1. 🔉 Phonetics and Pronunciation

🔹 Fundamentals

• The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) explained simply:

  • Presentation of the IPA not as a set of cryptic symbols, but as a precise map to know exactly how a word is pronounced.

  • Explanation of its usefulness: eliminating the confusion that one letter can sound many ways (e.g., the 'a' in cat, car, ago).

  • Link to an interactive chart so users can listen to each sound.

• Vowels: short, long, and diphthongs:

  • Detailing the 12 English monophthong vowels: short vowels (e.g., $/ɪ/$ in ship, $/\ae /$ in cat) and long vowels (e.g., $/iː/$ in sheep, $/uː/$ in food). Emphasis on the /:/ symbol to indicate length.

  • Description of diphthongs (e.g., $/eɪ/$ in say, $/aʊ/$ in now) as the blending of two vowel sounds within the same syllable.

• Consonants: voiceless/voiced, fricatives, plosives, affricates, etc.:

  • Classification by place and manner of articulation. The main focus should be on the difference between voiceless (no vocal cord vibration, e.g., $/p,t,k,f,s,\theta /$) and voiced (with vibration, e.g., $/b,d,g,v,z,\partial /$).

  • Key examples:

    • Plosives: $/p,b,t,d,k,g/$

    • Fricatives: $/f,v,\theta ,\partial ,s,z,\int ,\text{the sound of ’s’ in *measure*},h/$

    • Affricates: $/t\int ,d\text{the sound of ’j’ in *jump*}/$

🔹 Practical Pronunciation

• Pronunciation of endings: -ed, -s/-es, -ing:

  • Rule for the -ed ending (simple past/participle):

    • $/ɪd/$ after $/t/$ or $/d/$ (*wanted, decided).

    • $/t/$ after a voiceless sound (*looked, finished).

    • $/d/$ after a voiced sound (*called, played).

  • Rule for the -s/-es ending (plural/3rd person singular):

    • $/ɪz/$ after sibilants (*boxes, watches).

    • $/s/$ after a voiceless sound (*cats, books).

    • $/z/$ after a voiced sound (*dogs, runs).

• Common confusions: ship/sheep, live/leave, can’t/can:

  • Minimal Pairs: Use audible examples to distinguish short and long vowels (e.g., ship $/ɪ/$ vs. sheep $/iː/$).

  • The difference between can (weak $/kən/$) vs. can't (long $/kɑːnt/$ or $/k\ae nt/$, often emphatic).

• Rhythm, stress, and intonation:

  • English is a stress-timed language: the time between stressed syllables is similar.

  • Word stress: Which syllable carries the force? (E.g., photograph vs. photographer).

  • Intonation: Rising and falling patterns (e.g., yes/no questions vs. wh- questions).

🔹 Interactive Resources

• Self-correcting exercises: Online multiple-choice or drag-and-drop quizzes focusing on the -ed and -s ending rules.

• Minimal pairs with audio: An interactive chart with pairs of words (e.g., heart/hurt, pull/pool) where the user listens and selects the correct sound or the associated IPA symbol.

• Downloadable IPA charts: A concise PDF with the IPA chart, colour-coded for vowels/consonants, and a sample word for each sound.

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