Silent "-e": words beginning with "w/wh"

Ex. a. Add an "-e" to the spelling of the following words to form new words and write the difference in the pronunciation of the vowel. Change the spelling from "w" to "wh" or conversely if necessary.

wad, wag, war, win, whip, wit, wok

b. Transcribe the following pairs of words phonemically.

will - while, whirr - wire, wall - whale, whiz - wise

KEY
a. wad-e /ɒ/ - /eɪ/, wag-e /wæg/ - /weɪdʒ/, war-e /ɔː/ - /eə/, win-e/whine /ɪ/ - /aɪ/, wipe /ɪ/ - /aɪ/, white /ɪ/ - /aɪ/, wok-e /ɒ/ - /əʊ/,
b. will - while /wɪl - /waɪl/, whirr - wire /wɜː/ - /waɪə/, wall - whale /wɔːl/ - /weɪl/, whiz - wise /wɪz/ - /waɪz/

Silent "-e" and changes in pronunciation

English contains thousands of words in which the final letter "e" is called 'silent e'. In fact, however, it is a sign that the previous vowel sound is a long vowel or a diphthong. Sometimes other changes in spelling and pronunciation occur as well. Some sources call it 'magic e', as it is supposed to 'make a vowel say its name'. Look at the following example:

The vowel "e" is called 'ee' /iː/. The word 'pet' is pronounced /pet/, and the name 'Pete' is pronounced /piːt/.

The same is sometimes true of the letters "a", "i", "o" and "u". Of course there are exceptions: 'come', 'some' 'one' have a 'silent e' but retain a short vowel.

When a vowel letter is followed by the letter "r" and "-e" is added, the 'magic e' rule does not apply and other changes take place. Note that Exercise 3 describes non-rhotic pronunciation (no /r/ after vowels).

Ex. 1 Add an "-e" to the following words and write how the vowels change when a new word is formed (look at the example above).

A: mat, man, pan, can, tap, fat, hat, pal

E: met, den

I: thin, lit, pin, spit, spin, win

O: cod, con, mod

U: hug, cut

Ex. 2 Change the letters "-ck" to "-ke" to form new words and write how the vowels change when a new word is formed.

A: back, lack, rack, tack   I: lick, pick, hick   O: jock, pock, stock   U: duck, luck

Ex. 3 Add an "-e" to the following words and write how the vowels change when a new word is formed (look at the example above).

A: bar, car, far, mar, scar, star   E: her, sever I: sir, fir  O: cor, for, lor

KEY

Ex. 1
A: mat-e, man-e, pan-e, can-e, tap-e, fat-e, hat-e, pal-e /æ/ - /eɪ/
E: met-e, den-e /e/ - /iː/ 

I: thin-e, lit-e, pin-e, spit-e, spin-e, win-e /ɪ/ - /aɪ/, NB. thin /θɪn/, thine /ðaɪn/
O: cod-e, con-e, mod-e /ɒ/ - /əʊ/
U: hug-e, cut-e /hʌg/ - /hjuːdʒ/, /kʌt/ - /kjuːt/

Ex. 2
A: bake, lake, rake, take /æ/ - /eɪ/, I: like, pike, hike /ɪ/ - /aɪ/ O: joke, poke, stoke /ɒ/ - /əʊ/, U: duke, Luke /ʌ/ - /uː/

Ex. 3
A: bar-e, car-e, far-e, mar-e, scar-e, star-e /ɑː/ - /eə/
E: her-e, sever-e /hɜː/ (weak /hə/) - /hɪə/, /ˈsevə/ - /sɪˈvɪə/
I: sir-e, fir-e /ɜː/ - /aɪə/
O: cor-e, for-e, lor-e no change /ɔː/

This time I got a little help from:

Tophonetics https://tophonetics.com/

Wordplays https://www.wordplays.com

Magic -e is described at Teflpedia: https://teflpedia.com/Magic_e

Facebook groups for Polish EFL teachers 2

This is the second part of my post about Polish language Facebook groups for English language teachers.

Anglistów blogi edukacyjne - grupa dla Czytelników is a group for blogging teachers like me as well as teachers looking for fresh ideas. It may even be of use to people studying English on their own. Some of the blogs are written in Polish, some others in English; some contain ready exercises to print out while others offer practical tips for teachers rather than exercises as such. Whether you want to spice up your teaching or gain new followers of your own blog, this is a great place for you.

Uczę Dorosłych - grupa dla nauczycieli języków obcych used to be a group for professionals teaching English to adult learners, and seeing that English is the most popular foreign language in Poland, it still attracts more English teachers than teachers of other languages. Similar to Nauczyciele Angielskiego, a group mentioned in Part 1, it contains a wealth of information about a wide range of topics. The major differences are that discussions about any language are welcome (English, German, French, Spanish and occasionally other ones) and of course teaching English to children and teenagers is excluded as irrelevant. As regards English teachers, the group is particularly useful for professionals teaching Business English, English for Special Purposes (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP), preparing their students for international examinations or working abroad.

Książki językowe is a place where you can buy or sell new or used textbooks, grammar books or dictionaries as well as foreign-language fiction or non-fiction. Sometimes recordings on CDs, audiobooks or board games are on sale too. Again, all languages are welcome but English prevails. Thanks to the group I have bought both textbooks and novels in English. Facebook terms and conditions regarding buy and sell groups apply, as do other regulations, e.g. against selling photocopied books or writing off-topic posts.