THE INTRODUCTORY CORRECTIVE COURSE

MONOPHTHONGS
Lesson 1
The vowel sound /i:/ as in “peel”

1 Read the instruction to learn how to make the sound / i:/.

The front of the tongue is raised high in the direction
of the hard palate. The air passage between the tongue and
the hard palate is narrow. The tip of the tongue is near the
lower teeth. The soft palate is raised and the air, exhaled
from the lungs, passes freely through the mouth cavity. The
lips are spread, slightly revealing the upper and lower
2 teeth.
Listen to the target sound and the words and repeat. Look at the
mouth diagrams to help you position your lips, tongue and jaw for the
target sound. Transcribe the words.

/ i: i: i:/

Spelling Highlighted bold letters are pronounced as / i:/.

variations
for the /
i:/ sound.
ee keel, feeble, seek, heed, see, peep, feel
e he, evening, eve, demonise, Peter, these
ea meat, tea, leave, jeans, please, team
ie grief, field, relief, believe
ei receipt, deceit, seize

3 Read these words with the sound /i:/. Transcribe them.

Me, piece, key, veal, seize, steep, meet, steel, greet, see, seem, freeze, be,
scene, keys, ceiling, chief, season, meat, seas, keeps, field, receive, least, seat,
pea, machine, ski, free, bee, peas, quay, brief, these, deal, wheat, team, clean,
leek, people, meter, petite, cease, meal, deep, feet, bean, neat, sleeve, need.

4 Listen to the sentences and repeat. Read each sentence aloud slowly
at first, then as if you were telling it to someone in a natural way.
One evening, lying by the stream on the green grass, I dreamed of eating
sweets.
Jean, have you been in a wheat field in Leek?
 His demeanour seems to reveal the secret reasons for his deceit.
Demonised teenagers were pleased with their tea.
All legal furies seize you! No proposal seems to please you.
I believe my feet are really quite clean, Evie.

5 Listen and copy the intonation and voice modulation on the CD.

See – see – they drink

All thought unheeding,
The tea-cups clink,
They are exceeding!

6 Practice reading the tongue twisters as

quickly as you can. Be careful not to mispronounce the target sound.
1. I scream, 2.A sailor went to sea
You scream, To see what he could see,
We all scream But all that he could see
For ice-cream. Was sea, sea, sea.

7 Listen to the dialogues. Learn and reproduce, paying attention to the

pronunciation of the sound / i: /, intonation and tempo.
Dialogue 1
- Can you read tea-leaves, Peter?
- I can read yours, Eve.
- What can you see?
- I can see… the beach… and the sea… and two people – Eve and Peter.
- Can’t you see three?
- No, Eve. Just you and me. I can’t see Aunt Frieda at all.

Dialogue 2
- These feet are in a terrible condition! They need treatment.
- I agree, Doctor. My feet do need treatment.
- The treatment for these feet is to eat lots of green vegetables. But don’t eat
meat for at least a week.
- No meat, Doctor?
- I repeat – you must not eat meat for at least a week.
- But I do eat green vegetables, Doctor. And I don’t eat meat at all.
- Then you don’t seem to need the treatment.
- But Doctor – my feet!
- Next patient, please.
8 Learn the following graphical rules:
Vowel / i: / is represented in spelling by:
1. the letter “e” in open and historically open syllables (be, meter, these)
2. the digraphs “ee” (meet, see)
“ea” (meat, seat)
“ie” (piece, field)
“ei” (ceiling, receive)
“eo” (people)
“i” (ski, machine)
Rare spellings: key, quay.
9 Find Ukrainian equivalents to the proverbs and sayings and learn
them by heart:
1. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
2. No sweet without some sweat.
3. Extremes meet.
4. Between the devil and the deep sea.
5. Speech is silver but silence is gold.
6. Seeing is believing.

The vowel sound / ı / as in “pit”

10 Read the instruction to learn how to make the sound / ı /.

The tongue is in the front part of the mouth but
slightly retracted. The air passage is narrow but a little
wider than in the English /i:/. The tip of the tongue is near
the lower teeth. The lips are spread or neutral, the jaw is
lowered, the distance between the jaws being bigger than
for /i:/.

11 Listen to the target sound and the words and repeat. Look at the
mouth diagrams to help you position your lips, tongue and jaw for
the target sound. Transcribe the words.

/ı ı ı/

Spelling Highlighted bold letters are pronounced as / ı /.

variations for
the / ı / sound.
i him, hilarious, hideous, hint, whim, vision, spirit
a village, cabbage
e delete, defeat, delusion
y crypt, synonym, symptoms, hymn
12 Read these words with the sound /ı/. Transcribe them.
Pick, pink, kit, tin, finish, will, fill, pit, myth, crystal, sin, sit, kid, pretty,
alley, fit, pig, money, begin, minute, film, slim, stink, stingy, dill, silly, thin, fit,
strip, deceit, kin, think, repeat, receive, reveal, vicinity, spill, thick, history,
snip, believe, greedy, receding, receipt, greasy.

13 Listen to the sentences and repeat. Read each sentence aloud slowly
at first, then as if you were telling it to someone in a natural way.
Those lettuces taste like cabbages.
Bill lifted the lid of the bin tentatively and found not a single thing.
Tell Jill I think this is a silly little game.
I can’t stay a minute longer in this miserable little pit!
Tim Grim is a solid respectable man and is a pillar of society.
This simple thing, a wedding ring, is a symbol, the oldest in history.
Climbing over a rocky mountain, skip the rivulet and the fountain.

14 Listen and copy the intonation and voice modulation on the CD.
Here’s a first-rate opportunity
To get married with impunity,
To indulge in the felicity
Of unbounded domesticity.
You shall quickly be personified,
Conjugally matrimonified,
By a doctor of divinity,
Who resides in this vicinity.

15 Listen to the words with sounds / i: / and / ı /in

contrast and repeat. Look at the mouth diagrams to help you position
your lips.

/i:/ /ı/ /i:/ /ı/

reason risen beast bit
been bin queen kin
ease is deal dill
sleep slip need Nick
cheap chip leek lyric
wheat wit people pitch
leap lip greed grid
feet fit leave live
 team Tim sneaky snip

16 Listen to the words and repeat. Read, paying attention to the spelling
of /i:/ (highlighted as bold and underlined) and / ı / (highlighted as
bold). Transcribe them.
Believe, reveal, defeat, recede, retrieve, receipt, greasy, easy, sneezing, thesis,
seeing, serene, relieve, repeat, meeting, yielding, seizing, freezing.
17 Listen to the sentences and repeat. Read each sentence aloud slowly
at first, then as if you were telling it to someone in a natural way.
Mind the highlighted letters.
1. The width of the sleeves still needs to fit my neat linen jacket.
2. I’m not particularly keen to give the victory to a different team.
3. These silver rings belonged to Queen Elizabeth.
4. Tim is completely out of Nina’s league and she isn’t keen on being
chased by him.
5. There is a little something missing in this meal. Have you tried to
add some dill?
6. My next of kin, Mr. Bean, is a Dean of Leeds University.

18 Listen to the tongue twister. Learn it by heart. Practice saying it as

quickly as you can. Be careful not to mispronounce the target sound.
I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish,
But if you wish the wish the witch wishes,
I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.

19 Practice reading the tongue twisters as quickly as you can. Be careful

not to mispronounce the target sound.
1. Miss, miss, little miss
When she misses she misses like this.
2. Six little kittens lost their mittens. It’s a pity, they were so pretty!
3. Little pretty Mrs. Smith lives in this vicinity.

20 Listen to the dialogues. Learn and reproduce, paying attention to the

pronunciation of the sound / ı /, intonation and tempo.
Dialogue 3
- Does it fit?
- Yes, it fits, but it isn’t very pretty.
- This pink one’s very pretty.
- But it’s a bit big.
- Well,… this silk one isn’t big.
- No,… but it’s a bit frilly.
Dialogue 4
Jim’s a brilliant physicist.
- Jim’s a silly nitwit.
- Criticism! Nothing but criticism! If it isn’t Jim, it’s Billy and if it isn’t Billy,
it’s…
- Billy’s ridiculous!
- Philip, it’s silly to criticize everybody!
- Yes, Jill, it is. Now, why are you criticizing me?

21 Learn the following graphical rules:

Vowel / ı / is represented in spelling by:
1. the letters “i” and “y” in stressed closed syllables (sit, window, myth,
syllable)
2. “y”, “ey”, “ai”, “ay” when unstressed (city, money, mountain,
Sunday, donkey)
3. the letter “e” in prefixes (before, decide)
Rare spellings: alphabet, pretty; climate; minute, busy.

22 Find Ukrainian equivalents to the proverbs and sayings and learn

them by heart:
1. As fit as a fiddle.
2. As busy as a bee.
3. Little pitches have big ears.
4. Betwixt and between.
5. Still waters run deep.