BUILDING BLOCKS

Book 2

PERFECT PRONUCIATION

Get Higher Scores on Exams! Improve your English! Learn English Easier! Learn English Faster! BY Thomas A. Dyer

INTRODUCTION Do you get frustrated because you do not know how to pronounce a word? Do you hate sounding bad when speaking to Foreigners? Are you shy and because you feel your English is poor, you dont speak in class or on the street? Do you want to improve you spoken English? Do you want to look at a word and be able to say it?

Pronunciation is the building block of good English!

Did you know that in the 1880s students were required to be able to look at a word and pronounce it? They were able to do this because they could see the sounds that make up English words. So, how can you as an English learner keep up?

The secret to learning new words and pronouncing them is by reading their sounds. are one of the forgotten methods of learning English. In American schools, teachers taught Phonograms and Phonics. In the early 1960s the practice of intensive word learning stopped in favor of the current whole word method used today. Most teachers today do not even know that it existed. This is one reason why American students English scores began to decline in the early 1960s. In the year 2000, many parents and teachers frustrated at the lack of English proficiency began to revive the Word Building methods. Many parents of both Native speakers and Chinese families started teaching at home these skills because of the low English scores.

PHONOGRAMS AND PHONICS What is a PHONOGRAM? A PHONOGRAM is a picture of a sound. It is made up of letters (patterns). It could be one or up to four letters. Why do we want use them? We could just memorize words. However, the English language has over 2 million words. So, would take a long time Nevertheless, what if we could look a word and the word would tell us how it sounds. Would that be a valuable skill? Would you like this skill? Would you get higher scores in your oral English classes? Get a better job or opportunity. Would you like to speak more fluent English? That is the reason for this book Inside this book are just the facts, the INFORMATION you need to look at a word and know how to pronounce it. The English language uses 42-48 pure sounds. These can have 71 patterns or letter combinations to make the sounds. (71 PHONOGRAMS) Chinese characters use about 250 radicals to modify a character. In English, however we add more characters to change the sound of a word and its meaning.

There is a system. The Orton Phonogram system. In the early part of the 19th century English was analyzed and broken down into 71 PHONOGRAMS. Almost 80% of English follows this system and it can be used to pronounce a large portion of the over 2,000,000 possible words in English. (Words from from other languages make up 20-30% of English) HOW TO USE THIS BOOK. IT is not a dictionary. (You should have one when using this book.) It is in 2 parts. Part 1 is PHONOGRAM to sounds. Part 2 is Sounds to PHONOGRAM. When looking at a new/unknown word you should look at its parts. Find the PHONOGRAMS. Pronounce each one slowly and separately. Then pronounce them together.Speed up your pronunciation to blend the sounds. Try to pronounce the word by doing this first. Then check yourself against the dictionary. This is called sounding out a word. After a short time, you will get confidence and not need the dictionary any more. This is a useful skill to have when taking oral English tests (IELTS, TOFEL) or when reading aloud. This is Book 2 of a series of four small books. Each the books shows a building block of English. Book 1 Word Building Book 3 Context is the KEY Book 4 Can you Remember it?

From a Single Brick Grows a Nation. To make the Future Study the Past.

Part 1: PHONOGRAMS to SOUNDS There are 71 Phonograms that can be further broken down to make 118 total PHONOGRAMS for English. Some PHONOGRAMS make more than one sound. This is why we sound out words to find the one that feels and sounds right. (yes, Feels right. A very important trick) Number 1 PHONOGRAM a SOUND short a long a The ah The aw the k The s the d the f the g The j the the the the ah long o long oo aw Example at tape want talk cat cent dig fast good gentle odd over do cost sit as quit big end even head it silent radio

3 4 5

d f g

the s the z the kw the b the sort e The long e the h the short i the long i the long e

8 9 10

qu b e

11 12

h i

Number 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

PHONOGRAM j k l m n p r t u

SOUND the j the k the l the m the n the p the r the t the the the the short u long u long oo short oo

Example just kind let met nice pet round tent up music true put vase love wet box yippee myth by baby zero her

22

the v the v the w the ks the the the the y short i long i long e

23 24 25

w x y

26 27

z er

the z the er of her

28 29

ur ir

the er of nurse the ir of first

nurse first

Number 30 31 32

PHONOGRAM wor ear sh

SOUND the er of work the er of early the sh

Example work early shut push friendship feet thin this may fail cow low out four you touch saw sauce

33 34 35 36 37

ee th ay ai ow

the long e the th th the long 2 letter a the long 2 letter a the ow the long o the ow the long o the long oo The short u the aw the aw not at the end the long oo the long u the long oo the long u the oy the oy not at the end

38

ou

39 40

aw au

41

ew

grew few neutral feud toy join

42

eu

43 44

oy oi

Number 45

PHONOGRAM oo

SOUND long oo short oo long o the ch the k the sh the ng the long e the short e the long a the ar the 2 letter k the ed the d the t the or the hw the long oo the long i the short i the long o of boat the long a the long e the long a the long e the 4 letter long a the 3 letter long i

Example

46

ch

check echo chef ring eat head break card pack graded loved mixed for when fruit guide build boat they valley veil ceiling weigh high

47 48

ng ea

49 50 51

ar ck ed

52 53 54

or wh ui

55 56

oa ey

57

ei

58 59

eigh igh

Number 60

PHONOGRAM ie

SOUND the long e the long i the 2 letter n the 2 letter n

Example field lie know gnaw reign write phonogram badge toe

61 62

kn gn

63 64 65 66

wr ph dge oe

the 2 letter r the 2 letter f the 3 letter j the long o of toe the 3 letter ch the tall letter sh the sh the zh the short letter sh the the the the the the long o long oo uf off aw ow

67 68 69

tch ti si

catch nation session vision special though through rough cough thought bough

70 71

ci ough

Conversation is the KEY to prosperity.

PART 2: SOUNDS TO PHONOGRAMS We will use words instead of the normal IPA (International Phonics) methods you are used to. This is to start you looking at the words as pieces and parts instead of a block of text. The examples will help you pronounce the PHONOGRAM and sound. Sound Sound Sound Name the short a the the the the the the the long long long long long long long a a a a a a a PHONOGRAMS a a ay ai eigh ey ea ei a o o a aw au ough b c ch ck qu c s d ed e ea Examples at cape pay pail eight they break veil want odd cost all paw cause thought bear cat school back mosquito cent sat dog loved bed bread

Sound

the ah the ah the the the the the aw aw aw aw aw

Sound

Sound Sound

the b the the the the k k k k

Sound

the s the s the d the d the short e the short e

Sound

Sound

Sound Sound

Name the the the the the the the the long long long long long long long long e e e e e e e e

PHONOGRAMS e ei ea ee ey y i ie f ph g gh j dge g h i y ui i ie igh y ui uy l m n kn gn pn

Examples be conceit meat feet key lady radio prairie far phone gate ghost jug badge charge hat hit myth build find pie sigh my guide guy leg man no know gnat pneumonia

Sound

the f the f the g the g the j the j the j the h the short i the short i the short i the the the the the the long long long long long long i i i i i i

Sound

Sound

Sound Sound

Sound

Sound Sound Sound

the l the m the the the the n n n n

Sound Sound

Name the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long o o o o o o o oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo

PHONOGRAMS o oo ow ou ough oa oe oo o ew ue ui ough ou eu p qu r wr rh t ed u ou u ew eu u oo v w

Examples no floor row four though boat toe food do dew due fruit through you neutral pan quiet rose wrap rhythm tab fixed fuss country music few feud put foot vase wet

Sound

Sound Sound Sound

the p the kw the r the r the r the t the t the short u the short u the long u the long u the long u the short oo the short oo the v the w

Sound

Sound

Sound

Sound

Sound Sound

Sound Sound Sound Sound

Name the ks the y the z the z the z the the the the the er er er er er

PHONOGRAMS x y z s x er ur ir or ear ar or sh ch ti si ci ce ch tch th th ng ow ou ough oy oi si wh

Examples box yard zoo as xylophone mothers hurry first word learning car order shut chic nation session special ocean charge batch thin this ring cow bounty bough boy coin vision when

Sound

Sound Sound Sound

the ar the or the the the the the the sh sh sh sh sh sh

Sound

the ch the ch the th the th the ng the ow the ow the ow the the the the oy oy zh hw

Sound Sound Sound Sound

Sound Sound Sound

IF YOU Can SEE IT! THEN YOU CAN SAY IT! IF YOU Can HEAR IT! THEN YOU CAN WRITE IT!