A selection of English ESL i short and long sound i: i printables

Ipa sound i: and I activity.



I ask my students to dictate the sentences and the other Ss have to write it down.

My groups always enjoy doing it.

i long and short sound

Short/ long I 

Phonetic IPA sound difference for long and short i.



i: I sound

Teach the difference between long Y (i sound) and short Y (e sound) with this colourful wordlist. The general rule is: if the word is consisted of one syllable, then it's long Y. If the word consists of two or more syllables, then it's short Y.

Long and Short Y Wordlist

Practice worksheet for pronouncing American short i.  Most English learners make the mistake of pronouncing short i as long e.  This worksheet helps students distinguish between the sounds and practice words and sentences with short i.

Pronouncing American Short i

A nice exercise to review short a, i, e and long a, e and i words and shapes. Students draw shapes around each different vowel sounds. Students liked it and competed well.

vowel and shape review

Help students improve their spelling with this worksheet to discriminate English sounds. Have them listen to the words and classify them in the categories "Short e" and Long e". I made it myself.

Short e/ Long e 

These are vowel sound cards with words to illustrate. Each letter is shown with long and short variants and includes a card for shwa . I printed each one on a different color of card stock. Geared for adult ESL, as there are no pictures.

vowel sound wall cards

Listening game to practise short and long I for up to 6 players

Sheet 1 is to cut up and distribute to learners

Sheet 2 is for the teacher to cut up, for words to be selected at random

Sheet 3 is a reference of the different words included here.



Pre-teaching needed to explain some of the different word endings to make the long I sound - I_e,  ind (note exception wind is not included here), igh.  

Short and long i Bingo

Writing Basics: Style



A writer's style is what sets it apart from other writers. It's the way the writer "talks" to the reader. But how do you determine style? This article written by professionals of https://easywaypaper.com/ writing paper service explains it.

What is Style?

Style is what sets you apart from other writers. It's the way you write, how you "talk" to your writers. Style is unique, and every writer has their own. Here are some of the things that make up your style:

Diction: your word choice. Do you use simple or complex language? Do you use long or short words? Is your language concrete or abstract? Do you tailor your words to suit your intended readers?

Sentence Structure: the way your sentences are arranged. Do you use simple or complex sentences? Are your sentences usually long or short -- or even fragments? Do you place your clauses at the end of the sentence (periodic) or at the beginning (cumulative)?

 

Detail: how much do you give? Do you go into great depth or do you use sparse sentence descriptions?

Rhythm: the patterns of flow and movement in your writing. Do you use rhyme or alliteration (several words in close proximity that begin with the same sound)? How do you arrange your words and sentences? What types of repetition do you use?

Literary Devices: techniques that convey your meaning to the reader. Is your work full of imagery or symbolism? Do you use hyperbole (exaggeration) or irony (the sentence meaning is different from the literal one)? Do you use comparisons like simile (using "like" or "as") or metaphor (implying that one thing is actually another)? What about foreshadowing (hinting at things to come) or back-story (filling in what happened earlier)?

Dialogue: what your characters say to one another. Dialogue can reveal your own beliefs, biases, values and personal experience as a writer. 

Now that you know the basics, you can easily determine your style and enhance your unique writing voice.

 

Some Sample Style Problems (and a quick fix for each):

Here are some of the more common style problems that writers have:

Wordiness: saying more than you absolutely have to. Wordiness makes you come across more like a blustering politician than a professional writer, so you need to watch for it. 

Watch for clichés and substitute new ways of saying what you mean. Clichés are tired old ways of saying things "He bit off more than he could chew," "She was as good as gold," A rose by any other name," and many more.

Cut qualifiers like "very" or "really." Cut almost any adverb (they usually end in "-ly"). 

Watch for prepositional phrases ("an," "in," "for," "over," "of," "at," etc.) and cut them out. 

Watch for stock phrases (those things that "everyone says") and find a better way to say things. Stock phrases can include "the reason for," "in the event that," "in regards to", "it is possible that," "prior to," and many other "fluff" phrases that you hear in business.

Verb Troubles: passive voice and weak verbs, while grammatically correct, don't make the best writing. 

Passive voice uses a "to be" verb, and hides the actor by putting it somewhere after that action. "The newspaper was read," "The fire was set," New cars were displayed." The cure for that is to switch the sentence around and choose an action verb instead. "I read the newspaper," "The arsonist set the fire," "Volkswagen displayed their new cars." 

Weak verbs are the "to be" verbs and the "have" verbs. You can almost always replace those with stronger, more specific verbs that give a better image to the reader. "We were walking down the yellow brick road" becomes "We strode down the yellow brick road" and gives the reader a better idea of the action in the scene.



Writing Basics: Style

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

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Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

10 I short and long sound i: I English ESL worksheets pdf & doc