Oral Examination: Reading | Primary English Tips

She sells seashells on a seashore.

If only our oral reading examination is judged based on our ability to say that favourite tongue twister of many! Until then, here are some tips to help you prepare and score for the reading component of your oral examinations.

Do’s: General Tips

a) Break a long word into syllables. Read it repeatedly until fluent.
responsibilities → /reh-spon-si-bi-li-teas/

b) Likewise, if you cannot read a word, BREAK IT DOWN INTO PARTS! 

Think of how each part is similar to other words you already know.
Elegant → ele possibly sounds like elephant → /e–gant/
Unique → ique possibly sounds like antique → /an-tik/

Don’ts: Common Errors

– ‘th’ sounds read as ‘t’ sounds (three vs tree)

– missing end sounds : ‘s’ (bags), ‘k’ (rock), ‘ed’/’t’ (liked)

– “their” is not read as /day-ar/, it is read as /there/

– “the” before words beginning with vowel sound is read as
/thee/ :
the apple → /thee eh-pel/
the hour → /thee ao-wer/
(silent h, hence ‘hour’ sounds like it begins with the vowel ‘o’)
the umbrella → /thee um-breh-/

the bag → /thuh bag/
the university → /thuh you-ni-ver-suh-ti/
(uni is pronounced “you-ni” in this case, hence it does not sound like a
vowel and /thee/ is not necessary.)

The first step to change is awareness (: have someone listen to you read, identify the areas you need to work on and make a change today!