How to Pronounce ‘h’

This pronunciation language lesson is designed for 3-6-year-old children to help them pronounce the phonic sound of the letter h. 

Learning phonic sounds is important for children as this helps them read faster and more fluently. This is the first step in learning spelling and vocabulary.

In our previous video lesson, we learned about phonics, the importance of learning phonics, and the phonic sound of the letter ‘f’. This video lesson is the 9th in a row of learning the sound of letters. 

 Why is it Important to Learn the Pronunciation Using Phonic Sounds?

Methodically, introducing phonics at an early age helps children to become successful readers, as decoding the words into letters becomes a habit of the children. It further helps to fuel comprehension to the fluency and speed while reading.

Phonic rules follow a predictable pattern that allows the children to choose the appropriate phonogram according to their sounds. Thus, leading them to become spellers.

How to Pronounce the Letter ‘h’?

The letter ‘h’ is a consonant sound, i.e. /h/. It is pronounced as unvoiced, and the vocal cords do not vibrate during the production of this sound.  This /hh/ sound is produced by passing air from inside through the mouth slowly. The position of the mouth depends on the sound of the letter that follows the alphabet h.

To create the h sound, the deep back of the tongue slightly contracts within the throat. The upper/front part of the tongue and the lips will often move into the shape of surrounding sounds at the same time as the /hh/ sound is being produced.

What are the Words with the Letter h?

This video allows the child to explore the short consonant sound of the English letter ‘h’ and learn words starting with it, such as hedgehog, hen, horse, hairdryer, hammer, and house. The sounds are repeated for each word so that the child can hear and pronounce the letter accurately.

Some more words that begin with the alphabet h are hat, horse, hunter, and hippo.

How to Introduce the Pronunciation of the ‘h’ to the Child?

1. Invite the child to the table and tell them today we are going to learn the sound of the letter ‘h’ and the words starting with it.
2. As shown in the video, show the child what the letter ‘h’ looks like and what is the sound of the letter ‘h’.
3. Say it several times by producing the soft consonant sound of the /h/ sound.
4. Ask the child to repeat the sound of the letter ‘h’ after you.
5. Show the child a picture or miniature of words starting with ‘h’ in hedgehog, hammer, house, hen, hair dryer, etc.
6. Repeat the sound of ‘h’ every time while showing the image of the hedgehog.
7. Now show another picture that starts with h and again pronounces the letter ‘h’ sound.
8. Encourage the child to make the sound of ‘h’ whenever the picture is shown to them.

Other Ways to Introduce the Phonic Sound of ‘h’ to the Child

Introduce the sound of the letter ‘h’ through some fun activities, such as:

1. Make the child laugh ‘ha ha ha’. Let them keep their hands in front of their mouth and feel the air leaving while making the sound of ‘ha’.
2. Let the child dip their hands in color and print his hand on a piece of paper. Focus on /h/ pronunciation each time the child prints and says out loud—/h-h-h-hand/.
3. Play the game of hoping- each time the child hops, they should say loud the /h/ sound—/h-h-h-hop/.
4. Narrate a story with the horse, hunter, hippo, hen, hut, and more such words. Ask them to make a /h/ sound every time they hear a word that starts with the letter ‘h’.

Watch the video to learn how to introduce the sound of the letter ‘h’ using words and repeat it many times so that the child can hear and pronounce the words accurately.

Related Pronunciation Videos:

1. Pronunciation of the letter ‘i’
2. Pronunciation of the letter ‘g’
3. Pronunciation of the letter ‘d’
4. Pronunciation of the letter ‘j’

For more pronunciation and English language resources, click here. 

Video created by: Strykun Olena