English Pronunciation

Absolute Beginner

• Intonation in yes/no questions The rise that makes a statement a question.
• Rhythm in short sentences Which words are strong and which disappear.
• Saying the letters of the alphabet Each letter by its English name.
• The -s ending on plurals The three ways -s is said.
• The sounds /iː/ and /ɪ/ The long and short i that separate many words.
• The sounds /p/ and /b/ A contrast many first languages do not make.
• The th sounds The sound English writes as th, and what it is not.
• Word stress in two-syllable words Which half of a short word is louder.

Beginner

• can and can't with /ə/, /æ/, and /ɑː/ How can weakens and can't does not.
• Hearing numbers accurately Telling -teen from -ty when it matters.
• Irregular verb pronunciation Hearing and saying the past forms that do not take -ed.
• Plural endings — /z/ and /s/ Which plural takes a buzz and which a hiss.
• Regular past simple endings -ed as /t/, /d/, and /ɪd/.
• Sentence rhythm Stressing the words that carry meaning and weakening the rest.
• Sentence rhythm and polite intonation Sounding polite rather than abrupt when you ask.
• The alphabet Saying and hearing letters, and spelling aloud.
• The sound /ɒ/ and silent consonants Short o, and the letters you do not say.
• The sound /ð/ and sentence rhythm Voiced th, and the beat of a short sentence.
• The sound /ɜː/ and other vowels The long central vowel.
• The sound /θ/ Unvoiced th.
• The sounds /ɑː/ and /ɔː/, and linking Two long vowels, and joining words together.
• The sounds /dʒ/ and /g/ Soft and hard g.
• The sounds /dʒ/, /tʃ/, and /ʃ/ Three consonants learners routinely swap.
• The sounds /h/, /aɪ/, and /iː/ Three sounds that carry the first words you learn.
• The sounds /ɪ/, /əʊ/, /s/, and /ʃ/ Short i against the o diphthong, and s against sh.
• The sounds /ɪə/ and /eə/ Two diphthongs that sound alike to most learners.
• The sounds /j/ and /juː/ The y sound at the start of a word.
• The sounds /ʊ/, /uː/, and /ŋ/ Short and long u, and the -ing ending.
• The sounds /ʊə/, /s/, and /k/ Sounds that come up in prices and shopping.
• The sounds /ʌ/, /æ/, and /ə/ Three short vowels that decide whether a word is understood.
• The sounds /w/ and /v/, rhythm and linking Two consonants often merged, in connected speech.
• The sounds /w/, /h/, /eə/, and /aʊ/ Question words and the sounds inside them.
• Third person -es and sentence rhythm The extra syllable, and where the stress lands.
• Vowel sound review Pulling the level's vowels together.
• was and were in connected speech Their weak forms, and when they are stressed.

Elementary

• Consonant groups Clusters English allows and learners break up.
• Final -s and -es The three ways a plural or third-person ending sounds.
• Irregular past participle sounds Saying the third form accurately.
• Linking Joining the end of one word to the start of the next.
• Long and short vowel sounds The pairs that change a word's meaning.
• Past simple verb sounds Hearing a past form as it goes by.
• Regular past -ed endings -ed as /t/, /d/, and /ɪd/.
• Saying the Its two pronunciations, and which one goes where.
• Sentence stress Which words in a sentence get the beat.
• Silent letters The letters that are written but not said.
• The alphabet and sentence stress Spelling aloud, and stressing the words that matter.
• The letter h When it is pronounced and when it is silent.
• The schwa and the consonants /tʃ/, /ʃ/, /dʒ/ The most common vowel, and three easily confused consonants.
• The sound /j/ and giving opinions The y sound, and the intonation of an opinion.
• The sound /ŋ/ The -ing ending.
• The sound /ʌ/ and the letter o When o is not the sound you expect.
• The sounds /aɪ/, /ɪ/, and /iː/ Three vowels learners routinely merge.
• The sounds /ð/ and /θ/, and saying the date Voiced and unvoiced th, in use.
• The sounds /eə/ and /ɪə/ Two diphthongs that sound alike.
• The sounds /ɜː/ and /ə/ Two central vowels, one stressed and one not.
• The sounds /ʃ/ and /ə/ with linking Connected speech in ordinary phrases.
• The weak form of to How to almost disappears before a verb.
• Third person -s The ending only he, she, and it take.
• Understanding connected speech Hearing where one word ends and the next begins.
• Vowel sounds and word stress The vowels English runs on, and which syllable carries a word.
• Word stress in longer words Finding the strong syllable in a longer word.

Pre-Intermediate

• Contractions 'll and won't Producing and hearing the contracted future forms.
• Diphthongs The two-part vowel sounds and the spellings that signal them.
• Double consonants in spelling and sound Why a doubled letter is one sound, and what it signals about the vowel.
• Final -s and -es — /s/, /z/, and /ɪz/ Choosing the right ending sound on third-person verbs and plural nouns.
• Homophones Words that sound the same but are spelled differently.
• Intonation in wh- questions Falling intonation on wh- questions, and stress on the question word.
• Linking words together Joining a final consonant to a following vowel in connected speech.
• Pronouncing used to and didn't use to The reduced pronunciation of these past-habit forms.
• Reading aloud with natural phrasing Grouping words, pausing at punctuation, and keeping the rhythm.
• Regular past endings — /t/, /d/, and /ɪd/ Pronouncing -ed correctly after different final sounds.
• Sentence stress and rhythm Stressing the information words and weakening everything else.
• Silent letters and final silent e Words where a written letter is not pronounced at all.
• Stress on prepositions in phrases When a preposition is weak and when it carries stress.
• The -ing ending and the letter o Pronouncing -ing clearly, and the common sounds of the letter o.
• The consonant sounds /ð/ and /θ/ Voiced and unvoiced th.
• The consonant sounds /ʃ/, /tʃ/, and /dʒ/ Distinguishing three consonants that are easily confused.
• The English alphabet — letter names and sounds Grouping the letters by their vowel sound and spelling words aloud.
• The letter g — /g/ and /dʒ/ Predicting the hard and the soft sound of g from the spelling.
• The letter i The main sounds this vowel spells, and when each one appears.
• The letters c and ch Predicting /k/, /s/, /tʃ/, and /ʃ/ from the spelling.
• The letters ea The main sounds this vowel pair spells.
• The letters y and j Distinguishing /j/ and /dʒ/ in common words.
• The vowel sound /ɔː/ Recognizing the spellings that produce this long vowel.
• The vowel sounds /e/, /əʊ/, and /ʌ/ Telling apart three vowels that learners often merge.
• The vowel sounds /ə/ and /ɜː/ Hearing the short unstressed schwa against the long stressed vowel.
• The vowel sounds /ʊ/ and /uː/ Contrasting the short and the long back vowel.
• The weak form of to and linking Reducing to before an infinitive and linking it to the verb.
• Weak forms of was and were Reducing was and were in connected speech, and stressing them in short answers.
• Word stress in two- and three-syllable words Finding and marking the strong syllable in a word.
• Word stress in two-syllable verbs Where the stress falls in verbs of two syllables.

Intermediate

• Intonation in question tags Rising to ask, falling to check.
• Linking, and the spellings ough and augh Joining words, and two spellings that defeat everyone.
• Regular and irregular past participles Saying the third form accurately.
• Sentence rhythm and the weak form of have How have almost disappears in perfect forms.
• Sentence stress and word stress Which words, and which syllables, carry the beat.
• Short and long vowel sounds The pairs that change meaning.
• Silent consonants Letters written but not said.
• The letter c and sentence stress Hard and soft c, in connected speech.
• The letter s and used to When s is /s/, /z/, or /ʃ/, and the reduced past-habit form.
• The letter u The several sounds this vowel spells.
• The letters ai The sounds this pair spells.
• The schwa and the two pronunciations of the The most common vowel, and when the changes.
• The sounds /ɔː/ and /ɜː/ Two long vowels learners merge.
• The sounds /ʃ/, /dʒ/, and /tʃ/, and linking Three consonants, in connected speech.
• The sounds spelled o and or Two spellings that cover several sounds.
• Word stress Finding the strong syllable in a longer word.

Intermediate Plus

• Consonant clusters Groups English allows, and how learners break them.
• Homographs Same spelling, different sound and meaning.
• Regular past -ed endings and sentence rhythm The three past endings, in connected speech.
• Sound review Pulling the level's sounds together.
• Stress on be, do, and have When an auxiliary is weak and when it is stressed.
• The endings /s/, /z/, and /ɪz/ Which ending a plural or third person takes.
• The letter r and final -r When r is pronounced and how it colors a vowel.
• The sounds /aɪ/ and /eɪ/ Two diphthongs learners merge.
• The sounds /w/, /v/, and /b/ Three consonants that swap in many first languages.
• Vowel sounds The full set, and the pairs that are confused.
• Vowel sounds and sentence rhythm Vowel quality inside the beat of a sentence.
• Word pairs joined with and fish and chips, back and forth — the reduced and.

Upper-Intermediate

• Changing stress on nouns and verbs record and record, present and present.
• Intonation and sentence rhythm The tune and the beat of a sentence together.
• Intonation for showing interest Sounding engaged rather than flat.
• Irregular past forms and sentence rhythm Saying past forms inside connected speech.
• Linked phrases Phrases that run together as one unit.
• Pausing and sentence stress Where to break, and what to emphasize.
• Sentence rhythm and intonation Rhythm and tune in longer stretches.
• Stress in word families How stress shifts across a family of related words.
• The sounds /s/ and /z/ Voiced and unvoiced, in endings and elsewhere.
• The sounds /ʃ/, /dʒ/, /tʃ/, and /k/ Four consonants that decide whether a word lands.
• The weak form of have How have reduces in perfect and past-modal forms.
• Word stress and intonation Where the stress falls, and what the tune adds.
• Word stress in three- and four-syllable adjectives Longer adjectives, and their stress patterns.
• Word stress with prefixes and suffixes How an affix moves the stress.
• Words taken from other languages Loanwords, and how English says them.

Advanced

• Auxiliary verbs and to in connected speech How they weaken, and when they do not.
• Foreign words in English Loanwords, and how English pronounces them.
• Identifying attitudes through intonation Hearing stance in the tune.
• Intonation and linking in exclamations The tune of surprise and emphasis.
• Intonation in cleft sentences Placing the focus with the voice.
• Linking in short phrases Phrases that run together as a unit.
• Main and secondary stress Longer words carry two beats, not one.
• Sound and spelling relationships The patterns behind English spelling.
• The ending -ure How this suffix is actually said.
• The rhythm of English Stress-timing, and what it does to unstressed syllables.
• The schwa The most common vowel in the language.
• The sounds /æ/ and /ʌ/ Two short vowels routinely merged.
• Using a dictionary for pronunciation Reading the phonemic script and the stress marks.
• Word stress with suffixes How a suffix moves the stress.
• Words with silent syllables Syllables that disappear in natural speech.

Advanced Plus

• Acronyms and initialisms Which are spelled out and which are said as words.
• Binomials The stress and rhythm of fixed pairs.
• Consonant clusters with s The clusters that defeat many first languages.
• Contractions Where English contracts, and where it must not.
• Contrastive stress Stressing the word that carries the contrast.
• Reading aloud Phrasing, pausing, and pace in continuous text.
• Sentence intonation with adverbs How an adverb changes the tune.
• Short and long vowels The contrasts that survive at speed.
• Stress and intonation The two together, over longer stretches.
• Stress and intonation in long numbers Saying figures so they are heard correctly.
• Stress in multi-syllable adjectives Longer adjectives and their stress patterns.
• Understanding an accent Following a speaker whose accent is unfamiliar.
• Verb and noun word stress, and stressed articles record and record; when a and the take stress.
• Vowel sounds and spelling The relationship, and where it breaks down.
• Words with two pronunciations Same spelling, two accepted sayings.

Proficiency

• Accents across the English-speaking world Following, and placing, an unfamiliar accent.
• Connected speech at natural speed What happens to words when nobody slows down.
• Intonation and implied meaning The tune that changes what a sentence means.
• Loanwords and proper nouns Saying borrowed words and names as English says them.
• Reading aloud with interpretation Reading a text so its meaning survives.
• Stress for contrast and emphasis Choosing the word that carries the weight.
• Voice, pace, and pausing in delivery Holding an audience with silence as much as sound.

Questions

• All questions in this subject

Teachers

• Christopher Huntley
• Robert Salo
• Andrie Oberholzer
• Maria Ferreira
• Minnette Oberholzer
• Raphael Ninja Turtle

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