Sounds of Letters

a

a short vowel that rhymes with "cut"

aa

aa a longer 'a' that rhymes with "part" or "father"

ai

ai rhymes with "eye"

au

'a' short as "cut" and 'u' short as in "bull" and made quickly as one vowel

b, p

b, p closer to English 'p' than 'b', lips are tight

e

rhymes with "air" but rather short in duration

ei

ei rhymes with 'way'

i

 a short vowel that rhymes with "pit"

ii

a longer 'i' that rhymes with "ear"

k

like English 'k'

l

something like the 'l' in "value"

m

like English 'm'

n

something like the 'n' in "onion"

ng

the sound of 'ng' in words like "sing or "ring"

o

a short vowel that rhymes with "or"

oo

a longer 'o' that rhymes with "or"

r

 a trilled or rolled 'r'

t

something like the 't' in "tune"

u

rhymes with "bull"

as English 'w' but slighter, with lips not as close together

as English 'y' but slighter, with tongue not as close to the top palate

Rhythm

The rhythmic stress of a word must fall on a double vowel (aa, ii, oo) if it appears in a word.

In words that haven't double vowels the stress falls on the first and then every other syllable, e.g., BI-la-BONG.

This advice does not include verbs, which have a special pattern explained inside.