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Hello from Vietnam! I have been learning and teaching English for years. Even though I went to university and I have spent many years to learn English but I have realized that I have been learning and teaching English in the wrong way since 2016. In Vietnam, we focus more on grammar and writing, focus less on speaking and reading. That’s why we can get good grades about paper tests but get struggle with pronunciation and speaking. We use our own sounds and the tone of the Vietnamese language to pronounce and speak English that’s why it’s hard to understand when we speak and lots of problems in English communication. After realizing my mistakes I spent so much time to find the right and good way to learn English pronunciation and find the best way to teach my students who are kids to learn how to read fast, easily and correctly. These are the steps : Step 1: learn 26 letters in the Alphabet Step 2: Learn the vowel letters and the consonant letters * 6 vowel letters: a, e, i, o, u, y * 21 consonant letters including y * Learn the letter Y: Letter Y is a consonant when it goes at the beginning of the words. Letter Y is also a vowel when it goes in the middle or at the end of the words - letter y is a consonant makes /j/ sound: yo-yo, you, young, yummy, yucky - Letter y is a vowel makes long e and long i sounds : + long e sound: happy, crazy, lovely, angry, costly + long I: my, why, shy, by Step 3: Learn the sounds of the letters Step 4: Learn the sounds of vowels 5 short vowels: a, e, i, o, u 6 long vowels: a, e, i, o, u, oo Vowel teams: au, aw, eigh, ew, igh, ough, ow, oy, oi, oo, ou, ar, ir, er, or, ur Step 5 : Learn the consonant sounds ( /b/, /t/, /d/, /f/, /m/,/n/, /h/… , consonants teams: ch, ck, gn, kn, ng, nk, ph, sh, tch, th, wh, wr Step 6: Learn 5 phonetics skills 1. CVC words make short Vowels 2. CVCC words make short Vowels 3. CV words make long Vowels 4. Magic e words make long Vowels and vowel e will be silent. 5. Two vowels go together, The first vowel will be long and the second vowel will be silent. C stands for a consonant, V stands for vowel Phonetics skills 1&2: CVC/ CVCC When there is one vowel followed by one or two consonants and nothing more, the vowel will be short. - Short a: cab, bat, dad, fan, map, jam, watch, mash. - Short e: bed, get, leg, hen, neck, sell, yes, gem - Short i: bit, kid, dig, swim, hip, quick, fish, chin - Short o: dot, cob, frog, chop, clock, sock, box, mom - Short u: nut, shut, cup, bug, gum, fun, truck, brush Phonetics skills 3: CV: When a vowel stands alone at the end of a word, the vowel is long - long e: me, we, be, she, he - long o: no, go, so, ho, mo - long I: hi - long y: my, fly, why, sky, by, spy Phonetics skills 4: CVCE – magic e when E appears at the end of a word, it is silent and makes the first vowel long. - Long a ( a-e): bake, lake, face, place, hate, fake, bake, awake, shake, lake, wake, take, grade - Long e ( e-e): Pete, complete, athlete, compete, these - Long i ( i- e): ice, bike, like shine, price, hike, hide, five, fine, nine, mice, rice, rise, crime, knife - Long o ( o-e): nose, hole, phone, bone, joke, close, home, woke, tone, rope, stone, globe, alone - Long u ( u-e): cute, cube, use, fuse, mule, mute, June, huge, flute, duke, duke Phonetics skills 5: CVVC when a word has adjacent vowels, the second vowel is silent, and the first vowel is long - ai: tail, trail, snail, train, rain, aim, aid, fail, gain, main, email, jail, hail, brain, wait, daisy, claim - ay: day, way, play, say, lay, pray, today, stay, relay, tray, away, clay - ee: see, bee, sleep, peep, sweet, - ea: sea, beach, beat, seat, dream, toad, roam, road - ie: pie, tie, untie, die, lie, cried, fried, tied - oa: coat, coal, goat, float, oak, foam, soap, throat, coach, loan, load, goal - oe: hoe, foe, toe, doe - ue: clue, blue, Sue, due It takes time to learn all the letter sounds and the five phonetics skills but it’s worth learning. Children will be able to sound out and read words. It can be a bit of a puzzle to work out and understand these skills but with the support of teachers and parents especially when we keep it easy and fun eventually they will get it. And I always try to remind myself that the aim of phonics is to get the children reading as quickly and easily as possible so that they are free to read whatever they like! It’s meant to be fun and no one wants reading to turn into a chore. So I bring lots of fun activities, funny stories, amazing and interesting phonics videos on youtube apply in my lessons. The more my students feel happy with reading English the more I feel happy and successful. Happy learning and happy teaching!! Thanks so much for your time and for your corrections! Wishing you all the best!
