ENGLISH STUDY GROUP ONLINE

Words that help students understand all of the 44 sounds. (19 vowel sounds including 5 long vowels, 5 short vowels, 3 dipthongs, 2 'oo' sounds, 4 'r' controlled vowel sounds and 25 consonant sounds).


The following lists provides you with sample words for the sounds in the English language.

The 5 Short Vowel Sounds

• short -a- in and, as, after
short -e- in pen, hen, lend
• short -i- in it, in
• short -o- in top, hop
• short -u- in under, cup

The 6 Long Vowel Sounds

• long -a- in make, take
• long -e- in beet, feet
• long -i- in tie, lie
• long -o- in coat, toe
• long -u- (yoo) in rule
• long -oo- in few, blue

The R-Controlled Vowel Sounds

• -ur- in her, bird, and hurt
• -ar- in bark, dark
• -or- in fork, pork, stork

The 18 Consonant Sounds
c, q and x are missing as they are found in other sounds. (The C sound is found in the k sounds and in the s sound in words like cereal, city and cent. The Q sound is found in 'kw' words like backwards and Kwanza. The X sound is also found in ks words like kicks.)

• -b- in bed, bad
• -k- in cat and kick
• -d- in dog
• -f- in fat
• -g- in got
• -h- in has
• -j- in job
• -l- in lid
• -m- in mop
• -n- in not
• -p- in pan
• -r- in ran
• -s- in sit
• -t- in to
• -v- in van
• -w- in went
• -y- in yellow
• -z- in zipper

The Blends
Blends are 2 or 3 letters combined to form a distinct spelling sound.
The blends sounds:

• -bl- in blue and black
• -c- in clap and close
• -fl- in fly and flip
• -gl- in glue and glove
• -pl- in play and please
• -br- in brown and break
• -cr- in cry and crust
• -dr- in dry and drag
• -fr- in fry and freeze
• -gr- in great and grand
• -pr- in prize and prank
• -tr- in tree and try
• -sk- in skate and sky
• -sl- in slip and slap
• -sp- in spot and speed
• -st- in street and stop
• -sw- in sweet and sweater
• -spr- in spray and spring
• -str- in stripe and strap

The 7 Digraph Sounds

• -ch- in chin and ouch
• -sh- in ship and push
• -th- in thing
• -th- in this
• -wh- in when
• -ng- in ring
• -nk- in rink

The Other Special Sounds Including Dipthongs

• -oi- in foil and toy
• -ow- in owl and ouch
• short -oo- in took and pull
• -aw- in raw and haul
• -zh- in vision

by Sue Watson

 

Why you might want to curb your ramen intake

Who didn't eat ramen noodles multiple times a week during college? Unfortunately, the habit could come with some serious health consequences: A new study from The Journal of Nutrition shows that consumption of instant noodles—precooked noodle-based meals you make by adding boiling water or heating in the microwave before eating—may increase the risk of a scary condition called cardiometabolic syndrome, which in turn can lead to heart disease, diabetes, or stroke.

Since Asian populations eat high quantities of instant noodles, Baylor University researchers looked at dietary information from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey IV from 2007 to 2009. They identified two major eating patterns: the "traditional dietary pattern" (TP), high in rice, fish, veggies, fruit, and potatoes; and the "meat and fast-food pattern" (MP), high in meat, soda, fried food, and convenience foods like instant noodles and ramen. Not surprisingly, the MP was associated with higher obesity rates and bad cholesterol levels, while the TP was associated with better blood-pressure readings and a lower risk of obesity—but neither showed a clear link to the risk of developing cardiometabolic syndrome.

However, when researchers examined the numbers for instant noodle consumption in particular, they found that consuming the noodles at least twice per week was associated with a 68 percent higher incidence of metabolic syndrome among women, even after adjusting for other factors like sodium intake, estrogen use, and waist circumference. Consuming noodles once a week was associated with a 26 percent higher prevalence of the condition. This relationship didn't exist in men.

Researchers think the increased risk is likely the result of the high calories, refined carbs, saturated fat, and sodium content typically found in instant noodles. Women in particular might be susceptible to these negative health effects because of hormones that affect women disproportionately and metabolic differences. For instance, the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA), found in the styrofoam containers frequently used to package instant noodles, messes with the way hormones signal messages within the body, particularly estrogen.


The study does have limitations, though. For instance, the numbers from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey didn't take serving size into account, only the number of times a person consumed a given food. That said, researchers hope the study will remind people to be more mindful of their food choices. It’s important to remember many packaged foods, like instant noodles, are more like fast food—nutritionally speaking—than a home-cooked meal.