Say the ending: final consonants

Objective & content

This Sound Check video (about 3 minutes) fixes two habits at the end of a word. First, finish the last consonant: sea has no ending, seat ends on t; ban stops, band ends on d. Second, a final e is silent but makes the vowel longer: hop and hope, cap and cape. Freya (British) and Cody (American) show each pair. Students repeat words and one sentence, I'd like a seat by the window, then play a three-round game: which word did you hear?

Pedagogical guide

Learners often stop before the last sound, so band becomes ban. Speakers of French may leave the last consonant unfinished. Speakers of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese may add a small vowel after it, like banda for band. German, Polish and Dutch speakers usually finish the consonant well. Their trap is the silent e: they say hope as two syllables, because their languages say a final e. Tell students that the e of hope changes the vowel and then disappears. Both hosts say these endings the same way.

Suggested procedure

1. Before (2 min). Write sea and seat on the board. Ask students to say both. Do they hear the t?
2. Watch (4 min). Play the video once. Students repeat aloud when the hosts say "Try it with us", "Say them with me" and "Now a sentence, with me".
3. Game (2 min). Play the game again. Pause after a host says "Listen..." and the word, before the other host gives the answer. The class votes.
4. After (3 min). In pairs, one student says ban or band, hop or hope, cap or cape. The partner points to the right word on the board.

Materials & prerequisites

• The video, a screen and sound for the whole class.
• The example words are at about A1+ level. Students do not need phonetic symbols.

Assessment & extensions

Say seat, hop, sea, band and cape in random order. Students write the word they hear.