Transcription and reading rules in English. How to read English words correctly

Elena Britova

Academic manager of the TransLink-Education company, certified trainer in speed reading and memory development.

The English alphabet has 26 letters and 44 sounds. If in some languages ​​each letter is responsible for only one sound, then in English one letter can convey up to four sounds, and in some cases even up to seven. Hence the favorite saying of the English: "We write Liverpool, but we read Manchester."

In addition, articulation (movement of the tongue, lips, mouth) is significantly different from Russian. There are sounds similar to Russians, but when they are pronounced, the organs of articulation work differently.

If you want to get rid of the accent, or at least get closer to English speech, all the differences must be taken into account. Here are some tips on how to get yourself the correct English pronunciation.

1. Learn the alphabet

Many adults consider this a child's exercise. But one day they will definitely ask you: “Please, spell your name” (“Spell your name”). This is where knowing the letters of the English alphabet comes in handy. In addition, there may be letters in abbreviations, street names, house numbers and flight numbers, and, for example, at the airport they will definitely be pronounced as in the alphabet.

2. Practice articulation when pronouncing consonants

Once you have mastered the letters of the alphabet, feel free to move on to learning the sounds they convey. Accustom yourself to the correct articulation right away. Learn to pronounce the sounds separately first, bring to automatism, and then move on to words, phrases and sentences.

V English language there are consonant sounds that at first glance (or rather, hearing) are pronounced as in Russian.

1. Check where the tip of the tongue is when pronouncing the sounds [d] - [t], [n], [r], [s], [z]. Sticking to your teeth? Congratulations, you pronounce the Russian alphabet. In native English, the tip of the tongue at this time is on the alveoli (the largest tubercle in the upper palate). Try it. Now you get pure English sounds. Practice: bed - ten , not , rat , sun , zoo .

2. Depict a hare when pronouncing the sounds [f] - [v]. The upper teeth must be placed on the lower lip. Work out: fat - vet.

3. Remember that the sound [l] is always hard: London [ˈlʌndən].

4. When practicing the sound [w], take a candle: this The best way learn how to pronounce it correctly. Fold your lips into a tube and pull forward (like small children reach out for a kiss), and then smile sharply. Then this sound will come out. When training, hold the candle at a distance of 20-25 cm from the lips. If the flame goes out when you pronounce the sound, then you are doing everything right. Practice: say the word well.

5. Warm your hands when practicing the [h] sound. It has nothing to do with Russian [x]. Imagine that you are very cold and are trying to warm your hands with your breath. You bring them to your lips and exhale. During exhalation, a light, barely audible English sound [h] is formed. As in the word home.

6. Practice the sound [ŋ] with a bad cold or imagine that you have it. There is no such sound in Russian, it is transmitted by the combination ng in English. Press the tongue like a spatula against the upper palate and let the sound through the nose. It reminds a little of [n], if you pronounce it with a severe cold. Remember that your tongue is still touching the alveoli, not the teeth. Practice: interesting [ˈɪnt(ə)rɪstɪŋ].

7. Be a snake and a bee for training [ð] - [θ]. These sounds are absent in Russian and are formed by combining the letters th in English.

[ð] - voiced sound. Bite the tip of your tongue lightly with your teeth and pronounce the sound [z]. If during training the lower lip and tongue are tickled, then you are doing everything right. If not, then you may have bitten the tip of your tongue too hard, loosen your teeth a little. Say the word this [ðɪs], do you get it?

[θ] - dull sound. The articulation is the same, only we pronounce the sound [s]. To practice the hollow sound [ θ ], say the word thank [θæŋk].

3. Learn the four types of syllables for the correct pronunciation of vowels

The reading of vowels depends on the type of syllable in which they are:

• open (syllable ends in a vowel);
• closed (syllable ends in a consonant);
• vowel + r;
• vowel + re.

In the first type of syllable - open - vowels are read as in the alphabet (that's where knowledge of the alphabet came in handy!). For example: plane , nose , tube , Pete .

In the second type, you need to learn by heart the pronunciation of each vowel:

• [æ] - open sound, not long. It is conveyed by the letter A in a closed syllable. Test yourself: sit at the table, straighten up, put one elbow on the surface, bend the brush under the chin. Between the chin and the hand you will have a place, unless, of course, you have straightened your back. Now we lower the lower jaw down so that it reaches the brush, and pronounce [e]. Practice with the word bag.
• [e] is often confused with the previous sound. When pronouncing [e], you just need to slightly raise the corners of your lips up, as if smiling slightly. These are two different sounds, and they are not similar to each other, and even more so to Russian [e]. Practice: pet .
• Short sounds [i], [ɔ], [ʌ], [u] are pronounced intensively, not in a singsong voice: big, box, bus, book [bʊk].

In the third and fourth types of syllables, the letter R not readable, it only forms a syllable and lengthens the vowel sound: car, sort, turn.

, [ɔ:] - special sounds. Imagine that you are at a doctor's office examining your throat. The root of your tongue is pressed with a stick and asked to say "Aaaa." It is in this position that the tongue should be when pronouncing the sounds [a] and [o]. If at the same time you want to yawn, then you are on the right track! Try it right now: car , sort .

4. Remember the correct accents

Most often in English the stressed syllable is the first. If you need to pronounce a word, but there is no one to ask or there is no dictionary at hand, put the stress on the first syllable. Of course, it is better to memorize the words right away with correct accent Or check yourself in a dictionary.

5. Don't Forget Four Important Rules

• There are no soft consonants in English.
• Voiced consonants are not stunned at the end of a word.
• Vowels are long (in transcription they are denoted by [:]) and short.
• No extra - especially sharp - movements of the lips.

Learn a few phrases to practice correct pronunciation:

• Very well [‘veri ‘wel].
• World Wide Web or WWW [‘w əuld ‘waid ‘web www].
• Eleven benevolent elephants [ɪˈlevn bəˈnevələnt ˈelɪfənts].
• Stupid superstition [ˈstjuːpɪd ˌsuːpəˈstɪʃ(ə)n].
• Pirates Private Property [ˈpaɪrəts praɪvət ˈprɒpəti].

And remember: different sounds have a meaningful function. For example, man ("man", "man") and men ("men"); ship [ʃip] ("ship") and sheep [ʃi:p] ("sheep") and so on. Many people read the word three (“three”) as (which means “tree”) or (“freedom”), not taking into account that th [θ] is read differently, it simply does not exist in Russian (remember the exercise "bee"). Knowing correct pronunciation words, you definitely will not get into a mess!

Greetings, my dear readers.

Today we continue to talk about how to learn how to read correctly, so the topic of today's article is the transcription of English letters.

We have already got acquainted with the concept and dealt with the pronunciation of sounds in English. Today we will figure out exactly how they are pronounced in various combinations.

I have a clear table for you. It contains the letters of the English alphabet with transcription, Russian analogue letters and my notes, so that you can immediately put the correct pronunciation. I also added examples of words with studied sounds and their translation.

What else can be found on the blog:

1. with letters and transcription (you can study them online, download, print and work with them);
2. for children I have a complete .

Let `s start?

Features of English transcription:

• it is always enclosed in square brackets. I can't say exactly where it came from, but I think it's just worth taking it for granted;
• to understand where the stress is, the transcription uses the sign [‘] before the stressed syllable;
• It is important to remember that transcription is about the sound, not the spelling of words. Sometimes the spelling can be 90% different from what we pronounce;
• to show that the sound is long - we use a colon.

In general, I wrote about English transcription - please!

Letters of the English alphabet and their transcription in Russian and English:

English letter	Transcription	Russian analogue
aa		Hey
bb		Bee
CC		Xi
Dd		Di
ee		AND
FF	[ɛf]	ef
gg		Gee
hh		h
II		Ai
jj		Jay
Kk		Kay
Ll	[ɛl]	Al
mm	[ɛm]	Em
Nn	[ɛn]	En
Oh	[əʊ]	OU
pp		Pi
Qq		Q
Rr	[ɑː] or [ɑɹ]	A or Ar
Ss	[ɛs]	Es
Tt		Tee
Uu		YU
vv		In and
www	[ˈdʌb(ə)l juː]	Double-u
xx	[ɛks]	The ex
Yy		Wye
Zz	,	Zed, zee

But you know what is the most interesting thing about English?

If different letters are combined, they are pronounced differently!

That's why I prepared for you

Examples of English letter combinations in Russian and English:

Combination	Transcription	How to pronounce	Example
ee	/i:/	AND	bee - bee
ea	/ ı:/	AND	tea - tea
oo	/u/	At	cook - cook
th	/ ð / / Ѳ /	Z, S (interdental)	thumb - finger
sh	/ ʃ /	W	shout - shout
ch	/tʃ/	H	chair - chair
ph	/f/	F	phone - phone
ck	/k/	TO	snack - snack
ng	/ Ƞ /	Ng	song
wh	/w/	Ua	why - why
wr	/r/	R	write - write
qu	/kw/	Kua	queen - queen
igh	/aı/	Ai	high - high
all	/Ɔ:l/	Ol	tall - tall
ai	/eı/	Hey	Spain
ay	/eı/	Hey	May
oi	/oı/	Ouch	point
oy	/oı/	Ouch	toy
ow	/oƱ/	OU	grow - grow
ou	/aƱ/	ay	out - outside
ew	/ju:/	YU	knew - knew
aw	/ Ɔ: /	Ltd	draw - draw
ee+r	/ ıə /	ia	engineer - engineer
ou+r	/abə/	Aue	our - our
oo+r	/ Ɔ: /	Ltd	door - door
wo+r	/ ɜ: /	Y/O	work - work
ai+r	/eə/	Ea	chair - chair
oa+r	/ Ɔ: /	Oo	roar - cry
old	/Ʊd/	Oud	could - could
around	/aƱnd/	Aund	round - round
eigh	/eı/	Hey	eight - eight
-y	/ ı /	AND	tiny - tiny
au	/ Ɔ: /	Oo	Paul
gh	/f/	F	laugh - laugh
aught	/Ɔ:t/	From	taught - taught

I know this table looks huge now. Surely you think that remembering all this is unrealistic. I'll tell you this: at a certain point, when you have enough, you won't even pay attention to these combinations. Your brain will learn to quickly remember how these letters sound. Moreover, even when you come across a completely unfamiliar word, you can read it correctly. The only question is the amount of practice on your part.

How to memorize combinations of letters?

1. Use cards. Visual perception is better developed in most people.
2. Read. Pay attention to letter combinations when or just texts.
3. Don't get hung up. It is not necessary to immediately memorize these combinations and only then go directly to English. Learn as you go!
4. Buy paper or download a good one e-book in order to quickly learn to recognize combinations and pronounce them correctly. Even if you need it - an adult - do not hesitate to take books for children - it is there that everything is chewed in detail and not without interest.
5. Take the course « English from scratch» . This will make your path easier.

That's all, my dears. I hope you found it useful and understandable. I give even more such materials in the blog mailing list - subscribe and receive a portion of usefulness regularly.

Now you have already passed the first stage of learning English - you have learned the alphabet. You already know how the letters are called, you know how to write them. But this does not mean at all that you can read any word in English correctly. In addition, you need to set the pronunciation using professional teacher or a tutor, so as not to make mistakes at first.

Unlike many other foreign languages ​​(Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian), where words are read the same as they are written, you just need to learn how to pronounce the letters. In English, everything is much more complicated and confusing. But remembering simple laws reading words in English. Very soon you will realize that things are much easier.

The thing is that in English the number of sounds predominates over letters, and in order to convey them in writing, it is necessary to combine several letters in a certain order. And this is done different ways. And the pronunciation and recording of some sounds depends on what letters surround them. And all this must be remembered!

To make it easier to remember the connection of letters, English linguists have developed a number of rules for reading words in English. Even if you know the language well enough, it is still advisable to double-check an unfamiliar word in the dictionary, make sure that it is translated and remember the transcription, that is, how it is pronounced.

At school, most teachers only casually mention how to reproduce words in English or do not talk about them at all. They refer students to transcription dictionaries, arguing that "there are many exceptions to the rules of reading." Keep your kids away from these teachers!

Yes it is. Indeed, there are many exceptions to the rules for reading words in English. But this does not mean at all that they should be kept silent. Rather, on the contrary, first of all you need to talk about them. Yet most words obey the rules.

Knowing the basic rule of how words are read correctly will make it much more interesting and easier for you to learn the language itself. And exceptions can be remembered as they come during training, repeating the rules that these words are not so stubbornly unwilling to obey.

Word Reading Rule

Bye! successes!

Technique of reading English according to Zaitsev's method

Representatives of perfume and cosmetic brands told the sitehow to pronounce their names correctly

Acqua di Parma

"Parma water" - translated from Italian, this is exactly the name of the brand that produces aromas and candles. Aqua di Parma - all with stress on the first syllable.

Good Girl Carolina Herrera

Chanel [Chanel]

With this legendary name, everything is simple. The only stumbling block is the sound at the end of the word: snobs always pronounce "Chanel" with a hard and uncompromising "L" at the end. Americans also pronounce the brand name with a solid "L" at the end. But the French themselves prefer a more rounded, soft sound. Their example is worth following. Chanel, voila. In September, an updated version will be released - L "Eau.

Chanel No 5 L"Eau, Chanel

Chantecaille [Chantecaille]

The name of an expensive French skincare brand is pronounced "Chantecaille". The brand periodically releases . This year the most beautiful - with the image of magnolias on the package.

Eye shadow set, Chantecaille

Clarins

The name of the French brand of cosmetics, very popular in Ukraine, reads like "Clarence" with an emphasis on the last syllable. In autumn, the collection of skin care products will be replenished with booster serums.

Skin booster Energy with ginger extract, Clarins

Comme des Garçons

“Like boys” - “com de garçon” - this is how the name of the famous brand is translated, famous for its deconstructivist clothing and minimalist, but complex fragrances, popular all over the world. In October, CDG will appear in Ukraine with a dominant note of black pepper.

Fragrance Black Pepper, Comme des Garcons

Diptique [Diptik]

With the name of the famous brand of French niche perfumery, everything is quite simple. The only thing people get confused with is stress: those who often speak English put it on the first syllable. And rightly so - on the last one: "DipTik". Very soon, a new brand will appear in Ukraine - Infused Face Oil.

Infused Face Oil, Diptyque

DSquared2 [Discued]

With this name, the main thing is not to repeat the general mistake that even the fashion community unanimously quotes. "Discued" with an accent on "e". Not Disquired.

Guerlain [Guerlain]

Everyone has long been accustomed to the fact that Guerlain is Guerlain. One caveat: in Paris, the name of the brand is pronounced as "Galan" - this must be borne in mind in order to avoid the rounded eyes of consultants at Sephora. Sales start in September.

Acqua di Parma

Hermès [Ermes]

The old French House is not called correctly by everyone. The most common variants are the literal transliteration "Hermes" and the pseudo-intellectual "Erme". In response to the question of how it is still right, the French, representatives of the House, are surprised: “Only Ermes, and nothing else. Erme is a Parisian confectioner" ( Pierre Herme -ed..).

Eau de Néroli Doré cologne, Hermès

Lanvin [Lanvan]

"Lanvin" and "Lanvin" are incorrect options. "Lanvan" is what you need. If you want to shine, then you can pronounce a little in the nose and "round" the letters - you get something like [Lo "nvo" n]. In any case, the stress is on the last syllable. The name of the most popular fragrance of the brand Éclat d "Arpège in Ukraine sounds like [ecla d" arpege].

​Loewe

The name of the Spanish brand, famous for its impeccable leather goods and exquisite fragrances, is often tried to be “ennobled”. There are many options: "Love", "Loev", "Catch". In fact, everything is much simpler here: as it is written, it is read: “Lo-e-we”.

7 Anonimo, Loewe

​Maison Francis Kurkdjian

The famous French perfumer of Armenian origin became famous not only for his great works for Nina Ricci, Burberry, Elie Saab, but also for the fragrances released for his own House of Niche Perfumery, whose name is pronounced “Maison Francis Kurkjan”. In Kiev, they can be found in Aromateque and Sanahunt. New fragrances of the brand are about to appear in Ukraine - Petit Matin and Grand Soir.

Grand Soir Francis Kurkdjian

Moschino [Moschino]

The name of the Italian brand, which blew up the social networks with a promotion of its fragrance in the form of a glass spray, no longer causes difficulties for anyone: Moschino.

Linda Evangelista in the promotional fragrance Fresh, Moschino

Penghaligon's [Penhaligons]

A British niche brand known for its floral scents and satin bows on the caps, it reads Penhaligons. New from the House - Endymion Concentré with notes of lime, lavender and sage.

Endymion Concentré, Penhaligon's

A professional Swedish hair care brand founded by celebrity stylists Sasha Mitik and Juan Rosenlind. The name of the brand is formed by the merger of their names.

Serge Lutens

Parfmaniacs are constantly arguing about how to pronounce the name of a nominal French brand correctly. The most common (and erroneous) option is “Serge Lutens”, the second is “Serge Luthan”. And the only correct one is Serge Lutens. This is what the couturier of fragrances calls himself, this is what they call him in France. The rule that "s" at the end of French words is not read does not work in this case. The brand's latest fragrance is Baptême du Feu, which smells distinctly of gingerbread.

Baptême du Feu, Serge Lutens

Sisley [Sisley]

There are several subtleties in the name of the world's most famous family brand of phytocosmetics. He is sometimes called in the English manner - "Sisli". This is incorrect, as is the pronunciation with the stress on the first syllable. The correct option is Sisley. In autumn, the brand will have a whole collection of new products. One of the most serious is a neck cream that will deal with the consequences of a "digital life" when people spend hours hunched over smartphone screens.

Neck cream, Sisley

Tommy Hilfiger [Tommy Hilfiger]

Apparently, many people believe that the name of the famous designer who produces fresh and vibrant youth fragrances is "Halfiger". The most exotic option is Hilfiger. And the correct one is the most obvious: “Hilfiger”.

​Valmont

In the case of this brand of expensive and effective Swiss cosmetics, the classic rule of French reading works: the last letter “t” is not readable: “Valmont”, a little in the nose.

Yohji Yamamoto

This is the case when the spelling seems much more intricate than the pronunciation. "Yoji Yamamoto", that's all the wisdom.

​Boutique fragrances

Recently, many Houses, including Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, Giorgio Armani, have released fragrance lines that can only be found in their own boutiques. The term "boutique fragrances" has become extremely widespread - along with the mispronunciation. It is correct to say "boutique" - with an emphasis on "and".