PhonemeReader helps you learn how to read by telling you the different sounds in a word and showing you which letters make these sounds. It is designed for those starting to learn to read using a phonics approach, but may also support an emergent reader or anyone learning to read English as a second language.
PhonemeReader Features:
PhonemeReader reads back words broken down into their phonetic form. Enter the word you are looking for into the search bar then press the search button.
If your word is in our dictionary it will be displayed in large font alongside its grapheme representation. Pressing the play button will begin the playback of the word. First, each phoneme will be spoken, and its associated grapheme will be highlighted.
If the word is not included in the dictionary, you will see "'word' not found".
Once the phonemes have finished speaking the whole word will be read aloud.
There are several ways that the graphemes may be highlighted which are designed to show how the graphemes link to the separate phonemes.
You can select from an array of voice options. The sound options on the left are for the phoneme voice. There are options for both Male and Female voices from the UK and US regardless of the platform you are working on.
The slider controls the length of the time gap between each phoneme being said. Moving the slider to the left increases the time gap, moving the slider to the right reduces the time gap.
The options on the right are for the full word being spoken. The voices available here will depend on your platform. The speed slider controls how quickly the word is spoken.
Open PhonemeReader in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Keep the program open until you see the install button in the top right hand corner, this means it is ready to install offline.
Open PhonemeReader using Safari web browser.
Once the program is open, tap on the Share icon.
Then tap Add to Home Screen. (If you cannot find the "Add to Home Screen" button, search for it in the "More" button. It will appear in a drop down list.)
A PhonemeReader icon will now appear onscreen on the Home Screen.
Open PhonemeReader using the Chrome web browser.
Once the program is open, a pop up will display at the bottom of the screen.
A PhonemeReader icon will now appear onscreen on the Home Screen.
The idea is that a child can review learning they are currently doing in class as a form of multisensory reinforcement.
They should be provided with a list of words in a separate document.
The computer would be set up to display the Phoneme Reader alongside this list of words. The child would be trained to copy and paste each word in turn into the Phoneme Reader. Alternatively, the word list can be on paper and the child types in each word.
Once the word has been pasted or typed, clicking on the search button will display the word in large font beneath, firstly the whole word and then the word divided into its constituent phonemes.
A click on the play button will get the word read to them. They will hear the phonemes in sequence and then the whole word.
They should be trained to control the speed of delivery of the phonemes to suit their preference.
They should be encouraged to repeat each word as many times as they want.
It should be suggested that they can join in by repeating the sounds and word if they wish.
When confident, they might like to try to read with, or ahead of, the computer.
The whole process should take about 10 minutes.
Once successfully trained, the child should be left to work independently.
The number of repetitions in a week should depend on need and opportunity.
PhonemeReader has been developed to serve a simple but important purpose. It provides the opportunity to reinforce learning of the link between graphemes and phonemes as it is being taught in class.
Any word in the 10000-word dictionary can be displayed as a whole word followed by the word divided into its constituent graphemes. When the play button is clicked the graphemes will be highlighted in sequence as the associated phoneme is spoken. This provides a multisensory demonstration which can be further strengthened if the user chooses to echo each phoneme as it is said.
The suggestion is that learners who experience any difficulty should be given the opportunity to repeat a list of sample words for the week as often as necessary. The list of sample words can either be provided on screen, enabling the user to copy and paste each word, or provided on paper, requiring the user to type in each word.
Once trained to use the software, the learner should be able to work independently on this list, controlling the pace at which the phonemes are read out. They can also choose to listen to a female or male voice.
Each session should take no more than 10 to 15 minutes.
In a small number of words there is a phoneme used in pronunciation which has no corresponding grapheme. Where these occur, the whole word is highlighted in red when this phoneme is said. For example, in the word “bubbling,” there is a vowel sound pronounced between the “b” and “l.”
Included in the dictionary are 140 ‘nonsense’ words taken from past Phonics Screening Checks. These can provide practice for those individuals who find nonsense word reading challenging. A list of these words is provided separately.
The expectation is that through independent reinforcement of the learning taking place in class, many learners will be saved from falling behind and thus avoid suffering the loss of self-confidence in their ability to read that so often results.
To help users with learning new words PhonemeReader contains a set of nonsense words. You can find them below.
baim barst beff blard blies blorn bluns braft braits blum cag chab chack charb chob clain clend clisk cloin coid criff dack dat desh disp doil drap elt emp eps ept fip flarm flisp flods floost foid fot frem frex froin gan gax girst glips glog groiks hab harnd heent herks ind jair jash jat jigh jord jub keam keb kigh lect lig meft melp mep meve murbs nurt phope pib plap pobe poil pon poth proom quass queep queet quib quigh quop quorg reb rin rird sarps scrid scroy scrug shan shap shog shup skarld slirt sloam splam splaw splot splote splue sprop stin strabe stard stribe strom strow tabe tay teg thard tharant tull ulb ulp car veems veen voisk vol vus vuss weaf whape woats wup yair yewn yop yune zale zook zued