The 13 vowel sounds
My Favorite Web Sites
My language school in Fort Lauderdale
A tree-planting program in Honduras
Nova Volunteers (THANK YOU)
Tree planting in 50 countries
1000 most common words in English
Directory of Penpals and Students around the World
Practice -- Intermediate Level
Give this page to a boring teacher
The Tour of TALK School (created by students)
Learn how to make a web site
Learn about other countries
Click here to find some funny things to learn
Photos of Haiti
Sakapfet of haiti
CANDY from Colombia
CANDY from AArgentina
Stock footage from camcorders
Classical Archives
www.projectorpeople.com
www.floridatechnet.org
Before we explain the "beautiful and ugly" system of vowel sounds in English, let's look at some fun songs that some of my students wrote. Great stuff from www.floridatechnet.org www.classicalarchives.com www.camcorderinfo.com www.projectorpeople.com Proxima ultralight A list of words appears at the bottom of this page in groups -- each word is put with one of the 13 vowel sounds of English. Here are the words: Put them in the right place. For example, one and gun go with "sun" ============================================================================================================================================================================== THE LIST: one gun new jump toe knee ring thigh jaw nail wrist waist nostril ear knuckle thumb breast chest hip calf heel ankle bite bit write written taught thought lost lose love give ============================================================================================================================================================================== OKAY, here are the 13 sounds...... ============================================================================================================================================================================== ============================================================================================================================================================================== ====================================================== The key beautiful sounds are day, street, sky, go and moon and you. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== The key sounds that are "ugly" are cat, pen, fish, pot and sun. =========== ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== dog = AW sound, like saw, bought, taught. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== AU = house ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== [oo] = foot like book, good and could. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== If you have suggestions on how to improve this visual system of learning phonics, please send me your ideas. I'm looking for good visuals for beautiful A E I and O. ======== ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== You can reach me at englishlesson@mail.com ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== If your class or students are visiting Fort Lauderdale, please invite them to visit our school and pull their e-mail from the Internet in our Media Center. ============================================================================================================ ====================================================== The key beautiful sounds are day, nail waist ============================================================================================================================================================= street, heel knee ear ============================================================================================================================================================= sky, bite thigh write ============================================================================================================================================================= go, toe ============================================================================================================================================================= moon and you. new lose ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== The key sounds that are "ugly" are cat, calf ankle ============================================================================================================================================================= pen, breast chest ============================================================================================================================================================= fish, bit wrist written hip give ring ============================================================================================================================================================= pot, nostril ============================================================================================================================================================= sun, knuckle thumb love one gun jump =========== ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== dog = AW sound, like saw, bought, taught, thought jaw lost ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== AU = house ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== [oo] = foot like book, good and could. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== There is an easy spelling rule. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== When the word ends with "e", drop the e and add -ing. Or you add "ed". You say the vowel like the name of the letter. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== O hope hoping hoped sounds like "go" ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== when the word does NOT end with "e", you DOUBLE the last letter and add -ing or -ed. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== You say the vowel in the "ugly" way: ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== hop hopping hopped sounds like "hot" ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== NOW ... here is a rule about pronouncing the "ed" in regular verbs. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== When the verb ends with T or D, you say TED or DED. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== examples: landed, LAN ded. started, STAR ted. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== When the verb does not end with T or D, you say "d" or "t". ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== THESE ARE "D" -------- moved = movd --------- arrived = arrivd ---------- showed = showd ---------- bombed = bomd "hot" ---------- ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== THESE ARE "T" ---------- liked = likt ---------- laughed = laft (laff, laft) -------------- finished = FI nisht ----------- fixed = fixt ----------- passed = past ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== The rule is T with these letters: c, k, f, p, s, x, sh, ch: iced, marked, laughed, stopped, passed, fixed, finished, poached. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== Thank you to LC and the other students in the NOVA TALK English Class in August 2000. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== How do you say these words: grabbed, landed, peed, bagged, lied, called, bombed, grinned, showed, poured, started, glued, moved, tried, sneezed, confused, used ("iuuuuuzd"). ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== YES, they are all sounding with the D sound at the end. ====================================================== ====================================================== ====================================================== Thank you for visiting my page at Angelfire. Please come back and visit again! Please visit these other sites: www.angelfire.com/fl4/stevetest www.geocities.com/stevemccrea www.angelfire.com/fl4/englishlesson A STORY ABOUT A MOUSE Someone who loves me went on a cruise ship...and brought back this book. To: _____________________________ From: ___________________________ This book describes a trip from Barcelona to Lisbon on a Renaissance Cruise ship. If you would like information about cruises on the Renaissance ships, visit: www.renaissancecruises.com There was a knock at the door. Ann ran over and looked through the peephole. "Parrain Raymond!" she shouted. Eight heels started thumping on the stairs behind Ann. "Hooray!" "Hello!" "Why is he here?" "I want to show you something!" "Hug me!" "Can we go swimming?" "Can you give me a horsey ride?" "Hello, Ann! Hello, everyone! Mary and I are going on a cruise tomorrow," said Parrain* Ray, giving the five children a big group hug, "and I wanted my favorite kids to see this." He put a colorful brochure on the table. The square of Spain hovered over the long blue space of the western Mediterranean. The slice of Africa called Morocco fell to the lower left and Ann noticed the red and yellow circles on the coast: Tangier, Gibraltar, Barcelona, Malaga, Lisbon, Cadiz. Her eye traced the ship's route and images of a flat horizon and deep blue water filled her head. "Now you can start looking at the map," continued Parrain Ray, "and seeing where we're going to be next week." Ann felt a little twitch inside her. A cruise ship! She had always dreamed of going on one, floating over the ocean and watching dolphins jumping. "Parrain Raymond, can I go with you?" She remembered the fun places that he had taken her recently and she could just imagine all the interesting markets and castles that she could explore with her godfather. "That is something that I want to do more than anything in the world," replied Parrain Raymond. "Nothing would thrill me more than to show you some of these interesting museums and to share an ice cream on the sidewalks of Barcelona. Unfortunately, it's an adults-only cruise ship." Ugh! Those two words really meant two other words: "no children." Didn't adults understand that DisneyWorld is better when you see it through the eyes of a child? If that's true, then isn't the whole world more interesting when a child is with you? Ann quickly counted the years that needed to pass before she could enter the "adults only" club and it still was a horribly long time. "That means I can't go on the cruise with you for another four years!" "That's true, pumpkin, but really you and Mina and Nico and Rick and Alex will all be with me every moment. When I walk on the streets of Lisbon and see a statue of Henry the Navigator, I'm going to be thinking of you. When I stand on the great Rock of Gibraltar, my eyes will capture the moment for you." Ann could see the large rock in her mind, but didn't know exactly how big it was. "I'm going to send you postcards," Parrain Raymond continued," and I'll look for something special to help you imagine the wonderful world of Morocco. And I'll even send you some e-mail if I can find a cybercafe. What's your e-mail address?" Ann sighed and mumbled, "Ann06880 at usa dot com." It's just not the same as being on the ship, she thought. Then she snapped out of her grumpy mood and said, "Here, Parrain, I'll write it down," and she went over to the telephone and took a big sheet of paper. She wrote her "eddress" with big letters, two inches high, held it in front of her at arms' length and walked over to her godfather. "Sometime you and I will have a wonderful trip together, I promise," he whispered in her ear, and he gave her a big hug. Aunt Mary added, "We'll leave you this brochure so you can follow the ship." "That's right," said Parrain Raymond. "Now, everyone give a hug to Aunt Mary and we'll be going now. We have a lot of things to do!" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ann watched the car disappear and started feeling a little empty, or maybe a little sad. Then she remembered something that Parrain Raymond had told her once, "Think positive." This was exactly what her grandmother told her and what her parents also said: "Make the best of what you have." "You are what you think,' and Ann wanted to be happy, so she pretended that she was going to be on the ship. And even better, she could imagine going with her two brothers and two sisters. The first thing I'll need is to learn more about the ship, she thought. Let's see, every company has an easy-to-remember website address... www.renaissancecruises.com Ann was looking at the world wide web for information about the countries that the cruise ship would visit...when she decided to send an e-mail message to the Moroccan and Spanish embassies (to request a map and travel brochure). After sending the message, she noticed that there was a message in her e-mail box from "dustinmouse." "I wonder what this is," she murmured. "Huh?" Ann said and typed a quick reply. "Who are you?" and she pressed SEND. "Yeah, right!" laughed Ann. "Nice try. This is either Cathy or a nut who is hacking into my computer. I better not reply." Three days later Ann smiled. "Maybe Cathy really has a good imagination...or could this be from Parrain Raymond?" Either way, she really liked getting interesting e-mail messages. But she still was not going to reply...hey, if it was Cathy and if this was a joke, Ann didn't want Cathy to laugh at her! The next day Ann was really enjoying these messages from somewhere in Europe, but she was more and more uncertain about who was behind them. Cathy assured her that she was not the author of these e-letters - besides, she hated mice. The next day, Ann received a letter that was even more surprising: --------------------------------------------------------- Dear Ann, A cruise is like visiting 10 cities and staying in the same hotel. We don't have to pack and unpack our suitcases. The R2 is a wonderful ship because it's smoke-free. There aren't a lot of Europeans on board because the ship is marketed mostly to people in the USA. It's really funny to hear accents from Boston, California, Texas, New York and Alabama all in the same dining room! The cruise company is called Renaissance and I'm sure you know that it means "new birth" or "rebirth." Every time I travel I feel like a new part of me is being born. Taking a cruise is like packing in a lot of places without doing the hard travel between the city tours - because we are traveling at night while we sleep. And we save a lot of time because we move while we're eating. This letter comes to you very quickly because I still have not found a cybercafe, but I did find a nice guy in Barcelona who said he would mail this letter to you when he returned to the States. Isn't it nice to meet nice people? It's wonderful to find friendly and generous people all around the world... it certainly inspires me to be a better person. Hugs, Parrain Raymond Ann was shocked. "Parrain Raymond has not been sending me these e-mails! Who is Dustin Mouse?" In later email messages, Dustin shared more insights into the ship's many features and the interesting places to visit. Ann was getting used to the idea that a mouse was writing to her. She sent a message to Dustin and soon they were writing back and forth. And now and then Parrain Raymond sent an email: Dustin continued to write and he shared information about the ship's features that Parrain Raymond forgot to mention. Ann asked questions about the destinations and about what a child could do on the ship. She soon concluded that when she was a little older, it would be a really fun time to go on a ship with her godfather. Maybe even on a ship like the R2. Ann smiled. "That's a good idea." She logged out, turned off the computer and went to bed. As she closed her eyes, she could see in her mind's eye the little dusty mouse trying to shake off the flour from the pancake mix as she mixed eggs and milk to make a delicious meal together... Frequently Asked Questions about Dustin How did he get his name? His mother was surprised how much he liked to dig into a sugar bowl. When the little mouse came out of the bowl, his mother said, "My! How dusty you are! Did you get that sugar dust in that bowl?" How does he get photos in the computer? He drags a postcard over to the computer's electronic eye and he takes a digital photo of the picture. Sometimes he arranges mirrors to line up and point out the window at the port to give the camera a view of the port. He is learning to use a scanner but hasn't figured out a quick way to lift the scanner's top (in case someone visits the computer room while he's scanning a photo). Where does he find food? Like any mouse, except he's very careful to avoid touching food that humans will eat. He's aware that his mouth and hands have germs that are dangerous for humans. He's a thoughtful and polite mouse, so he doesn't run over the clothes or eating utensils of people or on kitchen surfaces. To be safe, he cleans his feet before typing on a computer keyboard, by stepping on soap or kitchen cleaner. What is his e-mail address? Dustinmouse@mail.com. He is happy to correspond with people who like to learn about other countries. If you want to receive a short e-mail message about other adventures of Dustin Mouse, send your e-mail to dustinmouse@mail.com. + + + + + + + A Worksheet for Estimating the Carbon Dioxide that Travelers put into the Atmosphere (provided by Trees for Travel(tm)) Miles by Car: ________________ (Divide by 2000) _________ Miles by Airplane: ________________ (Divide by 1300) _________ Miles by Train: ________________ (Divide by 3700) _________ Miles by Bus: ________________ (Divide by 10,000) _________ Days on a Ship: ________________ (Divide by 4) _________ Total number of trees to plant: _________ Tree Planting Programs www.treesftf.org Trees for Travel Write to globalcooling@hotmail.com for a list of other tree planting programs. Where do you want to Dustin Mouse to visit? _______________________________________ What do you want him to do in that country? _______________________________________ Look on the Internet (www.excite.com and click on TRAVEL) and read about the country. What cities do you want Dustin to visit? What museums do you want him to visit? Where do you want Dustin to plant trees? _______________________________________ Send your answers to dustinmouse@mail.com or fax them to 1+ 954.565.8718 Write to globalcooling@hotmail.com for a list of "Ten Ways to Cool the Planet When You Travel."
