Prior learning: Following on from the alphabet! Jo Rhys-Jones, November 2011 Talkabout Primary Languages
vowels tricky consonants nasal phonemes on/an/en, in/ain/ein regular graphemes ou, au/eau, gn, ph graphemes which make more than one sound silent letters elision & liaison
a eé è-ê i-y o u
a chat
e lemenejelemeneje neuf deux œuf
é décembre regarder levez la main! café éléphant bébébébé
è-ê frère père mère tête pêche zèbre
i-y dix six Yvonne stylo bicyette litlit
O - SAME SOUND MADE BY Ô/AU/EAU O – CAN ALSO BE A SHORT SOUND o piano pomme, bol, docteur carotte vélo, pot, hôtel, beau, chaud
u sucette Put your finger in your mouth like a lollipop. Remove your finger but keep your lips still. Without moving your lips, try to say ee That is the French sound u.
cg y w s t h
USUALLY A HARD SOUND SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E OR I c cinéma police, France, cent, cinq, délicieux, garçon... carotte crayon, sac, café, banc, caméra... same sound as ç
USUALLY A HARD SOUND SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E OR I g garage pigeon, orange, genou, girafe, gorille gomme, guitare, catalogue, regarder...
h théthé héros hôtel
USUALLY A SOFT SOUND HARD WHEN BETWEEN 2 VOWELS s oiseau cuisine, visite, rose, musique, chemise poisson sac, soupe, classe, danser...
USUALLY THE SAME SOUND AS IN ENGLISH EXCEPTIONS – CAN CHANGE TO S SOUND WHEN FOLLOWED BY I t dictionnaire direction, addition, patience, essentiel… tomate tulipe, tarte, moto, minute... Do these words make a normal t sound in English?
w EXCEPT: kiwi wagon le wc
USUALLY SAME SOUND AS FRENCH I BUT SAME SOUND AS IN ENGLISH WHEN BETWEEN 2 VOWELS y crayon joyeux, loyal, incroyable, voyage… stylo Yvonne, cycliste, Nancy lycée, pyjama...
on/an/en in/ain/ein Purists will rightly argue there is a very subtle difference between on and an/en but its highly unlikely to be noticable up to GCSE level so I leave that to teacher discretion and the level of your class…
on an en bonjour danse dentiste tombola chambre décembre lampe enfants mouton om am em
in ain ein vin intelligent train demain peinture important pain ceinture lapin im
ou au/eau/ô gnph é/ez/er è/ai/ei/et e/eu/oeuoi
ou bouche souris moutarde
e eu œu lemenejelemeneje neuf deux œuf
oi trois étoile histoire
é ez er décembre levez la main! janvier café jouer nez
o ô au eau hôtel jaune oiseau bateau taureau motomoto
è ê ai ei et frère fête chaise neige Paul et Liliane robinet jaime baleine
ph téléphone alphabet éléphant
gn araignée signal champignon
ch ill ail/eil/euil/ouil
USUALLY A SOFT SOUND: BUT HARD SOUND WHEN A GREEK WORD – OFTEN BEFORE R OR L ch Chrétien orchestre, chœur, chronique, technique… Chef Charlotte, marché, chat champagne, chocolat...
USUALLY A SOFTENED SOUND: SOME EXCEPTIONS WHEN THE L SOUND IS PRONOUNCED: ill Million village, ville, mille tranquille Famille fille, vanille, gorille gentille, habiller…
ail eil euil ouil travail soleil feuille nouille bouillir médaille bouteille abeille
USUALLY THE FINAL CONSONANT IS NOT PRONOUNCED: BUT THE LETTERS B C F K L Q R USUALLY ARE PRONOUNCED: Silent letters club snob, flic, chef, anorak avril, cinq, hiver mouton éléphant, lit, lapin trois, froid, abricot… Exceptions: blanc, porc, clef, -er infinitives Exceptions: ours, sud, autobus, tennis, some names,
le petit éléphantpetit when a word that ends in a normally silent consonant is followed by a word that begins with a vowel or silent h, then the consonant is pronounced – usually...