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English is an alphabetic language that uses letters to represent the sounds that make up words. Children need to be able to identify and pronounce all the sounds of English correctly so that they can segment words into sounds as they write, and blend sounds together as they decode. They learn to pronounce sounds by hearing them spoken. If we mispronounce sounds - even slightly - we make it harder for children to:
By modelling the correct pronunciation of sounds you are making it easier for children to master these skills which are critical for learning to read, write, and spell in English.
Click on each animal to play the sound!
Plosives — also known as stops — are sounds produced by a burst of air. The lips and tongue hold back the air for a moment before allowing the sound to burst out. If you hold your hand in front of your mouth, you will feel a puff of air when you pronounce these sounds.
Unvoiced plosives are short bursts of sound with no voice. When pronouncing these sounds, take care not to add a short /u/ or schwa sound. For example, say /p/, not puh. The vocal cords should not vibrate when pronouncing these sounds.
Voiced plosives are short bursts of sound with voice. You can feel your vocal cords vibrating if you touch your throat lightly when pronouncing these sounds.
These voiced sounds are made with little bursts of air pushed from the back of the throat. They are not usually heard on the ends of words, although the schwa vowel sound on the end of words can sound like /u/ (pizza).
There are two mixed sounds — the voiced /j/ and the unvoiced /ch/. These sounds are a mixture of a continuous sound and a stop. They are a burst of sound or air that finishes abruptly, like a stop.
You can feel your vocal cords vibrating if you touch your throat lightly when pronouncing this sound.
Nasal sounds are made by closing the mouth and opening the nose cavity. The air is allowed to escape through the nose. They are continuous voiced sounds. Take care not to cut off these sounds and add a short /u/ or schwa sound. For example, say mmm not muh.
Continuous sounds are made by a constant stream of air flowing from the mouth when these sounds are pronounced.
Unvoiced fricatives are sounds made with a continuous stream of air. Take care not to cut them off and add a short /u/ or schwa sound. For example, say /ssss/ not suh. The vocal cords should not vibrate when pronouncing these sounds.
Voiced fricatives are sounds made with a continuous stream of air and a voice sound too. Take care not to cut them off and add a short /u/ or schwa sound. For example, say /zzzz/ not zuh. The vocal cords should vibrate when pronouncing these sounds.
These voiced sounds are pronounced so that they sound like the name of their vowel letter, except for /ōō/. Long vowel sounds are continuous sounds, and some are diphthongs — sounds that start with one vowel sound and end with another. For example, the long o starts with /ō/ and ends with /w/.
Continuous sounds are made by a constant stream of air flowing from the mouth when these sounds are pronounced.
Approximants are voiced continuous sounds that begin with a vowel-like sound.
These voiced sounds are continuous sounds and are diphthongs — sounds that start with one vowel sound and end with another. For example, the /oy/ sound starts with /o/ and ends with /ē/.
The next group of sounds are made from a vowel sound and /r/, although the /r/ is not usually heard in New Zealand, Australian, and British pronunciation.
Consecutive sounds are two sounds that are commonly heard next to each other in words.
