MyLeoNes™

Sounds and spelling — Foreign languages, 11–13 years

A new language may use familiar letters for unfamiliar sounds. Learning to notice the sound, stress and spelling together makes speaking clearer and helps you read new words.

One word has a sound shape

A written word is a set of signs, but a spoken word also has a sound shape: some syllables are stronger, and some sounds join together. In English, PREsent and preSENT are written alike but can sound different because the stress changes.

Why notice sound and stress?

Letters alone cannot tell you exactly how a new word is spoken. Learners needed ways to understand and say words when spelling was not a reliable guide, so dictionaries began showing pronunciation and stress; listening for both prevents many misunderstandings.

Listening step by step

Take the English word banana. First, count three syllables: ba-na-na. Next, listen for the strongest one: it is usually the second, ba-NA-na. Finally, say it slowly, then at normal speed, checking that the three beats stay present.

Reading every letter

A reasonable guess is to pronounce a foreign word exactly as its letters look, because that works often enough in your first language. It can fail when a language has silent letters or letter groups with one sound, as in English knife or Spanish que.

Reading names and signs

Sound and spelling matter when you read a station sign, order a place by phone, or say a person’s name. Listening to a recording and checking the written form helps you get close without pretending every language follows the spelling rules you know.

Keep exploring

Other languages

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