Spoken English Course

Lesson 1: English Alphabet Vs Phonetic Sounds

1. Letters and Sounds

• Letters are what we write.
• Sounds are what we speak.
• Written English uses 26 letters.
• Spoken English uses 44 phonetic sounds.

2. English Letters

• 26 Letters
• 5 Vowel Letters: A, E, I, O, U
• 21 Consonant Letters

3. Phonetic Sounds

English has approximately 44 phonetic sounds:

• 20 Vowel Sounds
• 24 Consonant Sounds

4. Letters ≠ Sounds

A letter does not always represent only one sound.

For example:

• C → /k/ in cat
• C → /s/ in city
• A → /æ/ in cat
• A → /eɪ/ in name

Therefore, learning phonetic sounds is essential for accurate English pronunciation.

Quiz 1 is about an introduction of English alphabet and phonectic sound

Test your understanding of how English consonant sounds are produced using the lips, tongue, teeth, and vocal cords. This quiz focuses on the place and manner of articulation of the 24 English consonant sounds.

Test your understanding of how English long vowel sounds are produced and pronounced. This quiz focuses on the tongue position, mouth shape, vowel length, and correct pronunciation of long vowel sounds in English.

Test your understanding of how English short vowel sounds are produced. This quiz focuses on tongue position, mouth shape, and accurate pronunciation of short vowels through examples and minimal pairs.

Test your understanding of how English diphthongs are produced by smoothly moving the tongue and lips from one vowel position to another. The quiz focuses on diphthong sounds, articulation, pronunciation, and example words.