48 sound lessons
Pronunciation
48 lessons that make listening and speaking easier: sounds, word endings, stress, rhythm and talking with others.
- 🔊 Spoken instructions
- 👀 Examples
- ✅ A quick check
- 🎤 Say it
Short answer: Pronunciation Island has 48 short sound lessons in six levels: sound awareness, phonics, similar sounds, word endings and stress, sentence rhythm and everyday speaking. You listen, choose and say, with the voice on your device and an optional microphone. It follows General American pronunciation. One sound lesson is free to try.
Who it is for
- Learners who want to be understood more easily.
- People who drop word endings or mix up similar sounds such as ship and sheep.
- Anyone who learns the sounds of letters before reading.
What you learn
- Hear the difference between similar sounds.
- Say word endings (-s, -es, -ed), word stress and the schwa.
- Use sentence stress, linking and intonation.
- Practice greetings, questions and short stories.
Where to start
Read the English pronunciation guide to choose your first lesson, then open the lesson. The microphone is optional: you can listen and choose answers without it.
What is free
One sound lesson is free to try. The articles are free to read.
Questions
Do I need a microphone?
No. You can listen and choose answers without one. If you turn the microphone on, your browser may use its own speech recognition. This site does not record or store your voice.
Which accent is it?
General American.
Where is the guide?
The English pronunciation guide has a plan by goal and links to every lesson.
What you will learn
- Hear the difference between similar sounds
- Say word endings, stress and sentence rhythm
- Use the 👄 Sounds button inside Listening and Speaking lessons
How it works
Each lesson explains one idea, shows examples and mistakes to avoid, and ends with a short check. Everything is spoken by the browser voice, and your progress stays on this device.
The sound lessons
There are 48 short lessons in 6 levels, from hearing small differences between words to the rhythm of whole sentences. Every word is read by the voice on your device.
Sound Awareness
- Same or Different Sounds
- Beginning Sounds
- Ending Sounds
- Rhyming Words
- Syllables & Rhythm
- Blend & Break Words
Phonics & Word Decoding
- Basic Consonant Sounds
- More Consonant Sounds
- Short vowels a and e
- Short vowels i, o and u
- CVC Blending
- Consonant Digraphs
- Consonant Blends
- Magic e
- Long Vowel Teams I
- Long Vowel Teams II
- R-Controlled Vowels
- Diphthongs & Vowel Patterns
- Common Letter Patterns
- Silent Letters & Tricky Words
Sound Contrast & Articulation
- sh or s? ship, sip
- Short i or long ee? ship, sheep
- th, s or d? think, sink, they, day
- ch, sh or j? chip, ship, jam
- l, r or n? light, right, night
- a, e or u? bag, beg, bug
- f, v or w? fan, van, wet
- Final Consonant Contrasts
Word Pronunciation Rules
- Final Consonants
- Saying -s and -es
- Pronouncing -ed
- Syllable Division
- Two-Syllable Word Stress
- Longer Word Stress
- Schwa and Weak Vowels
- Exceptions & Review
Sentence Pronunciation
- Sentence Stress
- Weak & Strong Forms
- Linking Sounds
- Rhythm & Chunking
- Voice up or voice down?
- Saying it with feeling
Speaking & Communication
How to practice
- Play a little every day: about 15 minutes is enough.
- Say the sentence out loud after the voice, even without the microphone.
- Repeat a lesson that feels easy. Repeating is practice, not a test.
- When you make a mistake, open the rule card and read the examples.