Reviewing the Vowel and the Consonants

Vowels: There are twenty vowels in the English Language. They include twelve pure vowels and eight diphthongs.

Pure vowels

1. /i:/                          Seat, Cheap, Sheep
2. /i/                           sit, chip, ship
3. /e/                         set, bread, friend
4. /ᴂ/                        Sat, Chat, match
5. /a:/                        Far, pass, father
6. /ɔ/                          Dog, hot, what
7. /ɔ/                          port, Lord, ward
8. /u/                         full, pull, would
9. /u:/                        fool, pool, coup
10. /Λ/                         fun, cut, tongue
11. /ᴈ:/                         first, nurse, word
12. /ə/                         again, away, forget

Diphthongs

1. /ei/                        eight, gate, stable
2. /əv/                       go, boat, toe
3. /ai/                         bite, fight, die
4. /au/                       how, south, doubt
5. /ɔi/                         boy, oil, toy
6. /iə/                        fear, hear, cheer
7. /eə/                       fare, hair, bare
8. /əu/                       sure, poor, tour

Evaluation: Exercise 1, Question C, nos 11 – 20, page 30, Oral English for School and Colleges.

Consonants: There are twenty-four consonants in the English Language. They are

1. /p/                 People, deep, stipend
2. /b/                 ball, debate, mob
3. /t/                  take, mistake, boat
4. /d/                 do, admit,mad
5. /k/                  can, kettle, suck
6. /g/                  gun, bag, again
7. /ts/                church, watch, butcher
8. /d ɜ/              judge, joy, bridge
9. /f/                  fever, safe, father
10. /v/                  voice, revise, involve
11. /θ/                 thank, both, thorough
12. /        /           that, mother, breathe
13. /s/                  sun, miss, messenger
14. /z/                  zoo, wise, bags
15. /j/                   shirt, wish, mission
16. / dɜ/              measure, pleasure, vision
17. /h/                 house, hurry, rehearse
18. /m/                man, remember, warm
19. /n/                 name,   renew, tan
20. /ɳ/                 going, doing, tongue
21. /l/                   late, little, tibe
22. /r/                  write, rat, worry
23. /w/                worry, reward, worship
24. /j/                   yam, yes, duty

Evaluation: Exercise 1, question A nos 1 -10, page 67, Oral English for Schools and Colleges

Topic: Review of Tenses

Tenses occurs only in verbs. Tense refers to the changes that takes place in the form of the verb to indicate time. Only two tenses, namely the present and the past, can be identified.

1. The Present Tense: The only change that takes place in the form of the verb to indicate the present tense occurs when the verb agrees with a third person singular subject.

Examples

Singular                                I sleep, wake and eat

                                You sleep, wake and eat

                                He sleeps, wake and eat

Plural                     We sleep, wake and eat

                                You sleep, wake and eat

                                They sleep, wake and eat

1. The Past Tense: Regular verbs form their past by adding. ‘ed’ to the simple form of the verb, while irregular verbs from their past tense in different ways.

Examples:

Ume worked in the farm yesterday. (regular)

Ada spoke to me on the telephone (irregular)

Evaluation: Exercise 1, Question 1, page 205, countdown to English.

Topic: Further Hints on how to answer comprehension questions.

As has been discussed previously, candidates are advised to obey the instructions to the letter. Other hints are:

1. If you are told to give a one-word answer, do not give more than one word. Or if a question demands that you write sentences, do not write phrases or clauses.
2. Be very conscious of time so that you do not use more than the time allotted to this section. You should also be careful not to rush over the exercise.
3. No information which is not required should be given. Keep your personal opinion to yourself.
4. Never give two answers where one is demanded. This would suggest guesswork, andif one of the answers is wrong, no credit will be earned even for the correct one.
5. Lastly, make sure that you understand what precisely the passage is about and what you are required to do.

Evaluation: Exercise III, page 78, countdown to English.

Weekend Assignment: Revision and test, part 1 page 161, Effective  English.