Sound and Spelling in a New Language
Learn how the new language writes its sounds: which letters and marks make which sound, which letters stay silent, and where the stress falls. With the map in hand a written word can be said aloud and a heard word can be written down.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Read aloud an unfamiliar written word in the new language with sounds a speaker recognises
- Write down a short spoken word using the new language's spelling rules
- Explain what a mark above or below a letter does to the sound
1 · Read
Each language maps letters to sounds its own way. In French the last letters of many words stay quiet. You cannot sound them out like English. Learn each word by ear first.
Marks above letters change the sound. One small stroke can turn one vowel into another. French nasal vowels hum through the nose. Learn what each mark does.
English breaks its own rules too. There names a place and hides here inside. Their shows belonging. They're means they are. Swap in they are to test which one fits.
Break long words into chunks. Say the letters in rhythm. Write the word, cover it, write it again. Train spelling like a muscle.
Learn the sound map of the new language, then read and spell by its rules.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
8 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.