PHONICS REVISION

L’alphabet

A B C D E F G H IJ K L M N O P Q RS T U V W X Y Z

Les voyelles

Prononcez…

• la• le• lu• do• mi

• fa• si• du• de

Combinations of letters

The combination of some letters makes new sounds:

A+I = AIA+U = AUE+U = EUO+U = OUO+I = OI

In pairs, find at least two examples for each of these combinations

EAU sounds like

AU(eg: oiseau)

Prononcez…

A AI AU/EAU

E OEU/EU

I

O OU OI

U

Écoutez Listen to the text in French, and fill in the gaps using the

vowels or combination of letters you have learnt:

a / e / i / o / u / ai / au / eu / ou / oi

… / 34

J’_ _ un styl _ n _ _ r, une tr _ _ sse r _ _ ge et _ ne p _ _ re d _ c _ s _ _ _x.

_ l _ un crayon j _ _ ne et un r _ se m _ _s il n’ _ p _ s d _ f _ _ tre gr _ s _ _ bl _ _.

in / un / im

on / oman / en

am / em

Exception• If any of these combinations of letters is followed

by a vowel or a N/M (so it’s double N or double M) the two letters (eg:O+N) are pronounced separately (therefore, it is no longer a nasal sound)

• Eg: dictionnaire vs dicton• animal vs ans• fenêtre vs ventre• inutile vs intelligent• une vs un• comme vs compas

Practice

• NASAL SOUND OR NOT?

septembre

onze

intelligent

poisson

amusantanniversaire

ennemi

impossibleimage

ordinateur

Activité

Find at least one word for each NASAL

sound

in / im / un / um / on / om / an / am / en / em

12 mins

Be careful withexceptions!

Comment dit-on…?

OUOIAI

AU/EAUEU/OEUON/OM

IN / UN / IMAN / EN / AM / EM

CaReFuL !

gros

deux

sous

grand

air

noir

parc

nul

Silent final consonantsPronounced final

consonant (CaReFuL)

Group workFind as many words as you can to fill in both circles. Be careful with

exceptions.

Silent final consonants Pronounced final consonants (C, R, F , L)

Vowels at the end of words

• All vowels are pronounced at the end of words EXCEPT « e », unless it has an accent on it:

• joue / joué • It is very important to understand this

difference as it often changes the meaning of words

• Exceptions: if a two-letter word ends with a « e », you have to pronounce it: le, me, de, te, se, ce, je, ne

Le son [é] (‘ay’)

é

Boucle d’Or et les trois ours

Il était une fois trois ours qui habitaient une petite maison

dans une petite forêt.

Il y avait papa ours, maman ours et bébé ours.

Un jour, maman ours a fait une bonne soupe.

La soupe était trop chaude donc les trois ours sont allés faire

une promenade dans la forêt.

Pendant qu’ils faisaient la promenade, une petite fille s’est

approchée de la maison.

La petite fille s’appelait Boucle d’Or.

Elle s’est arrêtée. Elle a regardé.

Puis elle est entrée dedans.

Le son [é] (‘ay’)

é

Le son [é]

éai

ê

est et

er

ez

aientais

ait

only at theend of a word

EXCEPTIONS

les des mestessesces

In these 6 articles, the combination of the letters E+S makes the sound [é]

BUT ONLY in these 6 words !

Lisez et écoutez

• ‘il était une fois, trois ours qui habitaient une petite maison dans une petite forêt’

Les liaisons

• A liaison is a link between two words: the first word ends in a consonant which is usually silent (other than C, R, F, L) and the second word starts with a vowel or a ‘h’.

• Examples: trois ours (the ‘s’ becomes pronounced because of the ‘o’ following it)

• un hôpital (the ‘n’ becomes pronounced because of the ‘h’ following it)

• Find as many words starting with a ‘h’ as you can

• How do you pronounce them?• ‘h’ is a silent letter in French

• How do you pronounce these words?• chocolat / chaud• ‘ch’ in French sounds like the English ‘sh’• Do you know any other words with the ‘ch’

sound?

• How do you pronounce these words?• ‘fille’ / ‘gentille’ / ‘taille’ • [ ill ] in French sounds like the English [ y ] as

in ‘you’ / ‘yes’ in the middle of a word (not at the beginning → illimité / illégal)

• Exceptions: mille / ville / village / tranquille• Can you find some other words with

the combination «ill »?

• How do you pronounce these words?• quatre / qui • [ qu ] in French sounds like the English [ k ] –

never pronounce the ‘u’ after a ‘q’• Can you find any other words using the sound [

qu ] ?

5 mins

Reading activity

• In pairs, read the text page…• Make sure you take every phonic rule we have learnt so

far into account:

1. vowels sounds

2. combinations of letters

3. nasal sounds (and the exceptions)

4. silent letters at the end of words

5. the [é] sound

6. liaisons

7. h / ch / qu / ill