Lessons Unit 1, lesson 46
Every letter, A to Z
English spelling is not one letter = one sound — that's why this course taught sounds first. But no letter gets left behind: here is the whole alphabet, each letter with its most common sound and a word you can play. Where a letter likes to change its sound, the note tells you when.
What do the marks mean?
Want the full walkthrough? Read the map explains every mark, with practice.
also eɪ in name, ɑː in father
before e, i, y it becomes s: city
often silent at the end: name
before e, i, y it can become dʒ: giant
silent in hour, honest
also aɪ in time
silent before n: knight
also oʊ in go
always with u: qu = kw
often z between vowels: music
a fast ɾ between vowels: butter
also uː in blue
one letter, two sounds: k + s
as a vowel: i in happy, aɪ in my
Why the alphabet still matters
You've already learned English by sound, not by letter — so why a full A to Z now? Because spelling still has to map onto what you know. This page ties each letter to its most common sound: c as in cat, g as in go, u as in cup. Once that link is solid, unfamiliar words stop being a guessing game.
The letters that misbehave
A handful of letters change costume depending on company. C and g soften before e, i, or y: city takes an s, giant takes a dʒ. Q never travels alone — it drags a u behind it and the pair becomes kw. X hides two sounds in one letter, k plus s, as in six. And some letters vanish entirely: the h in hour and honest, the k in knight. Read the note under each letter — it tells you exactly when the costume changes.
Every letter, every sound, every mark — the whole map is yours now. From here the course moves on to joining sounds into syllables and words.