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This blog has been designed to share interesting materials with my secondary EFL students (14-17) but you are welcome if you also find it useful to improve your English.
Showing posts with label pronunciation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pronunciation. Show all posts
Friday, 9 August 2019
Monday, 19 March 2018
English phonemic alphabet
This chart summarizes the phonemis in standard British English pronunciation:+
If you want to know the position of each of these sounds, check Bruce Myhre's images for both vowels and consonants.
If you want to know more about this phonemic alphabet you might try one of these text to phonemic symbols converters:
- https://tophonetics.com/ - It converts text in English to phonemic symbols and you can also listen to the audio of the passage chosen.
- http://www.photransedit.com/ - It converts text of any length to phonemic symbols.
Friday, 9 February 2018
English sounds
![]() |
| Phonemes of the international phonetic alphabet used in English |
When trying to learn the sounds it is always a good idea to have a good chart with all the sounds.
![]() |
| Pronunciation tips - BBC learning English |
The sounds of English section concentrates on those which can be confused by speakers of other languages.
In sum, this is an excellent site to improve one's English.
![]() |
| Phonemes of the international phonetic alphabet used in English |
When trying to learn the sounds it is always a good idea to have a good chart with all the sounds.
![]() |
| Pronunciation tips - BBC learning English |
The sounds of English section concentrates on those which can be confused by speakers of other languages.
In sum, this is an excellent site to improve one's English.
Thursday, 30 November 2017
Text in phonetic script
Can you guess what the original text in English is? Have a try:
| ˈjestədi ˈaɪ həd ə ˈɡreɪt deɪ | ˈfɜːst | ˈaɪ wəʊk ʌp ət ˈsevn̩ əˈklɒk ɪn ðə ˈmɔːnɪŋ ənd ðen ˈaɪ həd ˈbrekfəst | nekst | ˈaɪ red ə bʊk fər əˈbaʊt tuː ˈaʊəz | ˈleɪtər ɒn ˈaɪ dɪd səm ˈeksəsaɪzɪz ənd wɒtʃt ˌtiːˈviː fə wʌn ˈaʊə |
| ət wʌn maɪ ˈsɪstər ənd ˈaɪ kʊkt lʌntʃ ənd ðen ɔːl ðə ˈfæməli həd lʌntʃ təˈɡeðə | ðen | wi ˈwent fər ə wɔːk ənd rɪˈtɜːnd həʊm ət sɪks |
ˈɑːftə ðæt | ˈaɪ ˈstʌdɪd fə tuː ˈaʊəz bət ˈaɪ ˈdɪdnt ˈstʌdi frentʃ ɔːr ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ | ət naɪn əˈklɒk wi həd ˈdɪnər ənd ˈfaɪnəli wi ˈwent tə bed ət ɪˈlevn̩ |
Transcribe your own texts and hear them using one of these applications:
| ˈjestədi ˈaɪ həd ə ˈɡreɪt deɪ | ˈfɜːst | ˈaɪ wəʊk ʌp ət ˈsevn̩ əˈklɒk ɪn ðə ˈmɔːnɪŋ ənd ðen ˈaɪ həd ˈbrekfəst | nekst | ˈaɪ red ə bʊk fər əˈbaʊt tuː ˈaʊəz | ˈleɪtər ɒn ˈaɪ dɪd səm ˈeksəsaɪzɪz ənd wɒtʃt ˌtiːˈviː fə wʌn ˈaʊə |
| ət wʌn maɪ ˈsɪstər ənd ˈaɪ kʊkt lʌntʃ ənd ðen ɔːl ðə ˈfæməli həd lʌntʃ təˈɡeðə | ðen | wi ˈwent fər ə wɔːk ənd rɪˈtɜːnd həʊm ət sɪks |
ˈɑːftə ðæt | ˈaɪ ˈstʌdɪd fə tuː ˈaʊəz bət ˈaɪ ˈdɪdnt ˈstʌdi frentʃ ɔːr ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ | ət naɪn əˈklɒk wi həd ˈdɪnər ənd ˈfaɪnəli wi ˈwent tə bed ət ɪˈlevn̩ |
Transcribe your own texts and hear them using one of these applications:
- https://tophonetics.com/
- http://upodn.com/phon.php
- http://www.photransedit.com/online/text2phonetics.aspx (here you can choose RP or General American pronunciation)
Friday, 3 November 2017
Friday, 22 September 2017
Saturday, 2 September 2017
How to read numbers in English
BASIC NUMBERS
Remember that large numbers are separated by commas: 123,456,789 and decimals need dots: 1.25
MORE DIFFICULT NUMBERS
We don't normally write numbers with words, but it's possible to do this and, of course, this will show how we say the numbers.
In writing large numbers, American English uses a comma ( , ) to separate thousands, millions, etc. American English also uses a hyphen ( - ) to separate "tens" words (twenty, fifty, etc.) and
"ones" words (one, three, six, etc.)
Examples:
written said
1,011 one thousand eleven
21,011 twenty-one thousand eleven
721,011 seven hundred twenty-one thousand eleven
....................................................................................................................................
1,256,721 one million two hundred fifty-six thousand seven hundred twenty-one
31,256,721 thirty-one million two hundred fifty-six thousand seven hundred twenty-one
631,256,721 six hundred thirty-one million two hundred fifty-six thousand seven hundred twenty-one
....................................................................................................................................
1,492,638,526 one billion four hundred ninety-two million six hundred thirty-eight thousand five hundred twenty-six
41,492,638,526 forty-one billion four hundred ninety-two million six hundred thirty-eight thousand five hundred twenty-six
941,492,638,526 nine hundred forty-one billion four hundred ninety-two million six hundred thirty-eight thousand five hundred twenty-six
__________________________________________________________________
NOTES:
REFERENCE:
http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/cardinal-numbers.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_numerals
Remember that large numbers are separated by commas: 123,456,789 and decimals need dots: 1.25
MORE DIFFICULT NUMBERS
We don't normally write numbers with words, but it's possible to do this and, of course, this will show how we say the numbers.
In writing large numbers, American English uses a comma ( , ) to separate thousands, millions, etc. American English also uses a hyphen ( - ) to separate "tens" words (twenty, fifty, etc.) and
"ones" words (one, three, six, etc.)
Examples:
written said
1,011 one thousand eleven
21,011 twenty-one thousand eleven
721,011 seven hundred twenty-one thousand eleven
....................................................................................................................................
1,256,721 one million two hundred fifty-six thousand seven hundred twenty-one
31,256,721 thirty-one million two hundred fifty-six thousand seven hundred twenty-one
631,256,721 six hundred thirty-one million two hundred fifty-six thousand seven hundred twenty-one
....................................................................................................................................
1,492,638,526 one billion four hundred ninety-two million six hundred thirty-eight thousand five hundred twenty-six
41,492,638,526 forty-one billion four hundred ninety-two million six hundred thirty-eight thousand five hundred twenty-six
941,492,638,526 nine hundred forty-one billion four hundred ninety-two million six hundred thirty-eight thousand five hundred twenty-six
__________________________________________________________________
NOTES:
- In American English, the order of large numbers is thousand, million, billion, trillion, etc. (1,000; 1,000,000; 1,000,000,000; 1,000,000,000,000; etc.)
- In American English a thousand million is a billion, but in British English, a thousand million is a milliard.
- When saying large numbers, do not make thousand, million, billion, trillion, etc. plural. (WRONG: *twenty thousands dollars; *five millions people; CORRRECT: twenty thousand dollars; five million people)
- Commas separate thousands, millions, etc. (21,011-31,256,721-941,492,638,526)
- People often say "a" instead of "one" before hundred, thousand, etc. and they often add "and" before the last number (a hundred and twenty-one / a thousand and eleven)
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH (from Wikipedia)
| Common British vernacular | Common American vernacular | Common British vernacular | |
| "How many marbles do you have?" | "What is your house number?" | "Which bus goes to the high street?" | |
| 101 | "A hundred and one." | "One-oh-one." Here, "oh" is used for the digit zero. | "One-oh-one." |
| 109 | "A hundred and nine." | "One-oh-nine." | "One-oh-nine." |
| 110 | "A hundred and ten." | "One-ten." | "One-one-oh." |
| 117 | "A hundred and seventeen." | "One-seventeen." | "One-one-seven." |
| 120 | "A hundred and twenty." | "One-twenty." | "One-two-oh", "One-two-zero." |
| 152 | "A hundred and fifty-two." | "One-fifty-two." | "One-five-two." |
| 208 | "Two hundred and eight." | "Two-oh-eight." | "Two-oh-eight." |
| 334 | "Three hundred and thirty-four." | "Three-thirty-four." | "Three-three-four." |
ORDINAL NUMBERS AND FRACTIONS
Ordinal numbers are also used for fractions:
- 1/10 - one tenth
- 3/4 - three quarters
- 15/16 - fifteen sixteenths
Some numbers have special names in certain contexts:
0:
- zero: formal scientific usage
- naught / nought: mostly British usage
- aught: Mostly archaic but still occasionally used when a digit in mid-number is 0 (as in "thirty-aught-six", the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge and by association guns that fire it)
- oh: used when spelling numbers (like telephone, bank account, bus line [British: bus route])
- nil: in general sport scores, British usage ("The score is two–nil.")
- nothing: in general sport scores, American usage ("The score is two–nothing.")
- null: used technically to refer to an object or idea related to nothingness. The 0th aleph number (\aleph_0) is pronounced "aleph-null".
- love: in tennis, badminton, squash and similar sports (origin disputed, often said to come from French l'œuf, "egg"; but the Oxford English Dictionary mentions the phrase for love, meaning nothing is at risk)
- ace in certain sports and games, as in tennis or golf, indicating success with one stroke, and the face of a die, playing card or domino half with one pip
- birdie in golf denotes one stroke less than par, and bogey, one stroke more than par
- couple
- pair
- eagle in golf denotes two strokes less than par
- duo
- trio
- half a dozen
- a dozen (first power of the duodecimal base), used mostly in commerce
- A century, also used in cricket scores and in cycling for 100 miles.
- A ton, in Commonwealth English, the speed of 100 mph[5] or 100 km/h.
- A great hundred or long hundred (twelve tens; as opposed to the small hundred, i.e. 100 or ten tens), also called small gross (ten dozens), both archaic
- a gross (a dozen dozens, second power of the duodecimal base), used mostly in commerce
- googol (1 followed by 100 zeros), used in mathematics; not to be confused with the name of the company Google (which was originally a misspelling of googol)
1–0 British English: one-nil; American English: one-nothing, one-zip, or one-zero
0–0 British English: nil-nil, or more rarely nil all; American English: zero-zero or nothing-nothing, (occasionally scoreless or no score)
2–2 two-two or two all; American English also twos, two to two, even at two, or two up.
http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/cardinal-numbers.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_numerals
Wednesday, 23 August 2017
"Every Breath You Take" by the Police
ACTIVITIES
More songs and activities for English as a Foreign Language students.
- Write the words in three groups: break, day, face, make, play, embrace, say, stay, take, trace, aches and take.
/ei/
|
/eis/
|
/eik/
|
day
|
face
|
break
|
- Now complete the song with those words:
1 Every breath you __________
Every move you __________
Every bond you _________
Every step you _________
I’ll be watching you.
2 Every single __________
Every word you __________
Every game you __________
Every night you __________
I’ll be watching you.
3 Oh can’t you see
You belong to me
How my poor heart __________
With every step you take.
4 Since you’ve gone
I’ve been lost without a __________
I dream at night I can only see your _________
I look around but it’s you I can’t __________
I feel so cold and I long for your ___________
I keep crying, baby, baby, please
More songs and activities for English as a Foreign Language students.
Monday, 10 February 2014
IPA Symbols for English
The IPA is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin alphabet, even though certain symbols are taken from other alphabets. It represents oral language and it can be used to represent any oral language: English, Galician or Chinese, for instance. The IPA is particularly valuable for learners of languages which do not have a perfect letter-sound correspondence.
These are the symbols used to represent standard British English. Other varieties might require other symbols.
Monday, 27 August 2012
The sounds of English
![]() |
| English phonetic symbols - BBC Learning English website |
If you are interested in learning the phonetic symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet that English language has,
the BBC Learning English webside provides a good chart that summarizes them and
that can be downloadable in a pdf version.
When trying to learn the sounds it is always a
good idea to have a good chart with all the sounds.
However, this website provides many
other useful sections such as an introduction, the sounds of English, features
of English, quizzes and programmes. Most of the texts and audio files can be
downloaded so that you can continue your study work off line.
The sounds of English section concentrates on those which can be confused by speakers of other languages.
The sounds of English section concentrates on those which can be confused by speakers of other languages.
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