Read and write an unfamiliar word
I can read an unfamiliar word aloud and write down a word I hear, without guessing.
Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.
Reading rules
6 minThis is a summary: you have met single cases since the first lesson, and here they are put together.
1. A silent e at the end changes the vowel before it — the "magic e":
| without e | with e |
|---|---|
| cap /kæp/ | cape /keɪp/ |
| hat /hæt/ | hate /heɪt/ |
| not /nɒt/ | note /nəʊt/ |
| win /wɪn/ | wine /waɪn/ |
2. Two vowels together are read as one sound:
| ee | see, tree — /iː/ |
| ea | eat, tea — /iː/, but bread, head — /e/ |
| oo | book, good — /ʊ/; school, food — /uː/ |
| ou | house, out — /aʊ/ |
3. c and g change their sound before e, i, y (g has many exceptions — get, give, girl — c has almost none):
| c → /s/ | city, centre, nice |
| c → /k/ | cat, cold, cup |
| g → /dʒ/ | page, gym |
| g → /ɡ/ | go, get, big |
4. Letters that are not pronounced:
| k before n | know, knife |
| w before r | write, wrong |
| b after m | climb |
| gh | bought, thought, night |
| h at the start of some words | hour, honest |
| l | walk, talk, half |
5. Capital letters and the full stop. These are written with a capital letter: the start of a sentence, I in any place, names, the names of cities and countries, nationalities and languages, the days of the week and the months. At the end of a sentence there is a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark.
Common learner errors
written for your languageReading letter by letter
✗ knife with /k/ → ✓ /naɪf/. In Spanish, Italian, Finnish, Turkish and Polish the spelling shows the sound almost exactly, and every letter is read. English spelling does not work like this.
Days and months with a small letter, and a small i
✗ monday, may, i → ✓ Monday, May, I. Spanish, French and Italian write days and months with a small letter, and Arabic, Chinese and Hindi have no capital letters at all.
A capital letter on every noun
✗ My Friend works in a big Office
✓ My friend works in a big office
In German every noun has a capital letter (mein Freund). In English a noun has one only if it is a name (lesson 1).
An extra vowel between consonants
✗ street with a vowel before s or between s and t → ✓ /striːt/. Spanish puts an e before s + consonant (escuela); Japanese puts a vowel after almost every consonant. In English str is one group.
Pronunciation
3 minRead aloud and then check: name, time, see, bread, book, school, house, city, page, know, write, night, walk, hour.
show the answers
Text
3 minMy friend Kate wrote me a letter. It was a whole page about a small island. She took a plane there in May. The island is very nice, but there isn't a city. At night she walked for an hour, and the light was very bright. "Be honest," she wrote. "Do you want to come next summer?"
Exercises
8–10 min1. Matching.
- cap
- hat
- map
- cape
- hate
- made
Show the answers
2. Multiple choice.
How is c read? 1) city — /s/ or /k/ 2) cold — /s/ or /k/ 3) nice — /s/ or /k/
Show the answers
3. Find the silent letter.
know, write, night, walk, hour
Show the answers
4. Correct the capital letters.
my friend anna is brazilian. she lives in rio de janeiro. her birthday is in may.
Show the answers
Summary
Covered
- the magic e
- vowel pairs
- c and g before e-i-y
- silent letters
- capital letters and the full stop
Next — lesson 35: telling the whole story about yourself.
End of the core
The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.
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Vocabulary for your deck
12 words- letter /ˈletə/ a sign like A, B or C; a message you send by post
- sound /saʊnd/ something that you hear
- island /ˈaɪlənd/ a piece of land with water all around it
- knife /naɪf/ a thing with a sharp edge for cutting
- bright /braɪt/ full of light; strong in colour
- light /laɪt/ what lets you see (the sun gives light); not heavy
- whole /həʊl/ all of something; complete
- honest /ˈɒnɪst/ telling the truth
- climb /klaɪm/ to go up something, using your hands and feet
- page /peɪdʒ/ one side of a sheet of paper in a book
- silent /ˈsaɪlənt/ not pronounced (of a letter)
Writing
Rewrite the text with capital letters and full stops: my name is paulo i live in rio de janeiro i am brazilian my birthday is on the third of may i work in a big office
show the answers
Practise this lesson in the other sections
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