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Ben sees a rainbow at the park. Rehearse the lesson word with him: rain, bow.
What is each spoken beat called?
به انگلیسی
Syllables
Count, blend and segment syllables in spoken words; identify spoken syllables in order and take a syllable away
What a learner can do afterwards
- Clap out syllables in spoken words (e.g. 'butterfly' = 3 claps)
- Blend syllables to form words (e.g. 'rain' + 'bow' → 'rainbow')
- Segment a word into its syllable parts orally
1 · Read
Ask a helper to read each target and choice aloud before you answer. The helper says whole words normally, without splitting or counting. Say the word again and clap once for each spoken beat. Each beat is a syllable, which can hold several speech sounds. Count beats, not letters or sounds. Compare words by comparing their clap counts. More claps means more syllables.
Try it together
Say rainbow, then say its beats separately: rain, bow. Rain comes first and bow comes last. In butterfly, but comes first, ter is in the middle and fly is last. To find a beat, split the spoken word and listen for the position you need. Written pieces remind us of spoken beats; they are not spelling rules.
Keep the beats in order when you blend them. Say cup, then cake without a gap. They make cupcake. If you say only cup, you leave out cake. With three beats, keep all three in order too. To check a blend, listen for every given beat once. A helper can say the parts aloud for you.
You can take a beat away. Split bedroom into bed and room. Say it without room and bed is left. Take bed away instead and room is left. Keep the beat you were not asked to remove.
Good to know
Keep listening to the spoken word. Say it slowly without adding new beats. Ask your helper to say an unfamiliar word again.
Every word breaks into beats, and each beat is one syllable.
Original spoken-syllable teaching and practice written for this dataset.
Original reading about spoken syllables, written for this dataset.
More to read
Hear the parts
Ask a helper to say playground. Say the whole word back. Then listen to play and ground. Clap once for each beat. Playground has two syllables.
Say play first and ground next, without a gap. You have joined the beats again. If you say only play, ground is missing.
Now hear notebook. Its beats are note and book. Say notebook without note. Book is left.
Your helper can say words and choices aloud. Count the beats you hear, not the letters on the page.
2 · Watch
به انگلیسی3 · Play
به انگلیسی
Take it off screen
Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
This opens up
Then practise
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.