Title: Phonetics

The 44 sounds of English

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There are 44 sounds in English . In comparison, there are 37 sounds in French.

There are 24 consonant sounds, 12 monophtong vowel sounds and 8 diphtong vowel sounds. Diphtongs are a combination of two vowel sounds.

The most common sound in English is what makes it difficult for French learners to understand Englisn:  it is called the SCHWA sound. Its symbol in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) l is an reversed "e" /ə/

A chart illustrates all the sounds of English. It is called the "Phonemic chart" . All the sounds are organized in a specific way. Let's find out how and why?

Consonant sounds

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There are 24 consonant sounds.

These consonants are produced in different ways. It is useful for English teachers to know how consonant sounds are produced and what they are called so that they can explain how to produce these sounds to the students. However, students in primary or secondary schools don't need to know these scientific terms: plosive, nasal, fricative, affricate, approximant, bilabial, dental, glottal, alveolar, palato-aveolar...

Some consonant sounds are voiced or unvoiced. A voiced sound releases air through the trachea:windpipe , so the vocal cords vibrate. If you place your hand on your throat, you should feel the vibration. This is an easy way for students to become aware of voiced sounds (voiced consonants and all vowel sounds)

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Monophtong vowel sounds

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There are 12 monophtong vowel sounds in English.

All vowel sounds are voiced sounds.

Diphtongs

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Diphtongs are a combination of two vowels sounds that glide from the first vowel to the second to form a single phoneme (and syllable). There are 8 diphtongs in the English language.