarily because I think it makes a big di!!erence in their ability to achie#e accurate pronunciation. $ut

sometimes the phonetic alphabet

is not an option. %ou might ha#e ESL students who are casually studying the language and do not

want to co#er any material so academic. %ou might opt out o! teaching the phonetic alphabet because you &ust ha#e too many otherthings to do. 'r it might be some other reason. (!ter all" how many dictionaries use the phonetic alphabet when listing the

pronunciation !or an entry) *hate#er your reason !or not using the phonetic alphabet" there is good news. (s unpredictable as

English spelling and pronunciation

may seem at times" there are some rules that your students can !ollow when they encounter

un!amiliar words. +ere are se#en simple spelling and pronunciation connections you can share with your students to help them

achie#e accurate pronunciation.

Remember Rules for Pronouncing Voels $e!ore going through these rules with your students" they will need to know the di!!erence between short vowel soundsand

long #owel sounds. I! you are unclear about these de!initions" look !or an e,planation in a standard English only dictionary orread about it here.

1 ! Voel "olloed b# a Single $onsonant at the End of a %ord &s Pronounced as a Short VoelWords that conform to this rule are often some of the first that students of English (as well as native speakers) learn

to read.-up has cup. an has ham. (ll o! these words !ollow the short #owel / consonant rule. %ou might see these words

represented in this way. .

2 ! Voel "olloed b# To $onsonants at the End of a %ord &s Pronounced as a Short VoelWords that conform to this rule may be single vowels followed by a consonant blend (see below for an explanation

of consonant blends) or those that are followed by two distinct consonants.%ou may see these types o! words

represented in this way. . Some e,amples include the !ollowing stops" want" hand" wish" and bark.
http://busyteacher.org/14764-how-to-introduce-phonetic-alphabet-schwa-ipa.htmlhttp://store.busyteacher.org/esl-books/listening-pronunciation-new-ways-to-teachhttp://busyteacher.org/8168-top-10-ways-teach-vowel-pronunciation-in-english.htmlhttp://www.abcfastphonics.com/long-short-vowels.htmlhttp://busyteacher.org/14764-how-to-introduce-phonetic-alphabet-schwa-ipa.htmlhttp://store.busyteacher.org/esl-books/listening-pronunciation-new-ways-to-teachhttp://busyteacher.org/8168-top-10-ways-teach-vowel-pronunciation-in-english.htmlhttp://www.abcfastphonics.com/long-short-vowels.html


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3 &f a Voel &s the "inal Letter in a %ord' &t &s Pronounced as a Long VoelA vowel at the end of a word may appear in a single syllable word or a multisyllabic word.Either way" the pronunciation

rule remains the same. ( !inal #owel at the end o! a word is pronounced as a long #owel. Some e,amples o! single syllable

words which !ollow this rule are go" pi" lo" be" and he. ultiple syllable e,amples include ago and ego. %ou might see these

words represented like this .

4 &f an E !ears at the End of a %ord' &t &s Silent The Preceding Voel (Searated from the E b# *ne or+ore $onsonants) %ill ,e Pronounced as a Long Voel

Silent e is one of the first spelling rules children learn in school and no wonder since it is so common in English.I!

you are teaching phonics" you might ha#e students underline or cross out the silent e and mark the preceding #owel as long.

%ou might see words which !ollow this rule represented in this way e. %ou can !ind e,amples throughout the English

language" but some o! them are hate" care" note" !lute" bite" nice" and ape.

5 &f To Voels !ear ne-t to Each *ther in *ne S#llable' the Second Voel &s Silent and the "irstVoel &s Pronounced as a Long Voel

We see vowel combinations all the time in English.( general rule as to their pronunciation is to say the !irst #owel and

ignore the second. 3hese #owel combinations come in all kinds o! match ups. %ou might see words which !ollow this rule

represented this way . English e,amples include true" beat" train" lea!" and load.

$onsider Rules for Pronouncing $onsonants 'ne thing to keep in mind when discussing consonant pronunciation are consonant blends.

( consonant blend is two or more

letters that are pronounced as one sound in English. Some blends are clearly two sounds which become one comple, sound

!or e,ample bl in black" tr as in atrophy. 3hey o!ten include the letters l" r" or s but not always. 'ther 6blends7 are actually
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only one English sound which is spelled by using two or more consonants. 3hese sounds include sh wish" ch chair" tch

watch and others.

6 &f *ne $onsonant "ollos a Voel in the +iddle of a %ord' &t &s Pronounced as the "irst Sound in theNe-t

S#llable

Where a consonant is pronounced in a word does make a difference in a student!s pronunciation

particularly if they

speak slowly.3hink about the di!!erence between pap8er and pa8per. learly the second is the correct pronunciation while

the !irst sounds" at best" strange" and at worst like a di!!erent word entirely. 'ther e,amples include tele8phone not teleph8

one" la8bor not lab8or" lo8cate not loc8ate and pro8tect not prot8ect.

7 %hen To $onsonants "ollo a Voel in the +iddle of a %ord' *ne Voel &s Pronounced at the Endof

the "irst S#llable and the *ther &s Pronounced at the ,eginning of the Ne-t Voel

"f course consonant blends act as one consonant sound but non#blend neighboring consonants will follow this

rule. *hen a consonant is doubled in the middle o! a word" it also !ollows this rule. Some e,amples include sub8&ect" tal8ly" ab8

&ect" top8ple" and ha98mat.

:ltimately" English is a complicated language with complicated rules o! spelling and pronunciation. 3hese rules" while generally true"

do ha#e e,ceptions. *hen you teach them to your students" be sure that they know these rules are not hard and !ast and thate,ceptions can be !ound to each o! them. 3hey may choose to use these rules to pronounce words they ha#e ne#er seen be!ore" or

they may use the rules to determine the spelling o! an un!amiliar word they ha#e heard pronounced. *hat matters most" howe#er" is

that these rules gi#e your students a place to start when they encounter a word that they do not know how to pronounce.
http://busyteacher.org/14846-7-worst-pronunciation-mistakes-esl-students-make.htmlhttp://busyteacher.org/14846-7-worst-pronunciation-mistakes-esl-students-make.html

7 secret pronunciation rules your teachers never taught you

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