Method of Learning

The vowel sound /I:/ as in ‘peel’

• Read the instruction to learn how to make the long 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 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 variations for the / i:/ sound.	Highlighted bold letters are pronounced as / i:/.
ee e ea ie ei	keel, feeble, seek, heed, see, peep, feel he, evening, eve, demonise, Peter, these meat, tea, leave, jeans, please, team grief, field, relief, believe receipt, deceit, seize

• Read the words with the sound /i:/. Transcribe them.

Me, piece, key, meet, greet, see, be, scene, keys, ceiling, chief, season, meat, seas, keeps, field, receive, people, least, seat, pea, machine, ski, free, bee, meat, peas, quay, cease, brief, niece.

• Find a way from Start to Finish. You may pass a square only if the word in it has the sound /i:/. You can move horizontally or vertically only.

• 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.

1. One evening, lying by the stream on the green grass, I dreamed of eating sweets.

2. Jean, have you been in a wheat field in Leek?

3. His demeanour seems to reveal the secret reasons for his deceit.

4. Demonised teenagers were pleased with their tea.

5. All legal furies seize you! No proposal seems to please you.

6. I believe my feet are really quite clean, Evie.

• 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!

• 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.

• Listen to the dialogues. Intone them. 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 the 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.