Lessons Unit 1, lesson 7

iː as in see

One long vowel, on its own page. The ː mark means hold it — hear it alone, then in the words, then say them yourself.

What do the marks mean?

ˈriːdread Stressed part — say it louder & longer.

təto Weak word — say it quickly & softly.

∅e Silent letter — don’t pronounce it.

θth Underline — these letters spell one sound.

wa·ter Dot · — a syllable break.

go‿on Linked — blend the words together.

?↗︎↘︎ Arrows — voice rises ↗︎ or falls ↘︎.

ˈsɛvən7 Number — how to say it aloud.

read² ² mark — has a second pronunciation.

guess? ? mark — a best guess; double-check it.

Want the full walkthrough? Read the map explains every mark, with practice.

iːthe ee in see

Smile a little, tongue high and forward, and hold it: seee. The ː mark means long — don't clip it short.

see

tea

eat

week

Now say it yourself

Read each word from its sheet, out loud, three times. Where there's a play button, listen first and copy what you hear. Slow is fine — speaking clearly matters more than speaking fast. Tap a word's microphone to record yourself and see which sounds landed.

eel

each

she

Keep it long, not short

The biggest mistake is clipping this vowel short, so see starts to sound like the short ɪ in sit. The ː mark is not decorative — hold the sound, keep your tongue high and forward, and let your lips spread into a light smile for the whole vowel. This is also the one long vowel with almost no glide, so resist the urge to add a y-sound at the end.

A quick self-test

Say eat next to it. If you can't hear a clear difference in length, you're cutting the long vowel short. Try week against wick the same way, holding the vowel in week noticeably longer.

Spelling patterns

This sound has several common spellings: double ee (see, week, eel), ea (tea, eat, each), and single e at the end of short words (me, he, we, she). All of these point to the same long, held sound, however different the letters look.