PLOSIVE STORY /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/

A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract.

• Use the consonant chart on the right to hear and repeat each one of these plosive consonant phonemes /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/ in isolation as many times as you need to. To help you produce the sounds correctly, place a sheet of paper in front of you, you will probably notice that the paper moves (if you do it properly) as the air streem is released in the manner of a mini-explosion. Keep trying until the paper moves, it should move more with the voiceless consonants /p/ /t/ /k/ than with the voiced equivalents /b/ /d/ /g/.
  

• You can now listen to the song The story composed by Brandi Carlile.Pay special attention to the pronunciation of plosive consonants. Once you have finished listening, you can do the matching activity just underneath the video. If you want to see the lyrics as you listen, click on this link: version with the lyrics superimposed on the video.

• Do this matching puzzle activity for more practice of -ed form.
• For more listening practice on pronunciation of -ed  regular past verbs, click here.

VIVA LA VI DA. VOWELS /iː/ /ɪ/ /ʊ/ /uː/ /e/ /ɜː/ /ɔː/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɑː/ /ɒ/

This post has been designed principally for Spanish speakers, but it can also be useful for other nationalities by skipping the first activity and doing the rest.

 There are 46 sounds in the English sound system, 22 of which are vowel sounds. Compare this with Spanish, which has 5 vowel sounds, none of which are equivalent to any vowel sound in English. English vowels are difficult to identify and produce in most latin based languages.

• First of all, note where the vowel chart is placed in the mouth cavity (Fig B) and then observe where each vowel is produced (Fig A) . Click on the chart on the right to hear and repeat the following vowel sounds /iː/ /ɪ/ /ʊ/ /uː/ /e/ /ɜː/ /ɔː/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɑː/ /ɒ/ as many times as you need to.

The British band Cold Play will help to introduce some of the most confusing vowels /iː/ /ɪ/ /ʊ/ /uː/ /e/ /ɜː/ /ɔː/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɑː/ /ɒ/ with their song Viva la vida.

• Listen to the song and do the matching exercise by dragging the words taken from the song on the right to the corresponding vowel sound they contain, on the left. Only one answer can be correct.

• For more practice with vowel sounds.

WISH YOU WERE HERE. APPROXIMANTS (LIQUID AND GLIDE CONSONANTS) /l/ /r/ /j/ /w/

Liquid consonants /l/ /r/ are sounds where the airstream is obstructed, but not so much as to either stop it or create friction. Pronounce all or are very slowly and hear the difference between the vowel and the liquid consonants. Some languages trill r's, of course. In American English the /r/ is considered a retroflex because of how the tongue flexes back toward the alveolar ridge (in most dialects). /l/ is considered a lateral liquid because it is made by putting the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, then letting the airstream flow around the sides of the tongue - laterally.

Glide consonants, also known as semivowels /j/ /w/. Sounds with little or no obstruction to the airstream in the mouth.
Glides and Liquids are the closest things to vowels among the consonants - in fact, in some languages they function almost as vowels; Sanskrit, for example, has syllabic 'l' and 'r' .

1) Click on the phonemes /l/ /r/ /j/ /w/ in the consonant chart on the right before you listen to the song.

Take into account that the graphemes that stand for /j/ are:

• 'y' in initial position as in yellow, yes, you.

• 'u' and 'eu' + consonant in initial position as in university, united, Europe.
• Compression in connected speech as in tell me a story /ˈtelmjəˈstɒri/

The graphemes that stand for /w/ are:

• 'wh' as in white, where, whiskey.
• 'w' as in win, wet, wish.
• Compression in connected speech as in about to arrive /əˈbəʊtwəˈraɪv/

2) Do the gap- fill activity as you listen to the song by the legendary English rock band Pink Floyd. Use the clues (the liquid and glide consonants /l/ /r/ /j/ /w/ the words contain) as you need them, but remember you will lose points. You can repeat the activity as many times as you need to. Use the scroller on the right to move up or down.

3) Do the matching activity. Read the instructions before you do it.

SING A NASAL SONG /n/ /m/ /ŋ/

Nasal consonants /n/ /m/ /ŋ/ are produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. A nasal consonant is also called nasal stop or nasal continuant.

• It is advisable to click on the phonemes /n/ /m/ /ŋ/ in the consonant chart on the right before you listen to the song. To produce /ŋ/ you obstruct the air stream through your mouth by bringing the back of your tongue into contact with the soft palate. The spellings for /ŋ/ are:
  
  • 'ng' as in sing, crying, long
  • 'nk' as in rank, thanks, think
• Paying special attention to these sounds, listen and sing along with Sing, a song composed by the Scottish band Travis

• Do the gap- fill activity as you listen again. Use the clues (the nasal consonants /n/ /m/ /ŋ/ the words contain) as you need them, but remember you will lose points. You can repeat the activity as many times as you need to. Use the scroller on the right to move up or down.

• For more activities with nasal consonants click here
• Do you like seafood? List all the food you can see in the video.

ACROSS THE CONSONANTS /k/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/ /f/ /θ/ /ð/ /ʃ/ /ŋ/ /w/ /j/

Get lost into the Universe of Consonants and across the 5 activities proposed. The Beatles song, Across the Universe, interpreted here by the American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple might give us an insight into some of the most difficult consonant phonemes to identify in English /k/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/ /f/ /θ/ /ð/ /ʃ/ /ŋ/ /w/ /j/ .

• Listen to the song and, if you know it, sing along as you read the lyrics just underneath focusing on the pronunciation of consonants.Dedicated to my teachers and my cousin in Brazil.

• Do the matching exercise by dragging the words taken from the song on the right to the corresponding phonetic symbol they contain on the left. Use the bar to move up or down and check your score once you've finished. GOOD MATCHING!

• What do the Sanskrit words Jai guru deva om mean?
• Here's the original Across the Universe Beatles' version and another interesting version interpreted by The Scorpions. Which of the three versions do you like best?

PHONETIC ALPHABET /fəʊˈnetɪkˈælfəbɪt/

The outstanding existing differences between the English phonological system and the Spanish one, among other problems, make Spanish learners find it really difficult to pronounce properly. I'm convinced that phonetics can help overcome those difficulties as well as provide more autonomy in the learning of a language. So... let's get started!

Las notables diferencias existentes entre el sistema fonológico de la lengua inglesa y el de la lengua española , entre otros problemas, hacen que nuestros alumnos encuentren especial dificultad en pronunciar correctamente. Estoy convencida que la fonética puede ayudar a superar esas dificultades además de proporcionar más autonomía en el aprendizaje del idioma. Así que... manos a la obra!

How about starting from the beginning?

¿Qué tal si empezamos desde el principio?

Here's a link to a very simple test activity consisting of identifying some vowel phonemes in the English alphabet. The vowel chart, figure A, can help you identify where each vowel is produce in the vocal tract. Click here to start and ENJOY YOURSELF!

Aquí tenemos un enlace a una actividad en forma de test muy simple que consiste en identificar algunos fonemas vocálicos en el alfabeto inglés. El recuadro de las vocales, figure A, te puede ayudar a identificar el lugar donde se realizan cada una de las vocales . Pincha aquí para empezar y DIVIERTETE!