A selection of English ESL similar sounds printables

Circle the correct words after listening to the song. Although they sound similar, there is only ONE correct answer. First, repeat the words in parenthesis (all of them) and play the song. The student tries to identify them. After that, he can do the exercise.

A simple mixture of tenses and a great listening activity to distinguish similar sounds.

Two tasks to help students understand the differences and practice the use of similar common words in English. The ws also contains a B&W version and the teacher’s handout with keys included. Hope it’s useful. Thanks for downloading and have a nice day!

Excuse me? – phonetic ws • confusable words • 2 tasks • B&W version • teacher’s handout with keys • editable • 3 pages

Students receive a bingo grid with words on them that may sound similar - various minimal pairs. The teacher speaks in short sentences, each sentence containing one of the words on the grid. When students hear a word that is on the grid, they mark it down. First student to correctly identify enough words to make a bingo is the winner. 

Pronunciation Bingo Warm Up

Just a little overview of common animal sounds.

Use as you please. Use it for discussions or similar.



You can find some exercises to use with this worksheet, here: https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/what_does_the_fox_say_-_animal_sounds_-_exercises/verb-phrase/78984 

What Does The Fox Say - Animal sounds

Listening activity that trains students to distinguish between similar phonemes - in this case S vs SH. Full usage instructions and a free online generator to make other word trees available at my website: http://quickworksheets.net

Shoot or Suit - Minimal Pair Word Tree

Shows a list of words that vary only by one vowel sound. 

/ɒ/ (short 'o') and /əʊ/ (long 'o). 



This can be used to help students understand the different pronunciations and practice the different words.



IPA transcription of the words is included. 



There is also a flashcard set available here.

Minimal Pairs - ɒ and əʊ

practise listening and some similar sound pairs

A thousand years

For low-mid level students that have trouble with sound differentiation.



Listening pyramids are for students to practice hearing the difference between English words that are spelled/sound similar.



It's played in groups for large classes or individually for smaller classes. First, I have the students practice pronunciation by repeating after me. Then explain the meaning of any unfamiliar words.



For the game, I read each word twice for very low level students and once for higher level students. I usually play each pyramid twice but obviously you can keep repeating it until the students can get it correct quickly.

For Example: Pyramid A- 1st reading – glass, heart, pup, wrong, very. Answer is #4.

Pyramid A- 2nd reading – class, hard, pub, long, berry. Answer is #5.



To make it more fun I have each group send one student to race to the board to tap or grab the number of the answer. I usually put characters’ pictures on the board, (like Pikachu and Hello Kitty) and the students race to be the first to grab the picture.



You can also just have students raise their hand with the correct answer.



In a 50 minute class I will do 6 pyramids (twice each) then switch to a spelling race. I have one student from each group race to see who can spell the word correctly the fastest (by memory and by listening only). I give two points to the fastest team then one point to all other teams that were correct. This works on their listening, spelling and writing.

Listening Pyramid (listening tree) game

**editable**(formatting shifted for preview) This is a simple bingo for YLs to review phonics words they are working on. It is helpful when words sound similar, such as "Rock and Lock", so students can distinguish the sounds and find where they placed the word on the board. I use this one for my youngest who are just learning the alphabet and distinguishing letter sounds. 

Phonics Bingo

This is piece of Listening and Speaking task focused on the pronounciation of certain words which can sound similar in a song. Students need to practice their listening skill to do the task. 

They finally are going to answer certain questions in order to debate the topic. 

Pronounciation task 

Halloween song by Andrew Gold. The aim is for students to practice listening, especially similar sounding words (most of them start with s-). 

1. Give it to students

2. Go through the words in the box, so the students know what to look for in the song

3. Listen to the song (maybe in parts) while students fill the gaps. Repeat 2-3 times

4. Let students check together

5. Listen one more time if needed

6. Check together

7. Try to sing the song

Spooky Scary Skeletons - Andrew Gold

It seems that, nowadays, everyone is in a hurry and wants things to happen immediately. We want to do everything faster: communicate fast, move quickly, and talk faster!

But sometimes it's impossible. For example, we know that learning a language is supposed to take a long time. There are different rules and words you have to learn. You have to practice and remember many things.



 



However, you may ask yourself: how can I learn English fast?



On the Internet, you can find many tips and free essays samples(https://www.wowessays.com/free-samples/) on English language teaching. But what tips should you follow to learn English fast? You can choose the learning methods that work best for you. But that means you have to try different ways before you find your favorite. In other words, you have to waste time trying different methodologies that are useless until you find the perfect one.

If you are eager to learn English, then you should pay attention to what the science says!

The science of language learning

Language learning is a critical field of study for scientists. It is because the ability to learn complex languages is something that differentiates humans from animals.

Science knows how the human brain works (for the most part) and the logic behind oral language and learning.

Many scientific studies focus on how humans learn languages. Some research tries to understand how and why we learn words, while others study the benefits of speaking more than one language. Similarly, some studies focus exclusively on babies (who are excellent at learning languages), while others look at adults.

As you can see, there are many studies! What could you do with all this information?

By understanding how and why we learn languages, you can improve your English skills faster and easier.

Check out these scientific studies on how to learn English fast right now!



How to learn English fast with 7 scientific tips



1. Listen to a lot of English



What science says:

Scientists have special terms for one of the ways we learn languages: unconscious or implicit learning. In this kind of education, you don't have to sit at a desk and study grammar rules over and over again.

Implicit learning happens without you even trying. All you have to do is listen to a lot of English without paying attention. When you hear the sound of English in the background, your brain automatically absorbs the sounds, accents, words, and grammar, even if you're not paying attention or taking notes.

The best part is that you can learn without even understanding the meaning of the words. Several studies show that it is possible to learn any language this way. Through this method, several people have learned false languages that scientists invented for their research.

The explanation behind this phenomenon lies in the patterns of language. When you listen to a specific style, you determine patterns. That's the way children learn! Babies don't understand language, so all they can do is look. So they spend all their time listening carefully to the language around them until, in the end, they understand the meanings of the words.

What you can do:

Listen to as much English as you can. Whenever you get a chance, make sure your playback sounds in English, whether in your room or office.

Watch TV programs or listen to music or audiobooks in English. Visit places where you can hear native speakers of the language. You don't have to concentrate too much on listening. You can just walk around, enjoy the scenery, wash the dishes, read a book, exercise, finish your homework, or work while you listen.

It doesn't matter what you do. If you listen to sounds in English, you will soon improve your skills.



2. Know the similarities



What science says:

Luckily, we have some good news. According to this study, all human beings are born with the ability to distinguish sounds that make sense. Although all languages are different, they share some similarities.

For example, even though some English words begin with the letters "BL" (like "blink"), there is no term that starts with the letters "LB." Just try to pronounce that sound. It doesn't make sense! Some sounds don't make any sense, even to babies who can't speak.

What can you do:

Keep this in mind when you're learning English.

If you find a word or sound that doesn't make sense, chances are it doesn't exist in the language.

Also, knowing that some sounds don't exist in English, you can improve your spelling. For example, if you want to spell the word "ghost" correctly and you don't know if the "h" comes before the "g," say the word out loud. If you try to say "ghost," the "GH" sound is meaningless. Right? On the other hand, the "GH" sound is reasonable. Use it!



3. Learn new sounds separately



What science says:

English can change the way your brain works. Surprisingly, if you learn a new language, you can improve your mental abilities! One study found that language learning stimulates the growth of certain parts of the brain. And the higher the growth, the easier it is to learn a new language.

However, the most exciting thing the experiment found is that the brain reacts differently to every sound.

For example, the letters "L" and "R" can be challenging to learn for people whose languages do not have distinct sounds for each letter (like the Japanese). The study found that when native English speakers heard the letters "L" and "R," two parts of the brain were activated. But, in the case of the Japanese, only one part of the brain was activated.

What you can do:

Before you can speak and understand English as a native speaker, you have to learn the sounds. This publication is full of valuable information about English sounds and how they are pronounced.

Determine which sounds are most difficult for you and study them.

How to learn English fast? Some experiments show that you can learn the sounds in as little as an hour if you listen to them at a deficient speed - that's fast!

You don't need any special software to play the sounds slowly, because YouTube does it for you. Find some videos that show the sound (or sounds) you want to hear. For example, this is an excellent video with different words that use the letters "R" and "L."

4. Use word associations



What science says:

Word associations connect words, sounds, movements, ideas, or images. For example, if you hear the music "meow," you associate it with a cat. When you see a picture of the sun, you immediately associate it with the words "sun," "warm," and "hot. It is not something you should think about, as the words come to mind immediately.

Learning English words through association is not only fun but also quite useful. A group of scientists conducted a study on sign language, a form of communication that deaf people have that uses hand and finger movements instead of sounds.

The experiment found that it is much easier to remember signs that resemble the object they represent. For example, it's easy to remember the sign for "eat" because it looks like a person eating, while it's hard to remember signs that don't look like the word.

What you can do:

Learn new words in a group. Combine a name with a picture, a movement, or another word. With this connection in mind, you will be able to remember all the concepts more quickly.

Move your hands and body to show the meaning of the words (at least until you can remember them easily). You can also draw some pictures instead of writing down the definitions of the terms.

One fun activity is to draw the words so that they look like what they mean - look at this example in the Google picture search and follow it! This exercise will not only help you remember the meanings, but also the spelling.



5. Remember patterns, not rules



Can you repeat the pattern? The ability to remember and repeat patterns can be quite useful for learning a new language.

In this research, scientists showed a group of students a set of figures. Languages have patterns. And, if you find the designs, you can learn the language more easily.

What you can do:

Maybe you've already spent time studying the rules of English grammar and spellig. But instead of seeing them as rules, think of them as patterns.

Let's look at an example of regular past tense. The rule says, "To change a regular verb into a past tense, add 'ED' at the end if you can remember the rule verbatim, perfect! For most of us, it's hard to understand what these rules are about unless we see them in action.

To see this rule as a pattern, just pay attention to this group of regular verbs and their past tense conjugation.

Rain - Rained

Want - Wanted

Learn - Learned

See the pattern? Let's take the next step. The next group of words has some differences from the previous one.

Plan - Planned

Rot - Rotted

Stop - Stopped

See the difference? What's the pattern? For these last three verbs, there is a rule that says: "When a verb ends in a consonant or vowel-consonant, the last letter is repeated before adding "ED."

So, the next time you have trouble memorizing the rules, just pay attention to the patterns.



6. Learn Phrases, Not Words



What science says:

ome words have one meaning when they're alone, but a different sense when they're grouped with other words. When you hear or read a sentence in English, look for these groups of words.

For example, the sentence "I ran around" means that you are running around aimlessly. However, if you add two more words, their meaning changes completely. For example: "I ran around the park" = "I ran through the park. It will help you learn more about the sentence and the words in it.

You may not find this surprising, but until recently, linguists believed that humans hear the whole sentence and then break it down into parts. However, one study found that word order can be more important than the entire sentence.

What you can do:

Learning individual words can be difficult, as they may have several meanings. Don't think you can use a name only if you know its general purpose. Therefore, when you want to expand your vocabulary, look for words in sentences.

For example, the word "retrospect" means "to analyze the past state of something. However, you will probably never use this term without putting the word "in" first. For example: "In retrospect, I shouldn't have eaten the whole cake. Study the way words are grouped together, and you will be able to speak English more naturally.



7. Learn with music



What science says:

Remember those nursery rhymes you used to sing when you were a kid? Surely you can still sing them today, even if you learned them a long time ago. How can you remember them so well?

Music is an essential part of children's language learning. That's why there are children's rounds to learn numbers, letters, vowels, and words. Repetition of songs and music helps children remember essential parts of the language.

Adults can also learn more easily through music. Language is generally considered an essential skill, while music is not. However, one study states that the methods for determining music and poetry are very similar and that both skills are equally important. For example, we learn that "ba" and "da" are two different sounds in the same way that we recognize that a trumpet and a piano are two instruments with different sounds.



How to learn English fast 7 methods for learning English according to science

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)

For personal or classroom use only. Uploading on other internet sharing platforms or any commercial use NOT PERMITTED. Share Alike.

Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License

Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License

how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

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

38 Similar sounds English ESL worksheets pdf & doc