50 rules of pronunciation

Pronunciation
Success
American English
Collected & Edited by Long Pham –
IZONE TEAM

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


Module 0 – The 10 key towards improvement
Number 1 – Practice and listen
-

When you listen to any recording/video, try to repeat them or speak along. Also, there will
be a lot of rules for you to remember, and therefore, practice and revise these rules on a
frequent basis, preferably after each half module.

Number 2 – Do not leave off word endings
-

English words can change their meanings dramatically when you assemble a different
ending. E.g. : light, like, life….; file, fight, fire…..  Leaving off word endings often leads to
confusion and ambiguity

Number 3 – Make a list of frequently used words
-

Come up with a list of frequently misspelled words and words that have slightly different
pronunciations (assess, asset, asset, ASET…)
Some frequently misspelled words: business, adjust, general, graduate, specific, severe,
general, popular…..

Number 4 – Open your mouth when you speak English
-

-

Proper English speaking involves a lot of mouth movements. If you watch the mouth of
native speakers when they speak, you’ll see that each sound produced will accompany a
particular mouth movement
Practice speaking very slowly, out loud, in a strong voice and exaggerate the mouth
movements for best results.

Number 5 – Don’t be afraid to speak
-

This may sound like a cliché. But if you don’t enjoy speaking English, you can never speak
well. It’s that simple

Number 6 Read aloud in English for 10 to 15 minutes everyday
-

The materials you use for reading out loud should be the sentences in this handbook. After
you’ve completely mastered the techniques put forward here, move on to practice other
paragraphs as you like

Number 7 – Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation errors

-

Of course you can hear yourself when you speak, but the sound coming to your ears will be
distorted. So, the best way to check whether you speak correctly is to record yourself and
listen again

Number 8 – watch the mouth movement of native speakers and imitate them
Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


-

Similar to point number 4, mimicking native speakers’ mouth movements is the best
practice to familiarize yourself with the way English sounds are produced

Number 9 – listen and repeat
-

IELTS tests, especially the Cambridge set, always feature Listening test with available scripts.
After listening for the test, try LISTEN AND REPEAT. Compare them with the original scripts
to spot any major differences

Number 10 – Be patient
-

Long Pham

Most importantly, be patient. Fixing your pronunciations involves a lot of time
commitment. It’s a challenge that cannot be completed overnight. So, stay patient and keep
practicing.

[Type text]

IZONE


Module 1 (Rule 1 -10) – Video 1 - The 15 Vowel sounds of American English
-

1 /i:/ please, seat, meet, believe
2 /i/ this, difficult, if, dinner,
3 /ei/ late, gate, baseball, stay, okay,
4 /e/ bed, men, dress, friend
5 /ea/ apple, man, stand, angry.

-

Group 1: from number 1 to number 5 – they’re called front vowel (your tongue is in front).
Your jaw opens wider on each vowel . (heat, hit, hate, het, hat)
6 /u:/ moon, shoes, room, blue
7 /u/ book, foot, full, push, took
8 /ou/ go, drove, slow, moment,
9 /o:/ always, tall, bought, thought
10 /a:/ hot, topic, office, modern

-

Group 2: from number 6 to 10 – they’re called back vowel (your tongue is in the back. Your jaw
forms a round shape and move back a bit with each vowel (boot, book, boat, bought, bot)
-

11 /ow/ & /^/ but, done, jump, love
12 /3:/ first, Thursday, girl, work
13 /ai/ time, while, nine, dining,
14 /au/ now, house, brown, announce
15 /oi/ enjoy, noise, boy, annoying
Group 3: the remaining words

- Rule 1 – the four relaxed vowels
- Voiced
o Tense: our tongue is tense and sometimes our lips are also tense
o Neutral/relaxed: our lips and tongues are relaxed in the back
o It is critical to know the difference between tense and neutral vowels. Otherwise, you
might be confused by words like fool or full, hot or hut, steel and still

o

The four relaxed vowels are






Long Pham

2 /i/,
4 /e/,
7/ow/ or /^/,
10 /u/

[Type text]

IZONE


- Rule 2 - /i:/ & /i/ (8 P.G.)
- E.g.: beach & bitch, sheet & shit
- It’s very important to discriminate these vowel sounds – this difference doesn’t exist in some
other languages like Vietnamese.

-

-

The difference lies in fact that one vowel is tense /i:/ and the other vowel is relaxed /i/
/i:/ please, steal & steel, me, see
o Usually spelt with ee, ea, ie, ei

o
o

Your lips must be tense and your tongue must be tense in the back of your mouth.
Put your fingers right in the back of your jaw on your throat; when you produce the
sound, your fingers should be moving a bit

o

Another practicable way to practice this vowel sound is to smile (like when you say
“cheese”): sheep, sheet, lead, feet, feel

/i/: if, different, this, think
o Usually spelt with I, y (in the middle of the word like system, gym)

o
o
o
-

Leave, live
Sleep, slip
These, this
Sheep, ship
Sheet, shit
Lead, lid
Beat, bit
Steal, still

Sentence practice:
Differentiation
o Can you feel it?

o
o
o
o

o
-

When the sound is produced fast, it can sound like /ư/

Vowel pairs - Differentiation

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

Your tongue and your fingers will not be moving. Also, your lips should be relaxed.
Rather similar to the /i/ in Vietnamese

Can you fill it?
Did you heat it?
Did you hit it?
He doesn’t want to leave
He doesn’t want to live

Sentence practice 2

o
o

o
Long Pham

The beans have been cooking since six o’clock
Sit in that seat by the window
We ate our meal, by the mill

[Type text]

IZONE


o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

The seal will live in the ocean.
Tim’s team grinned after seeing the green field.
Pip and Pete shipped the sheep cheaply
Those bins are for Bill’s beans.
Does Jim still steal Jill’s jeans?
The girls put concrete on Jill’s sneakers.
Pick cherries at their peak or you will eat the pits.

Mix – Practice saying these sentences (a little slow for the first time and speed it up for the 2nd

time) – Concentrate on your mouth movements

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

She was feeling sleepy after eating the big meal
These three people speak Chinese
We love the green fields and the beach breezes
Steve believes he will see Peter this week
I will leave the East Coast in three weeks
There are six filthy dishes in the kitchen sink
Mr. and Mrs. Smith lived in India for six years.
Bill took some interesting pictures on his trip to Italy last spring.
The winter wind will bring a big chill
Do you think that this swimmer has the ability to win?

-

Remember that the main difference between these 2 vowels is not that one vowel is long and
the other is short, but rather one vowel is tense and the other is neutral/relaxed.

-

Even a relaxed vowel can sometimes be prolonged if the word is stressed. E.g.: wow, your house
is big

- Rule 3 - /a:/ & /ow/
- /a:/ can be a problem to a lot of people because sometimes /a:/ can be spelt with the letter /o/.
E.g.: hot, stop – these two are pronounced exactly the same as the /a:/ in father, army or watch

-

-

The o and the a have similar sounds frequently, which is the /a:/

o

To create the /a:/ sound, open your mouth wide. Keep your tongue at the bottom of
your mouth and keep your tongue at the bottom of your mouth touching the bottom
teeth.

o

This vowel is usually longer than most non-native speakers tend to make it. E.g.: stop,
that’s impossible. Particularly, if it’s a verb or a noun, we prolong the “a:” in the
stressed syllable. E.g.: that’s impossible, that’s my new job.

“O” words that are pronounced with /a:/ (these can be confusing, so take your time to get
used to them)

o

o

Long Pham

Hot
Top

[Type text]

IZONE


o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

Sock
Mop
Product
Solve
Problem
Almost like you punch yourself in the stomach to make a tiny little noise.

Commonly spelt with letter u (but, fun, number) ou ( cousin, country)
Some other: love, son, other, done
Shot, shut
Don, done
Lock, luck
Cop, cup
Not, nut
Robber, rubber
The modern novel is very popular.
Tom will watch hockey with his father.
John will probably study biology in college.
I will not bother to respond to Tom’s offer.
If you gossip about your boss, you might lose your job.
Bob opened the box and followed the instructions
Tom put some cotton, rocks and doorknob in his locker
His mom made a concrete model of a hockey rink

Sentence practice /^/ sound

o
o
o
o
o
-

Not
Blob

Sentence practice /a:/ sound

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

Follow

Vowel pairs – differentiation

o
o
o
o
o
o
-

Probably

/ow/ & /^/ - neutral sound: lip & tongue neutral at the back. There is hardly any movement.

o
o
o

-

Stop

We must discuss this with the other judges.
My buddy Doug is a wonderful drummer.
On Mondays he plays the drums in that club.
On Sunday I had duck for lunch with my cousin
He doesn’t study much and he loves to have fun.

The spellings can be confusing at times, so, it’s best to look up for word meanings and
pronunciations in Oxford dictionary.

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


- Rule 4 – “pool” or “pull” (lesson 10 P.G.)
- /u:/ - tense
o Commonly spelt as oo (food, moon), ue (blue, true)
o For /u:/, your lips move forwards like you’re kissing someone.
o
o
o
o
o
o

o
o
o

-

Blue
Booth
News
Juice
Ruler
Food
Choose
Mood
Moving

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

/u/ - neutral -

o

Common spelling pattern oo (look, took, shook), ould (would, could, should), u (push,
pull)

o
o
o

Look at the good book
Distinguish “food” & “foot”
The following are words that have “oo” spellings but are produced with “u” sound
o
o
o
o
o

Foot
Took
Cook
Shook
Stood

o
o
o
o
o

-

Note: lower vowels “uh” – don’t skip the w in these cases
o Wood
o Would you help me?
o Holywood, California

-

Word pairs practice
o Food, foot

o
o
o
-

Loop
Knew
Tooth
Smooth
Pool
Moon
Shoes
Zoo
Grew

Good
Look
Book
Wool
Swoosh

Fool, full
Pool, pull
Push, pull

Practice some sentences: the first slow, speed up for the 2nd time
/u:/

o
Long Pham

The report was due on Tuesday at noon.

[Type text]

IZONE


-

-

o
o
o
o

He knew the values of those 2 suits.

o

o
o
o
o
o

The woman in the wool pullover is good-looking
You should walk in the woods

The crew uses a lot of new tools.
In the future, there will be new school rules.
Susan wore her new shoes to school.

/u/

It would be good if you could help me
You should walk in the woods
He took a good look under the hood
He spent his childhood playing football

Mixed

o
o
o
o
o
o

He took a good look under the hood and found a flute

Julie enjoys good book after school
He put his foot in the new boot
She took her students to the brook to wash their shoes
We pulled him out of the swimming pool.
The fool ate until he was full

- Rule 5 – /ae/ - as in “apple” & /au/ (10 P.G.)
/ae/
o Your lips are open, your tongue is down and tense
o Visualize you’re saying /a:/ with a smile (open your mouth wide)
o In British English, this sound very frequently resembles /a:/
o The common spelling pattern for this word is the letter a
 Apple, angry, man, fat, dance
 Los Angeles, class, random, answer,
o If it’s a noun or a verb, make sure that’s it is prolonged
 “I can’t stand that class”
 Last January, Adam travelled to Los Angeles, California
- Extra word practice
o
o
o
o
o
o

Long Pham

Back
Dad
Fax

Value
Sat
Hatch

o
o
o
o
o
o

[Type text]

Jacket
Taxi
Apple
Catch
Rabbit
Tack

IZONE


-

Sentence practice
o Jack lacks cash because of a bad gambling habit

o
o

o
o
o
- /au/
o
o
-

-

I brought my black jacket on my trip to France
My family understands that I can’t handle that matter.
The fat cat wore a jacket
Pack your sack and bring your magnet
He sang about an actor named Jack
This is an important sound! If mispronounced, it can often make you misunderstood.
Begin with the /ea/ sound as in “hat”. Then, slide your mouth forward to form a “w”
sound. E.g. downtown

/AU/ practice
Now
House
Round
Loud
Gown
Sound
Ouch
Out
Found

-

South
Ounce
Rebound
Mouth
Bounce
Flower
Thousand
Spout
Count

Sentence practice:

o
o
o

The brown couch is downstairs.
Her house is on the South side of the mountain
I was proud of the sound that came out of my mouth.

- Rule 6 – “/o:/
o Your mouth forms an oval shape
o Don’t push your lips forward too much, don’t say “oo” (British speakers do this and it is
strictly not American English)

o
o
o

In British English, this sound is very different from American English.
For instance: tall, fall
The common spelling pattern for this sound is




o

“au” – automobile, August, audience, applaud
“aw” – law, saw, awful

Sentence practice



Long Pham

“al” – tall, small, always

He paused in the hall to talk with Paul
The author talked to the small audience.

[Type text]

IZONE


 We all thought you bought it at the mall

 It’s awful that he always breaks the law
 He’s exhausted because he has been walking all day long
- Rule 7 – “/ou/ as in most and /ei/ as in eight (9 P.G.)
o /ou/ combination of 2 sounds /o/ and /u:/, therefore you must move your mouth
forward

o
o
o
-

O: post, moment, go
Ow: flow, slow, show
Oa: road, boat, soap
No, I don’t
Don’t go
So slow
Almost over

Sentence practice:
o The lonely soldier wrote home.

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

/ou/ go, hole, ghost,

Word practice:

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

E.g.: No, I don’t
/a:/ hot, god, job

The wind mostly blows over the ocean
Do you know who own most of those homes?
Let’s watch the show in slow motion
He sold both of this boats.
I don’t know where the hole is on the coat
Does Joe know how to drive on the road?
I need to blow my nose when I have a cold.

/ei/ imagine you start with an A and glide up to an E (AE)
Word practice

o
o

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Age
Aid
Eight
Able
Chain
Date
Eighteen
Fake
Lazy
Made

Baby
Gain
Change
Gave
Nation
Day
Paper
Angel
Basic
Face

o

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


-

Sentence practice
o The ape gave the trainer a cane

o David began shaving when he was eighteen
o The rainbow appeared when daylight changed.
o The baby snake lived in a painted cage.
o My neighbor’s basement was changed from blue to beige

o Hey, take away the strain! Weigh the gains of a great break with Lazy Day Vacations.
- Rule 8 – “/owr/ & /3:/ as in “her”
o Produced with the /ow/ sound plus /r/
o The common spelling for this sound can be any vowel plus the “r”: er, ar, ear, ir, or.
 Er: her
 Ar: grammar
 Ear: learn, heard
 Ir: bird, first, girl
 Or: work, worry
 Ur: nurse, hurt,
- Word practice:
o Work early
o Learn the words
o Early bird
o Perfect world
- Sentence practice
o It’s your turn to work early on Thursday
o I’m certain that Mr. Turner has courage
o I heard that the first earthquake was the worst
o Don’t worry about learning those German words
o The early bird always get the worm
- If there is a vowel before the r, chances are the word is pronounced as “owr”
- Rule 9 – understanding stressed vowels (13 P.G)
- Vowel length: American vowels can sometimes sound very long and louder if the syllable is
stressed or if the word is stressed.

-

Stressed words are often longer, louder and with a ’
Aim to prolong the vowels in the following words

o
-

E.g.: banana, Canada, biology, photography

The same things happen when the word is stressed. Generally, we stress verbs and nouns –
often the key words.

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


-

E.g.: I love my new class
o The word is class a noun, so we it must be prolonged and spoken a bit more loudly.

o
o
o
o
o

I love it
I have to call him
You’re really tall.

It’s hot.
Let’s go to the park.

-

Stressing 2 words:
o I got a job at the hospital

-

English is a very musical language. As we speak, our words go up and go all the way down, much
like music does. Having proper stresses keep your speech interesting and easy to listen to,

-

Listen to the following sentences:
o Many speakers of English use a flat intonation pattern or monotone, this can create
uninteresting and misunderstood speech. Everything is very flat
 Monotone speech can be very boring to listen to.

-

Listen to the following advertisement:

o

-

Have you ever tried one of Diane’s Donuts? They are so delicious. I have eaten many
different kinds of donuts, from all over the country? I have eaten many different kinds

of donuts, from all over the country. However, I have never tasted anything, quite like
Donuts made by Diane. I have been told that she uses the finest and freshest
ingredients that money can buy. The best flower, the best eggs and the best milk. I am
sure that once you taste these incredible donuts, you will run and tell all of your friends.

Compare these sentences
o Joe drinks cheap wine

o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Sue only drink expensive wine
Don’t forget his birthday
We would never forget his birthday
She’s planning to leave tomorrow
He made plans to leave a month ago
The teacher’s meeting is at 9 a.m. tomorrow
The students announced that they will never have a meeting.

- Rule 10 – understanding reduced vowels
- Contrary to the stressed vowels, many vowels are reduced in speaking
- Reduced vowels are not pronounced fully
- Many vowels can sound like /ow/ when it’s part of the reduced/unstressed syllable
o E.g.: symbol, local, record, record

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


-

-

-

The same things happen when words are reduced within sentences. We stress the key words
like nouns and verbs, we reduced the little less important words like: prepositions, articles,
modal verbs.

o
o

Preposition: in, on, at, for with, buy

o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Look at me

Modal: can, could, should, should have, has

E.g.
I’d like to talk to you
I’m looking for you
Let’s meet at two o’ clock
I’d like to talk to the pilot
Let’s meet for breakfast

I’d love to go for a walk
Remember: reduced syllables regularly have the /ow/ sound (sometimes the /i/ sound)

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


- Module 2 (Rule 11 -25) – Video 2 – Consonant sounds
o Some of the consonants may not exist in Vietnamese
o Even though some of the consonants may exist in Vietnamese, they are pronounced
slight differently with an American accent.

o

The tongue is in a slightly different position or the lips move more firmly or softly; or the
vocal cords are vibrating slightly differently.

o
o

All of these factors affect the American consonant sounds.
Another reason could be the sound exist in Vietnamese, but it never appears at the end
of the word or the middle of the word. So when you say these letters, you don’t say
them the way you should with an American accent.

- Rule 11 – fully pronouncing each sound.
- You must fully pronounce each consonant sound. Don’t take any shortcut
- Most of us are not aware with what we are doing with our mouth when we’re speaking our
native language.

-

When you learn English, it becomes very important to note mimic the mouth movement of
native speakers.

o
-

-

E.g.: I need five dollars

If you tend to speak quickly in your native language, be especially careful when you speak in
English (don’t mumble or your mouth still when speaking)
It’s essential to develop an awareness of what reapply happens in the mouth when we speak
English.

E.g.: p, b – you have to open and close your mouth when pronounce these consonants –
probably (lips open and close 3 times)  don’t take any shortcut
E.g.2. l (la, la), n (nasal sound) – In general – your tongue must touch your upper teeth 3 times.
Practice saying the following numbers (move your lips fully and try every consonant)
o Seven
o Twelve

Rule 12 – voiced & voiceless
Depends on the vibration of your vocal cords.
Affect your pronunciation of your –ed ending, the –s ending and the vowel length.
The best way to test whether a consonant is voiced is to put your fingers on your throat – you
can feel your vocal cords vibrating if it’s a voiced consonant.

o

Paired consonants:

S
F
Th (as in thing)

Long Pham

Z
V
Th (as in this)

[Type text]

IZONE

P
T
K
Ch

-

B
D
G
D3

Many words contain both voiced & voiceless consonants, therefore you must switch promptly.
E.g.: five. – Give me five dollars.

- Note the vowels before the voiced sound is longer: ice, eyes (the vowel sounds in ice are
shorter than in eyes) –

o Back, bag
o Safe, save
o Pick, pig
o Lock, log
o Safe, save
o Light, lied
o Leaf, leave
o Cup, cub
- Rule 13 – ‘th’ sound (3. P.G.)
- One of the most difficult sound for people to make because it doesn’t exist in most other

languages.

-

When we produce the “th”, the tongue position is the most important thing you need to know.

-

Be careful that your tongue doesn’t touch too hard your upper teeth (which will block the air
friction)

-

Common mistake - distinguish these:

What is the tongue doing exactly? The tip of your tongue is lightly touching your upper teeth &
there is an airflow coming out when your tongue touches the upper teeth.

o
o
-

th (think), s & t
Th (this) & z

Note: for practice purpose, you can stick your tongue out fully to familiarize yourself with the
sound. Later on, you can just contacting your tongue with your upper teeth. Sticking your
tongue all the time is not realistic and will slow you down

o

E.g.: thank you for the birthday present

-

The “Unvoiced Th” sound: flat tongue protruding through your teeth. Maintain a steady air
stream. Stretch out the “Th” word.
o For practice purpose, think of the word thumb as having two beats

-

Unvoiced “Th” practice words
Beginning

Long Pham

Middle

[Type text]

End

IZONE


Thanks
Thick
Thunder
Thursday
Think

-

-

Voiced “th”
Beginning
The (the book)
That (that house)
They (they came
over)
There (there it is)
This (This is my nose)
Those (Those boys
are good)
These (these are my
parents)

Middle
- Smooth
- Bathe
- Breathe

Bath
North
Beneath
Fourth
South

Practice phrase

This and that
A tablecloth
Winter clothing
Athens, Greece
That’s the one
Her skin is smooth
Thirty days’ notice
A famous author
Here and there
False teeth
Thread and needle
A thoughtful gift
Thunder and lightning
Thumbs up

Sentence practice
o Therma arrived in town last Thursday

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

o
-

Anything
Bathmat
Toothpick
Athletic
Mouthwash

I’m having troubles threading this needle
I need 33 thick thermometers
The thing they like best about Athens is the weather
This thrilling novel was written by a famous author
He will be through with his work at three thirty
Now and then, she likes to buy new clothing
They thought they were going to Northern Spain
He’s revising the plan to travel to Southern Europe
I’m thirsty. Is there anything to drink in this place?
I thought it was on Thursday at three thirty
This is my fourth month studying Math.
Both my father and mother are healthy
I think Mathew lives in the North

After all, remember it is the position of your tongue touching your teeth lightly.
THR blends
o Thread “thread the needle”

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


o
o
o
o
o
o

Throw “Throw the ball”
Throat “my throat is sore”
Thrill “a thrilling ride”
Three “give me three more days”
Threw “he threw the balls”
Throne “the King sits on a throne”

-

Paragraph practice

-

Rather than risk the health of the athletes, they thoroughly checked the thousands of
thermometers to insure their worthiness; otherwise they needed to be thrown away.

-

Th exceptions – although the following words are spelled with “th”, they are pronounced as “t”

o Thomas

Nurse Thatcher was thankful it was Thursday. She knew that on Thursday she had to deliver
thirty three boxes of thermometers to the North American athletic club. They thought that
thermometers were necessary for testing the hydrotherapy baths. This was thought to benefit
the athletes with arthritis. The athletic trainers required authorization to provide hydrotherapy
to the youthful athletes with three bulletin boards with thumbstacks throughout the athletic
clubs.

o Thompson
o Thailand
o Thames
o Esther
- Rule 14 – the American l sound
- Say “la, la, la, la, la”- your tongue should be going up and down your upper teeth
- When the l is at the end of the word, it’s a little bit more difficult than that. Your tongue is
relaxed and it touches right behind the upper teeth and it stays there. E.g.: I will call Bill

-

Note that when placed at the end of words, “l” comes from the tongue movement, not
placement.

-

The American “l” is prolonged – (softer and longer)
Word practice:
Beginning
Lunch
Local

London
Learn
Large
Life
Lobby
Library
Lucky
Lift

Long Pham

Middle
-

End
Inflation
Believe
Volume
Glue
Elevator
Solve
Pulling
Flood
Delete
Elect

[Type text]

-

Will
Ball
Tall
Little
Call
Small
Control
Bowl
Apple
Miracle

IZONE


-

-

Laugh
Long

-

Powerful
Control
Financial
People

I”ll call Bill to tell him about the film
I feel terrible about the political scandal

I think I’ll be able handle it by myself
You’ll do well at school
The lollipop fell into the cool water
Her driver’s license was pulled out of the blue golf bag.
Blake’s bowling ball fell under his tools.
Carl could not locate the lemons or the limes.
The school was a mile away from the hill
The golf club was made of steel.
Al’s goal was to play baseball with Carol
A certified letter was delivered for the enrollment list
It was revealing to look at the smiling lawyer.

“Fl” Blend poem

o
o
o
o
-

Alive
Colour

Sentence practice

o
o
o
o
o

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

-

A flea (chấy) and a fly, flew up in a flue
Said the flea, “Let us fly”
Said the fly “let us flea”
So they flew through a flaw in the flue

Using will
o Will you empty the garbage?

o
o
o
o
o

Will you ask her to clean the kitchen?
Will you prepare a meal for the children?
When will you begin your studies at college?
When will she purchase her dress for her weddings?

Why will he ask them to stay late at work?

- Remember, prolong the l and keep it behind right behind the upper teeth.
- Rule 15 – the American R sound (1 P.G.) and R blend (link to Rule 24)
- Say the “R” in 2 different ways and define which one is the American R
o Four
o Here
o Teacher
o Robert

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


-

The first thing you need to know is that the American R is never silent, even if it’s at the end of a
word.

-

In British English, people don’t generally pronounce the final r at the end of words

o
-

How do you product the American r

o
o
o
o
o
-

Teacher, four more
The tip of the tongue should never touch the top behind your upper teeth
The rolling “r” is Russian, don’t do this – that sounds like American accent to foreign
speakers.
Curl the tip of the tongue and pull it back
Your mouth and lips move forward like you’re going to kiss.
Also, the “r” is not silent even before another consonant. E.g. learn, German

Word practice
R at the beginning of words

o
o
o
o
o
-

Rock
Rip
Reach
Road

Rain

o
o
o
o
o

Rich
Rome
Raise
Robe
Rice

o
o
o
o
o

Four
Air
Year
Turn
Poor

R at the end of words or after a vowel

o
o

o
o
o

Car
Far
Star
Door
Bear

-

R in the middle of words

-

Very
Direction
Arrange
Erase
Correct
Marry
Garage
Original

-

Hurry
Zero
Marine

Berry
Operation
Caring
Arrive
Everyone

R blend
-

R is the strongest sound of the blend.

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


-

When the blend is at the beginning of a word, your mouth prepares for the “R”, by coming
forward even before you say the word.
R blend at the beginning of words
Training
Print
Trust
President
Trip
Product
Great

Cracker
Tropical
Crawl
Bring
Break

-

R blend in the middle of words
Training
Trust
Trip
Great
Tropical

-

Bring

-

Sentence practice:
o The story he read on the radio was incorrect

-

o
o
o
o

o
o
o
o
-

Her career in the law firm was permanent
Richard and Brooke took a ride in their brand new Ranger Rover truck
Everyone will respect the royal family when they arrive at the airport
There computer isn’t working.
I gave her four other pictures
Her fourth birthday is on Thursday
There are many more over there.
We were the first to arrive the park

Remember – good strong R sound and curl your tongue back.

-

- Rule 16 – the “w” and “kw” sound (1 P.G.)
- The w sound is actually not the like the “g” in Vietnamese. It sounds more like “gườ”
- You need to round your lips and you need to have a lot of air coming through, so make sure
that your vocal cords are vibrating and there is air coming out of your lungs.

-

You can practice with:

o
o

-

First, say “OOOOOO”
Then, go into “OOOOOWAWAWAA”

Word practice:

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE


-

W at the beginning of words:
o Why

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

Wipe
Wish

Weight
Wing
Always
Away
Beware
Rewind
Awake
Someone
Halloween
Hollywood
What will we do
You’re always welcome
The wind from the West was very wet
We woke up and washed the white washcloth.
We waited for the waitress to give us water
We had a wonderful time In Washington and Wiscosin
.

Kw sound

o
o

-

What

“W” practice sentences

o

o
o
o
o
o
-

When

W in the middle of words:

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

Which

When we have words that are spelt with qu (e.g. quiet, quick), they are pronounced as
kw
Word practice:
o
Quiet
o
Queen

o
Question
o
Qualify
o
Require
o
Qualification
o
Quality
o
Quit
o
Liquid
o
Quebec
o
Quilt
o
Choir

Sentence practice

Long Pham

[Type text]

IZONE

o
o
o
o
o
o

What do you want to do this weekend?
I’m always required to work on Wednesdays.
She will wear a white wedding dress on her wedding day.
I have a quick question about the quality of the watch.
There are always 12 women with the children.
We wish we were with our wives

- Remember, round your lips and let the air flow through
- Review rule 16 & 17 – Quick review
Ray
Norway
Russia
Railroad
Dreamed
Travelling
Roller Coaster
Creative
Grand Canyon
Perfect
Arizona
Construct
Friend
Everyone

Fred
- Ray was born in Russia. He dreamed of building the perfect roller coaster at the Grand Canyon in
Arizona. He has a friend named Fred who lived in Norway. Fred’s profession was designing
railroad tracks and his career involved travelling around the world. Ray thought it would be
perfect if Fred designed his roller coaster ride. Fred was creative, brilliant and worked well with
railroad tracks. He would be the perfect engineer for the project. The ride took 2 years to
construct and was painted red and white. Everyone wanted to ride the brand new roller coaster.

- Rule 17 – the “f”, “v” and “w” sound (4 P.G.)
- To correctly product the v sound, your lower lip should touch your upper teeth.
- Don’t bite your lower lip too hard. Try to create the vibration of air and say “vvvv” – “have”
- “f” and “v” are identical in the sense that they are both produced by contacting your upper
teeth to your lower lip and produce an air stream.

-

Word practice with “f”
o Foot

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Long Pham

Find

Finally
Family
Freedom
Laugh
Telephone
Symphony
Rough

[Type text]

IZONE


-

Sentence practice:
o Do you feel like a physical wreck? Are you fed up with feelings of fatigue? Have you had
enough of feeling rough? Why don’t you fight fever with Pharaoh’s Friend. A medicine
that is tough on flu.

o
-

When people speak too quickly, the letter “v” tends to disappear. E.g. involved, five months
The v (an important vowel) tends to be easily overlooked.
Word practice

o
o
o

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
-

-

Very well
Vote
Vest
Oven
Evaluate
Voice
Travel
River
Every
Glove
Alive
Leave

Comparing “f” and “v”
o
Feel
o

Safe
o
Fat
o
Fine
o
Face
o
Fan
o
Foul
o
Proof

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Veal
Save
Vat
Vine
Vase
Van

Vowel
Prove
Of

When v is in the middle of a word, it’s a bit harder and people tend to neglect it.

o
o
o
-

Pharaoh /‘feow rou/

Eleven
Seven
Seven eleven

Sentence practice

o
o
o
Long Pham

A famous athlete
A food vendor
The foreign service
[Type text]

o

o
o

Husband and wife
Very well done
He’s very involved in their
IZONE


o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

-

Summer vacation
Vocabulary test
Over the rainbow
Our fist victory
Harvard university
Her promotion was
well deserved
There was only one
survivor on the island
Steve noticed that the

olive juice must have
stained his sleeve.

o
o
o
o
o

lives.
I’ve been here from five to
seven hours
I will visit the village on my
vacation
Have you viewed the five
videos?
We will review their votes in
November
The street vendors were
selling souvenirs to tourists.

Word pair practice 2 (“v” and “w”)

o
o
o
o
o
o
o

o
o

Vow – wow
Vine – wine
Vest – west
Twelve vowels
Five women
Very weird
West Virginia
However you wish
I’ll have wine with the veal (meat from a young calf)

-

Remember lower lips touch the upper teeth and feel the vibration.

-

Additional rule 1 – the “SH” sound (4 P.G.)

-

To make the unvoiced SH (S) sound, bring your mouth and lips forward a little, teeth should be
slightly apart. Produce the airstream. Words beginning with SH begins with this sound

o
o
o
o

-

Sugar (exception)
Sure (exception)
Chef
Chicago

Word practice
Beginning
She

Long Pham

Middle
Nation

[Type text]

Rush

End

IZONE