Intermediate: Speaking (Tues 17/11/09 2.30pm)

For more practice on the 'th' sounds, please follow thislink. Focus on unit one & two.

One student asked about spelling and how different spelling determines pronunciation. Please go to the ELAB and take out the book called "Test your spelling/pronunciation" If you turn to chapter 26 & 27, you can check different spelling patterns and matching pronunciation.


Here are some more rules on spelling.
Rule One: Bossy e
You write Bossy e everywhere. You spell a word like mate by adding Bossy e to the end of mat. The e is bossy because it bosses the other vowel in the word to make a long sound or to shout out its name. Here are a few words that show Bossy e doing its thing: plate, mate, lake, Pete, scene, ride, hide, mine, rode, bone, hope, cute, mule and tune.

Listen to the difference between these words: plat/plate; mat/mate; pet/Pete; rid/ride.

When a vowel makes a long sound, it's the same sound as its name. Bossy e makes the vowel (in the word it tags onto) have a long sound or shout out its name.

Rule Two: When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking
When spelling words like neat and boat, remember: when-two-vowels-go-walking-the-first-one-does-the-talking. Most long-e sounds fit the two vowels rule. Long e is spelled either with ee, like in meet, seed, and weed, or ea, like in team, seat, and bead. The two vowels come side by side, but the first is the one that makes its long sound. A long-o sound is also often spelled with two vowels. The long o is spelled with oa like in boat, coat, and loan. A long-a sound can be spelled with side-by-side vowels, too. In words like pain and rain, think about the long-a sound with ai. See how the two vowels come together? Start them with the long vowel that he hears and then remember the partnership.

Rule Three: y behaves like a vowel
Without a doubt, vowel sounds are tricky to spell. That's why these four spelling rules are about them. Every time you hear a long-vowel sound, you must run through the options. The third option mostly has to do with long-e or long-i sounds that you hear on the ends of words. The y-behaving-as-a-vowel rule applies to vowel sounds on the end of words that are spelled with a y. In words like happy and sunny, use y to sound like long e. In little words like by and shy, use it to sound like long i.

What about words like system, cyst, and gypsy? In those words, you spell the short-i sound with a y. The words cyst and gypsy are soft-c and soft-g spellings (as well as spellings that use y to make the short-i sound) so.

You use y to make e or i sounds. Put y on the ends of longer words (like happy), it makes a long-e sound, and when she puts y on the end of short words (like by), it makes a long-i sound. Use y in the middle of some words (like gypsy) to make the short-i sound.
Rule Four: i before e except after c (when you hear ee)
All sorts of words have the long-e sound in them, and the i-before-e-except-after-c rule gives you a fourth spelling option. The question becomes: Should you write Bossy e like in Pete, or two vowels walking like in meat and meet, y as in happy, or ie as in niece? Whew. With ie spellings, be sure to help you learn the first part of the rule — i before e except after c — before helping her discover the except-when-you-hear-"ay"-like-in-neighbor part. Practice on words like niece, piece, and receive, and after you're at ease with those, tackle the tough words like neighbor and weight. (You hear ay, so you don't put i before e.)