1. Introduction

When a child knows the proper sounds of the alphabet letters, he or she can use those sounds to sound out or decode a word. This skill is essential for successful phonics instruction later on. The more accurately the sounds are taught to children, the easier it will be for them to learn to read and spell. Study the videos and chart on this page to learn the correct pronunciations of the letter sounds.
Video: Sound Pronunciation Intro
There are 26 letters in the English alphabet, each of which has a name and at least one sound. It is the sounds of these letters (not their names) that we blend together to form words.
NOTE: At this point, it is much more important for your child to know the sounds of the letters than their names. Knowledge of the letter names will be very useful for spelling, but we are not there yet! Reading precedes spelling!
There are over one million words in the English language, and at least 600,000 of them can be sounded out phonetically.
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2. Vowels

The five most common vowel sounds are also known as the short vowels: A (as in apple), E (as in egg), I (as in it), O (as in odd), and U (as in up). All the vowel sounds are continuant sounds, said “long and loud,” which means that you draw them out for two full seconds.
Video: Vowels
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3. Consonants

The consonants are the other 21 letters in the alphabet aside from the vowels: B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, and Z. There are two types of consonant sounds: stop sounds and continuant sounds.
  • Stop sounds are also called “quick and quiet” sounds. Letters making these sounds are: B, C, D, G, H, J, K, P, and T. They have a sharp ending, with the sound stopping abruptly.
  • Continuant sounds are also called “long and loud” sounds. Letters making these sounds are: F, L, M, N, Q, R, S, V, W, X, Y, and Z. Hold these sounds out for two full seconds.
Video: Consonants
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4. Notation

We have a special way of writing the letter sounds, so that you (the adult) know when you should say the name of the letter and when you should say the letter sound. The stop (quick and quiet) sounds are written as a single letter between two slashes. For example, /b/ or /g/. Because these sounds are quieter and short, you may have to say them multiple times for children to hear. So we will sometimes instruct you to say “/b/ /b/ /b/,” meaning you should make the /b/ sound three times in quick succession. The continuant (long and loud) sounds are usually written as three letters between two slashes. For example: /mmm/ or /zzz/. This is to remind you that continuant sounds should be held for two full seconds. Many of our Phonological/Phonemic Awareness games require you to say two sounds or word parts with a pause in between. We write that pause with a bullet mark (•). One bullet mark represents a half-second pause. So, “/mmm/ • /at/” is the word mat split by a half-second pause. Likewise, “/d/ • • • /og/” is the word dog with a 1.5-second pause in the middle. ↑ Top

5. Easier and Harder Sounds

The continuant (long and loud) soundsF, L, M, N, Q, R, S, V, W, X, Y, and Z – are easier for children to hear than the stop (quick and quiet) sounds. NOTE: A lot of children get confused because the lower-case letters b and d look so similar. As you start using phoneme cards (with individual letters) in the Phonological/Phonemic Awareness games, we strongly recommend that you not show the d card until much later. Let the child develop a deep familiarity with the letter b; until then, you can reference d as simply “not b.” It is much better to simply separate out the introduction of these two letters. ↑ Top

6. Sound Pronunciation Chart

Print out this sound pronunciation chart to use as a reference when teaching your child. It will remind you of the proper pronunciations of the letter sounds. ↑ Top

7. Summary

Watch this short video for a refresher on the letter pronunciations!
Video: Sound Pronunciation Summary
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8. Letter Sounds with Kids

If you are careful to model the correct phoneme pronunciations for your children, they will absorb that knowledge and have a head start on being able to sound out words. As your child nears the end of our Phonological/Phonemic Awareness curriculum, quiz her occasionally on the letter sounds, as in this video below.
Video: Letter Sounds with Kids
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30 Responses to “Sound Pronunciations”

  1. Cleo

    Thank you for the videos. I plan on sharing them with my aids, parent volunteers, parents and students during whole group, small group, brain break and tutoring. These are really amazing resources. I hit the jackpot!♤

    Reply
  2. Diana

    Exactly, what I needed to help me, help my son Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

    Reply
  3. Christine

    Great resource 🙂

    Reply
  4. vineet jain

    thanks. amazing videos. helped my child a lot

    Reply
  5. Stefan

    Great resource! The charts are very helpful

    Reply
  6. Martha

    Excellent resource! I will definitely use it with my students (Early Childhood Unit of Children with Autism). Most amazing and teacher friendly way to do Phonological/Phonemic Awareness I have seen in my life. Thank you for being that generous to share your experience with us. God bless you.

    Reply
  7. Christine

    Explored the site today, Love it!!!!

    Reply
  8. Kathy from Georgia

    God bless you for putting these resources on the web. They are so very useful and helpful. The video demonstrations are awesome and I am learning so much from them. I am learning the right way to help my two nephews (one in 1st grade and the other in pre-K). I started last night using one of the teaching strategies with my nephew in 1st grade and he grasped on to the concept. To know that I was helping him filled my heart with joy. Continue the gift of what God has given you by helping others to help our children. God’s blessing be with you forever. Kathy

    Reply
  9. Lisa

    years ago Electric Company did phoneme exactly this way RRR A T/ RAT/ I have ALWAYS taught children this way

    Reply
  10. Mariela

    Just looking for help for my little one and i found you….Thank you so, so, so much…God bless you

    ADMIN – Hi Mariela,

    Glad to hear it was helpful to you and your little one. Brings a smile to my face.

    Reply
  11. Tuli

    You are amazing!!!! It feels like I have hit a treasure chest by finding your website.
    I can’t wait to go through all the content and use it in my class!!

    Reply
  12. dungvwah

    Great method of teaching. God bless your ability and thank you for broadening my knowledge.

    Reply
  13. Paskalina stephen

    This is the best resource I have seen on pronunciation! Thank you.

    Reply
  14. Debbie

    This website and all the information is truly amazing. I have 2 grandchildren (ages 5 and 8). One has dyslexia and this website has truly been a lifesaver. I can not thank you enough.

    Reply
  15. Miss Jones

    Very interesting resources

    Reply
  16. Shuchi

    This website is a complete package….Thank you for sharing……

    Reply
  17. Mary Kay

    I can only find the Sound Pronunciation Chart for the Basic Vowel Sounds. Where can I find the others? Thanks you!!

    Reply
  18. Amy

    Hi, the course is excellent. It’s very useful. I want to teach my child and my students in China. But the video is not available here. Can you help me to solve the problem? Thank you!

    ADMIN – Hi Amy,

    No sure what is going on for the video for you. The videos are hosted on youTube. Not sure what is going on for you, but they may be blocked in your school or location. You may need to try accessing them from another computer.

    Reply
  19. isioma

    Please , I need the video.

    ADMIN – Hello. There are videos for Numbers 1,2,3,7, & 8. If you are unable to play the videos, please try using another web browser.

    Reply
  20. emma

    This helped my child really well!

    Reply
  21. Peter

    Really helpful. For us in a remote place, no guidance, just internet, this was really helpful and that too for free.Thank you.

    Reply
  22. precious

    Wow! This is really helpful. Thank you and keep it up.

    Reply
  23. Tobi

    l really love these pages.

    Reply
  24. Tobi

    l really love it, it really helps me a lot to understand the right sound articulation and word pronunciation.

    Reply
  25. Deloris

    Back to the basics! Exactly what I will be sharing with my granddaughter.

    Reply
  26. Edmar

    I found your video lessons worthy for my research about spelling enhancement. I would like to ask if I could use it for my research. I hope you allow me.

    Reply
  27. Ericson Ramirez

    Very very good, I love it!!

    Reply

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