Phonemes, what are they?

27 Aug

Although they sound like something from the sea, they’re not. A phoneme is a sound. Just like the ‘z’ sound in ‘cheese’ or ‘knees’.

‘Cheese’ sounds like this:

ch = ʧ

ee = iː

se = z

‍ ‍So all of cheese = ʧiːz

‘Knees’ (the two round things on your legs)sounds like this:

kn = n

ee = iː

es = z ‍ ‍

So all of knees = niːz

If you find pronunciation difficult, we recommend learning phoneme sounds so you can see a word and know exactly how to pronounce it. (How to say it).

It may feel like ‘urgh. Another thing to learn!’ But we find it makes learning faster, like a scientist learning the periodic table for salt, carbon, etc.

And every new word you see in the future will be readable (you can read it) because you have the tools, like a mechanic fixing your car. (The person who fixes cars).

Go on, just try learning 3 to begin with. These are the most difficult ones for students:

ð = th

kt = ked

iː = ee

Here are the recordings of the sounds so you can practise your pronunciation, if you want to:

https://www.speechactive.com/listen-english-vowels-and-consonant-sounds/?v=8bcc25c96aa5

This is a great study sheet that can help you learn these sounds if you’re interested:

https://www.readingrockets.org/sites/default/files/migrated/the-44-phonemes-of-english.pdf