美国教材对孩子学习英语的好处多多。
首先，学发音不用学音标，而是学习Phonics，也就是说他们是直接学习26个字母和字母组合与五十个音素之间的关系。
一、辅音字母的读音。
p b To create these sounds, we use our lips to stop the air, and then we push the lips apart again with a puff of air. The b sound is voiced, and the p sound isn't, making them a voiced/unvoiced pair.
bath, path
bull, pull
buy, pie
bride, pride
robe, rope
t d When creating these two sounds, your tongue should briefly touch the front of the tooth ridge, then let go with a small puff of air. The difference between the sounds is the use of our vocal cords. The d sound is the voiced sound, and the t sound is the unvoiced sound.
dime, time
dense, tense
code, coat
tide, tight
spend, spent
k (qu) The sound is made at the back of our mouth by pressing our tongue up against the soft palate, then letting go with a little puff of air. It is an unvoiced sound.
k kite kiss key king kangaroo kitchen kettle kick
qu question quarrel quilt quiet queen quarter
f v These sounds happen when we place our bottom lip lightly against our upper teeth, and push air through the small space between the teeth and the lip. The f sound is unvoiced, and the v sound is voiced.
leaf, leave
few, view
refuse, reviews
proof, prove
s z The z sound and s sound are articulated in the same area at the front of our mouth as the t sound and d sound, at the tooth ridge. The tooth ridge is that area right behind our upper front teeth. The z sound is voiced, and the s sound is unvoiced.
s sun sofa silver sink sign soap six seven
z zero zipper zoo zebra
r When speaking with the General American Accent, Americans use a rhotic r, which means we say it in all parts of the word, including when it occurs after a vowel sound. The tip of the tongue may be raised or lowered, some people bunch the tongue up in the center of the mouth, and some bunch the tongue up at the back of the mouth. The important feature of creating an r sound is that the very back of our tongue, actually down in our throat, is constricted.
r rope rock rainbow rose ring rug rabbit
h That sound comes from way down in my throat. I'm restricting the space in my throat just a little bit while pushing the air out.
hear, ear
heat, eat
his, is
hitch, itch
hold, old
j It begins with with the tongue in the same position as d sound, with the tip of the tongue right behind the upper front teeth. Then the sound gets released in the same place inside the mouth. The area right behind the tip of the tongue is so near to the tooth ridge that friction happens.
j jewel jam jacket juice jump jelly jeep jar
m We create that sound by pressing our lips together, the same as we do for the b sound and p sound.
m mother empty coming from column
n We press the tip of our tongue against the tooth ridge. We use our tongue to completely block the air from leaving our mouth, and we push the air out our nose.
n tune dune loon noon
l The l sound happens way at the front of our mouth, with our tongue touching the tooth ridge in the same place we touch it for a t sound.
play, pray
climb, crime
arrive, alive
w In English, the w sound is created by making a small circle with our lips, then sticking them out enough so they don't touch our teeth and cause friction. Then we voice the sound.
Vest, west; vine, wine; verse, worse.
二、有些辅音字母有多个发音。如：字母c后面接a，o，u的时候，c的发音与字母k发音相同，叫做“hard c sound”，当字母c后面接e，i，或y的时候，通常c的发音与字母s发音相同，叫做“soft c sound” 。有时在e或i前面，c会发/ʃ/音。字母g后面接a，o，u的时候，所发的音叫做“hard g sound” ，当字母g后面接e，i，或y的时候，有时g的发音与字母j的发音相同，叫做“软g音”。x在单词中间或结尾时发ks音，在单词中间时有时发gz音，在单词起始位置时发z音。y在单词起始位置时发音为辅音y，单词或音节中间或结尾时被当做元音，在重读开音节里发长元音i-e，在重读闭音节里和词末发短元音i。
三、辅音字母组合的发音也是有规律可循的。常见的辅音字母组合有：tr-dr，发音时舌身与r相似，舌尖贴上齿龈后部，气流冲破阻碍发出短促的t-d后立刻发r。ck只发一个k的音，但是它经常出现在短元音的后面，ng的发音是舌头抵住上颚后方所发出的鼻音，n在k之前也是这样发音的。
duck
lucky
knuckle
truck
bucket
clock
rock
shock
locker
pocket
To create the ng sound, press the back of the tongue against the soft palate, and, here's the weird part, let the air leave through your nose.
ringing
bringing
singing
longing
pink
bank
shrink
drink
cranky
四、复合字母构成的单音。digraph是两个（或三个）辅音字母在一起只发一个音，通常指以下四种组合：ch（tch），sh，wh和th。
ch It begins with the tongue in the same position as the t sound, with the tip of the tongue right behind the upper front teeth. Then the sound gets released in the same place inside the mouth as the sh sound. The area right behind the tip of the tongue is so near to the tooth ridge that friction happens.
choke chump etch lunch rich search
sh To create the sh sound we make our lips rounded and place the tip of our tongue near the back of the tooth ridge and push air out.
she, shoe, fish, crash
th The tip of your tongue has to be touching the back of your upper front teeth with the tip of the tongue while pushing air out between the tongue and the bony ridge behind the upper front teeth feather leather father mother brother
th bath bathmat three thumb thirsty thief mouth teeth
wh When the wh is followed by either the long o sound or the oo sound, then the word is usually pronounced with an h sound, and only an h sound.
who
whom
whose
whole
Most wh words (except those followed by the long o or oo sound) in American English are pronounced with an unvoiced w sound.
what
when
why
which
whale
wheel
white
where, wear
which, witch
whether, weather
whale, wale
五、在有些辅音字母组合中，其中一个字母是不发音的。
mb中的b是不发音的。
climb
doubt
debt
bomb
l不发音的情况：
would
could
should
talk
walk
half
talk
gn中的g是不发音的。
campaign
design
在n、s、t前面，p是不发音的。
pneumatic pneumonia psychology psychological psychologist psychic psychiatric pseudonym
在一些字里的h是不发音的。
h honor heir herb hour haute
在法语字源的字里，词尾的辅音字母是不发音的：
ballet depot faux pas
六、英语里元音的发音比较复杂，每个元音都可以发多个音，掌握了元音的发音规律才能对整个单词的发音有比较准确的掌握。元音字母有五个：a，e，i，o，u，另外y在一个单词的中间或结尾时也被当做元音。每个单词里都包含有至少一个元音，元音是单词的“最强音”。元音所发的音取决于该元音在单词中的位置或它是如何与其它元音组合的。一般来说，如果五个元音字母中的任意一个后面紧接着一个或几个辅音字母，这个元音字母就处于重读闭音节中，发成短音。
short a (short a): add, after, bath, plan, crash
short e (short e): end, enter, bend, yes, dress
short i (short i): it, ill, gift, since, drip
short o (short o): odd, on, box, lot, rock
short u (short u): up, us, jump, luck, fun
七、如果一个单词以字母e结尾，前面的元音发长音，叫做重读相对开音节（magic e）。如果一个元音是在一个单词或重读音节的结尾，该元音也发长音，叫做重读开音节，所谓长音就是元音字母的名字。
a-e cape name tape (I would mention that the end of the long a has a very brief short i sound attached.)
e-e these
i-e bite five kite (The long i is a 2-sound vowel that end in a brief short i sound. )
o-e rose nose rope
u-e tube cube June (Notice that the long u sound u-e begins with a very distinct y sound.)
八、当一个单词或音节里有两个元音时，通常第一个元音发长音，第二个元音不发音，叫做vowel digraph。
ai tail 尾巴 rain 下雨 paint 油漆 pain 疼痛 jail 监狱 nail 钉子 rail 铁轨 maid 仆人
ay bay 海湾 ray 射线 way 路 say 说 hay 干草 pay 付钱 May 五月 lay 放置
ee reeds 芦苇 eel 鳗鱼 bee 蜜蜂 peel 剥皮 jeep 吉普车 feel 感觉 see 看见 teeth 牙齿
ea sea 海 meat 肉 peanut 核桃 peach 桃子 eagle 鹰 leaf 树叶 pea 豌豆
ey key 钥匙
oa road 路 toast 土司 toad 蟾蜍 coal 煤 goat 山羊 boat 船 coat 上衣 soap 肥皂
ow rainbow 彩虹 pillow 枕头 yellow 黄的 window 窗口 hollow 中空的 bowl 碗 row 划 low 低的
The short oo sound is considered a back vowel because the sound occurs in the rear of the mouth, using the back of the tongue.
good
look
book
foot
cookie
The long oo sound is created with the back of the tongue very high, almost like a hard g sound, but the back of the tongue and the top of the mouth do not actually touch. At the same time as the tongue is high, the lips are made into a small, tight circle.
soon
moon
tooth
food
school
The aw/au sound is created with the lips open and rounded. The jaw opens, the middle area and tip of the tongue are pushed low, and the back of the tongue is raised and pushed back.
law, l-a-w
draw, d-r-a-w
jaw, j-a-w
yawn, y-a-w-n
crawl, c-r-a-w-l
fault, f-a-u-l-t
haunt, h-a-u-n-t
cause, c-a-u-s-e
taught, t-a-u-g-h-t
caught, c-a-u-g-h-t
The short ea is not just a long e held for less time. The shape of the tongue is actually different. To create the short ea sound, my tongue is much lower in my mouth, and is only slightly rounded upward.
already
health
death
dead
read
ready
九、双元音是两个元音音素组合在一起的，所以听上去有两个音，尽管这两个音并不是两个元音所单独发出的。
The oi/oy sound and the ou/ow sound. Lucky for you, these are usually pretty easy sounds for ESL students. They are both 2-sound vowels, meaning they are a combination of a vowel sound and a short oo sound or short i sound. Can you hear the short i sound at the end of the oi sound (oi sound)? How about the short oo sound at the end of the ow sound (ow sound)?
oi sound (oi sound): boy, moist, choice, toy, coin
ow sound (ow sound): brown, mouse, count, house, town
十、元音字母与字母r结合起来后，发卷舌元音。
When I talk about r-controlled vowels, I am talking about vowel sounds a, e, i, o and u that are said differently because they are followed by the letter r. Or, to say it another way, the r sound changes the way we say the vowel sound before it.
Which sounds change when before an r sound? One of the easiest to hear is the ar sound. This is usually spelled as "a" plus "r" as in the word "car". C-a-r. Say the ar sound alone (ar sound). Now, if you learned a British pronunciation of English, you were probably taught not to say the r sound at the end of the word "car" unless the next word begins with a vowel sound. In the United States, we always say the r sound. Other words with the ar sound are farm, start, and smart. Say those words after me. Farm. Start. Smart.
The next r-controlled vowel is the "or" spelling, which sounds like or.
Most non-native speakers understand and expect the long er sound in words spelled er, ir, and ur, To create the long er sound, the tongue arches upward toward the back of the hard palate. The back sides of the tongue curve upward and touch the back teeth, while the center of the tongue remains lower. The tip of the tongue may turn upward, but it must not touch the tooth ridge.
her
jerk
verb
concern
stir
girl
shirt
confirm
burn
turn
curl
return
十一、五个元音字母在非重读音节中发弱元音。
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