The sound of English

Every language has its sounds. The sounds are the result of how the words are pronounced. This is essential to the learning of the language. We are of the opinion that teaching English should be focused more on learning the sounds and how to make them, than learning grammar rules -- especially at the initial stages. Learning and mastering all the sounds are what it´s all about and this is not a short, overnight process but rather something that can only be learned over time and with CONSTANT EXPOSURE  to the language.

So, we will venture today  to present what we think is a good starting point for the subject of sounds. Vowel sounds. And we think that it would be quite correct to say that most initial confusion (for the beginning student of English) lies in the difference between the "long" and the "short" vowel sounds. The five vowels of English, a,e,i,o and u indeed, carry with them more than the two sounds (the "long" and the "short"), but we will tackle just these two sounds today and leave the others for another time.

The "short" a is what you hear in the word "apple".
The "long" a is what you hear in the word "cake".

The "short" e is what you hear in the word "egg".
The "long" e is what you hear in the word "deep".

The "short" i is what you hear in the word "kiss".
The "long" i is what you hear in the word "life".

The "short" o is what you hear in the word "not".
The "long" o is what you hear in the word "note".

The "short" u is what you hear in the word "us".
The "long" u is what you hear in the word "use".

With the exception of e, the rest of the vowels have something in common: the existence of a silent e
at the end of the word makes the sound of the vowel "long". This would be the general rule!!! But, since English rules are made to be broken, there are exceptions. Hey, there´s one right there! "Since"! (the i should be pronounced like the i in "kiss"). Check out this short video... and yes, it is intended for the Beginner student-- so all you Intermediate and upward students, go memorize your past participles or something…..hah!!