What to Start with in Learning English
The best and fastest way in learning English for any non-native English speakers is grapping the hints of how to pronounce and spell the words. The easiest solution to achieve this learning tactics, is the interaction between the L1 and L2. Example, how to pronounce or spell the language 1 which is Khmer language for Cambodian learners to Language 2 which is English, the target language. Then, you will need to have the knowledge of letters (alphabets), phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (way of writing the sounds).
In English language phonics, there are 44 International Phonetic Alphabets (IPA) consisting of 24 consonant sounds and 20 vowel sounds. Both have its monograph as in [TAnk /t/ + /æ/ + /ŋk/] and digraphs as in [THrEE /θ/ + /r/ + /iː/] and other multigraphs.
Learn English with Sam
This article is written by Sam as a free lessons for all Khmer learners. Let’s learn English with Sam. Sam was from the most underprivileged background with his family in a rural Angkor area. Sam gets his current better life condition because of learning and teaching English. Seeing this opportunity as a crucial key to better change for people in rural area. Sam has created many learning access to the people both online and offline for frees.
44 English IPAs toward Khmer Phonics
24 English Consonantal IPAs – សម្លេងព្យញ្ជនៈទោលនិងផ្សំអង់គ្លេស
| No | English IPAs | Khmer IPAs | Examples | Phonemes | Translation |
| 1 | /b/ | បឹ=ប.ប | bed | /bed/=បេដ | គ្រែ |
| 2 | /d/ | ដឹ=ដ.ឌ | dog | /dɒɡ/=ដក | សត្វឆ្កែ |
| 3 | /f/ | ហ្វឹ=ហ្វ.ហ្វ៊ | feet | /fi:t/=ហ្វីថ | ជើង |
| 4 | /g/ | ហ្កឹ=ហ្ក.ហ្គ | good | /gu:d/=ហ្គូដ | ល្អ |
| 5 | /h/ | ហឹ=ហ.ហ៊ | hat | /hæt/=ហែថ | មួក |
| 6 | /k/ | ខឹ=ខ.ឃ | cat | /kæt/=ខែថ | សត្វឆ្មា |
| 7 | /l/ | លឹ=ឡ.ល | love | /lʌv/=ឡាវ់ | ស្រលាញ់ |
| 8 | /m/ | មឹ=ម៉.ម | mouse | /maʊs/=ម៉ៅស៍ | កណ្តុរ |
| 9 | /n/ | នឹ=ណ.ន | no | /nəʊ/=ណៅ | ទេ |
| 10 | /p/ | ផឹ=ផ.ភ | pen | /pen/=ផេន | ប៊ិច |
| 11 | /r/ | រឹ=រ៉.រ | run | /rʌn/= រ៉ាន់ | រត់ |
| 12 | /s/ | សឹ=ស.ស៊ | seed | /si:d/=ស៊ីដ | គ្រាប់ពូជ |
| 13 | /t/ | ធឹ=ថ.ធ.ឋ.ឍ | tip | /tip/=ធិភ | លុយទឹកតែ |
| 14 | /v/ | វឹ=វ៉. វ | voice | /vɔɪs/= វ៉យ | សម្លេង |
| 15 | /w/ | វ្ហឹ=វ្ហ . វ្ហ៊ | woman | /ˈwʊmən/=វូមឹន | ស្ត្រី |
| 16 | /j/ | យឹ= យ.៉យ | yellow | /ˈjeləʊ/=យេឡូ | ពណ៌លឿង |
| 17 | /z/ | ហ្សឹ=ហ្ស .ហ្ស៊ | zoo | /zuː/=ហ្ស៊ូ | សួនសត្វ |
| 18 | /θ/ | ស្សឹ=ស្ស.ស្ស៊ | thank | /θæŋk/=ស្ហែងខ៍ | អរគុណ |
| 19 | /ð/ | ឌឹ=ដ.ឌ | that | /ðæt/=ឌែថ | នោះ |
| 20 | /ʃ/ | ហ្សឹ=ហ្ស.ហ្ស៊ | sheep | /ʃiːp/=ហ្ស៊ីភ | សត្វចៀម |
| 21 | /ʒ/ | ស្សឹ=ស្ស.ស្ស៊ | vision | /ˈvɪʒən/=វិស្សឹន | ចក្ខុវិស័យ |
| 22 | /tʃ/ | ឆឹ=ឆ.ឈ | chair | /tʃɛː/=ឈែរ៍ | កៅអី |
| 23 | /dʒ/ | ដ្ចឹ=ដ្ច.ដ្ជ | job | /dʒɒb/=ដ្ចប | ការងារ |
| 24 | /ŋ/ | ងឹ=ង៉.ង | song | /sɒŋ/=សង់ | ចំរៀង |
13 English Vowel IPAs- សម្លេងស្រៈទោលអង់គ្លេស
| No | English IPAs | Khmer IPAs | Examples | Phonemes | Translation |
| 1 | /ɪ/ | …អ៊ិ… | sit | /sɪt/=ស៊ិថ | អង្គុយ |
| 2 | /i/ | …អ៊ិ | thirty | /ˈθəːti/=ស្សឹធិ | សាមសិប |
| 3 | /i:/ | អ៊ី | feet | /fi:t/=ហ្វីថ | ជើង |
| 4 | /e/ | អេ | pen | /pen/=ផេន | ប៊ិច |
| 5 | /æ/ | អ៊ែ | that | /ðæt/=ឌែថ | នោះ |
| 6 | /ɑː/ | អា | army | /ˈɑːmi/=អាមិ | សត្វចៀម |
| 7 | /ɒ/ | អក់ | hot | /hɒt/ ហត់ | ខ្ដៅ |
| 8 | /ɔː/ | អរ | orange | /ˈɒrɪn dʒ/អរិនដ្ច៍ | ក្រូច |
| 9 | /ʊ/ | អ៊ុ | put | /pʊt/=ភុធ | ដាក់ |
| 10 | /u:/ | អ៊ូ | good | /gu:d/=ហ្គូដ | ល្អ |
| 11 | /ə/ | អឹ | letter | /ˈletə/=ឡេថឹ | សំបុត្រ |
| 12 | /əː/ | អឺ | learn | /ləːn/=ឡឺន | រៀន |
| 13 | /ʌ/ | អាក់ | cut | /kʌt/=ខាត់ | កាត់ |
8 English Diphthong IPAs- សម្លេងស្រៈផ្សំអង់គ្លេស
| No | English IPAs | Khmer IPAs | Examples | Phonemes | Translation |
| 1 | /eɪ/ | អេយ៍ | name | /neɪm/ នេម | ឈ្មោះ |
| 2 | /əʊ/ | អូ | no | /nəʊ/= ន | សាមសិប |
| 3 | /ʌɪ/ | អាយ៍ | nine | /nʌɪn/= ណាន | ប្រាំបួន |
| 4 | /aʊ/ | អៅ | power | /ˈpaʊə(r)/=ផៅអឺរ៍ | កំលាំង |
| 5 | /ɔɪ/ | អយ | toy | /tɔɪ/=ថយ | របស់គ្មេងលេង |
| 6 | /ɪə/ | អៀ | near | /nɪə(r)/=នៀរ៍ | នៅជិត |
| 7 | /eə/ /ɛː/ | អៀ | chair | /tʃɛː/=ឈែរ៍ | កៅអី |
| 8 | /ʊə/ | អួ | pure | /pjʊə(r)/=ភ្យួរ៍ | បរិសុទ្ធ |
Long Vowel Sound and Short Vowel Sounds
Just like Khmer language, there are two groups of vowel sound: ‘អ Or /ɔː/” and”អ៊ O/əʊ/”. Sam Inspire would like to the short and long vowel sound as following:
Short Vowel Sound and Patterns
| a | e | i | o | u |
| /æ/ | /e/ | /ɪ/ | /ɒ/ | /ʌ/ |
| a : cat | e : bed | i : This | o : top | u : bus |
Long Vowel Sound and Patterns
| a | e | i | o | u |
| /eɪ/ | /iː/ | /ʌɪ/ | /əʊ/ | /uː/ |
| a : a | e : me | i : Iris | o : photo | u : put |
| a-e : made | e-e : these | i-e : ice | o-e : nose | u-e : tune |
| ai : main | ee : see | igh : high | oa : boat | ue : true |
| ay : may | ea : tea | -y : try | ow : show | ew : few |
| eigh : height | -y : waterlily | ie : lie | OUGH : though | eu : neutral |
| ei : vein | ie : thief | y-e : style | oe : toe | |
| ey : hey | ey : key |
Special Glossaries Related to English Writings and Phonic Characters
- Letter refers to any single or more characters of the alphabets.
- Alphabet refers to the the complete set of any language letters in its order. Example: A to Z is the English Alphabet which consist of 26 phonics and 52 letters in which 26 are small letters and other 26 are in capital. And 5 of those are vowels (Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, Uu).
- IPA (International Phonetic Alphabets) is the symbol or signs that English has created to help pronounce the letter and words. Example, “a” can be pronounced in 1) /æ/ as in cat, 2) in /ɑː/ and /ə/ as in Cicada /sɪˈkɑːdə/. This “cicada” apply to “c” can be pronounced in /s/ and /k/. Therefore sign or symbols of /æ/, /ə/, /s/ and /k/ are called IPA.
- Diphthong is a sound composed of two vowel IPA symbols but composing of vowels only not consonants. The composed letters don’t have to be two vowels, it can be more which is different from Digraphs on the other way around. Example: Diphthong /ɪə/ composed of three letters ear and eer.
- Digraphs are two-letter Graphemes. You can remember this trick because Digraph has the prefix di which means two. However, the IPA is not necessary to be two symbols. For instance, digraphs: CH, PP, SH, TH as in CHair /tʃeə/, aPPle /ˈapəl/, SHe /ʃi:/, THank /θæŋk/, THat /ðæt/. Here are most of the Digraphs in English including Vowels and Consonant:
| Digraphs | IPAs | Examples |
| CH | /tʃ/ | Chair |
| NG | /ŋ/ | Song |
| PH | /f/ | Photo |
| SH | /ʃ/ | Sheep |
| TH | /θ/ | Thanks |
| TH | /ð/ | That |
| WH | /w/ | What |
| ai | /ei/ | Sail |
| ar | /ɑː/ | Bar |
| ay | /ei/ | Day |
| aw | /ɔː/ | Saw |
| ea | /iː/ | Seat |
| ee | /iː/ | See |
| er | /ə/ | December |
| ew | /uː/ | Few |
| ey | /ei/ | Trey |
| ie | /ʌɪ/ | Tie |
| ie | /ɪə/ | Ambient |
| ir | /əː/ | Birth |
| oa | /əʊ/ | Moat |
| oe | /əʊ/ | Toe |
| oi | /ɔɪ/ | choice |
| oo | /u:/ | moon |
| or | /ɔː/ | form |
| ou | /aʊ/ | out |
| ou | /ʊ/ | should |
| ow | /aʊ/ | now |
| ow | /əʊ/ | snow |
| ue | /uː/ | tissue |
| ur | /əː/ | turn |
- Trigraphs are three-letter Graphemes. You can remember this trick because Trigraph has the prefix tri which means three. Here are some examples: ure as in sure, are as in dare, ear as in hear, oor as in door, igh as in high, air as in hair…
- Quadgraphs are four-letter Graphemes. You can remember this trick because Quadgraph has the prefix Quad which means Four. Here are some examples: augh as in caught, ough as in bought, eigh as in height…
- Splitgraphs is when a digraph is split by a consonant, that becomes a split digraph. Most of those are ended with “e” as in bite i…e, here “e” has no sound or we call it a silent E but e has changed the sound of I from short i /i/ as in bit to long i /ai/. Here are most of the Splitgraph in English: a-e as in made, e-e as in these, i-e as in like, o-e as in home, u-e as in rule…
- Phoneme sounds like phonics, which is the method of teaching people how to correlate sounds with letters.
- Grapheme has the word graph in it. Graphemes are symbols, just like how graphs are also visual representations of information.
- Blends are also known as consonant clusters. For example, ST as in step and STR as in Stress.
Some Special Characters Found in the Dictionary Corelated to IPA
Anyway, these terms are very complicated, there is no sense to try to understand all these glossaries for those who are in the beginning, so do those who help the beginners learn English. These are only those who want to understand English in a deeper ways.
We hope you find this useful. You can also get more resources from YouTube here at his ALL FOR KIDS organization in Siem Reap.
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