Start here
Get started
What the audio is, what each sound name tells your mouth to do, and how to read the sound spellings.
This guide teaches the Standard English version of each sound, because it is the clearest for Kinyarwanda speakers. Why Standard English
Every 🔊 button plays a clip in a Standard English voice. American clips are marked "recognise only". The 'UK' audio in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner's Dictionaries uses the same standard. These are the models to copy.
Words and sound names used in this guide
Each one is defined by what your mouth does, so you can check it yourself.
| Name | What your mouth does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Standard English | The pronunciation this guide teaches: see what it means. | BBC World Service newsreaders, dictionary 'UK' audio |
| Vowel | The air flows out freely, with nothing blocking it: a, e, i, o, u and the sounds between them. | the a in 'car' |
| Consonant | Your tongue, teeth or lips block the air or make it narrow. | t, r, l, n |
| Syllable | One beat of a word. Each syllable has one vowel sound. | twen-ti has 2 syllables |
| Full t | The tongue tip presses on the ridge behind your top teeth and stops the air completely. You feel the pressure build, then you release it. | Standard English water (woo-tə), ten, top |
| Tapped t | The tongue tip flicks the ridge once and the air never stops. It sounds like d, or like the Kinyarwanda r. | American water (waa-dər) |
| l | The tongue tip presses on the ridge behind your top teeth and stays there for the whole sound. | light, load |
| English r | The tongue touches nothing. The lips are pushed forward into a small circle, as for w. | right, road |
| ə | The tongue lies flat in the middle of the mouth, the jaw is half open and the lips stay in their normal position. Short. | the first sound in 'about' |
| Long vowel | Written with a double letter (aa, ii, oo, uu, əə). Hold it about twice as long as the single letter. | sheep (shiip), work (wəək) |
| Stress | The highlighted bold syllable. Say it louder, longer and on a higher note than the other syllables. | twen-ti |
How to read the sound spellings
Vowels are read as in Kinyarwanda. Two different vowels written together glide from the first to the second (ai, ei, au, əu). Consonants are read as in English.
The stressed syllable is bold on a yellow highlight: woo-tə. In the table under Habits to avoid, ' means the air stops in your throat for a moment, as in the middle of 'uh-oh'.