Reading: Basic Decoding & Word Recognition: A2 Lesson 4: Decoding Two-Syllable Words (basic)

Reading: Basic Decoding & Word Recognition

A2 Lesson 4: Decoding Two-Syllable Words (basic)

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Reading Longer Words

You can read many short, one-beat words like 'cat', 'stop', and 'kite'. But what about longer words like 'student' or 'market'?

Today, we will learn how to read two-syllable words² by breaking them into smaller parts. A syllable¹ is one "beat" or "clap" in a word. For example, "Kam-pot" has two claps!

Part 1: The "Chop Between the Consonants" Rule

Here is a simple rule to decode many two-syllable words. When you see a word with two consonants in the middle (the VCCV Pattern³), you can usually "chop" it between those two consonants.

Example: For the word basket, we see 's' and 'k' in the middle. We chop it like this:

bas|ket

Then you can read each small part: "bas" ... "ket". Put them together: "basket"!

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Part 2: Let's Practice Decoding

Let's try this rule with more words. Read the first part, then the second part, then the whole word.

Word	Chop It! (VC | CV)	Read the Full Word
cruelty_free rabbit	rab | bit	rabbit
edit pencil	pen | cil	pencil
sports_tennis tennis	ten | nis	tennis
help_outline happen	hap | pen	happen

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Part 3: Reading Practice Sentences

Read these sentences aloud. When you see a long word, try to find the two consonants and chop it!

• My sister has a pet rabbit.
• I left my pencil on the table.
• Do you want to play tennis after school?
• I put my books in the basket.

Your Turn to Practice!

Practice Quiz 1: How many syllables?

Read or clap the word. How many syllables (beats) does it have?

1. cat -> (1 / 2)

Answer: 1

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2. teacher -> (1 / 2)

Answer: 2 (tea | cher)

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3. basket -> (1 / 2)

Answer: 2 (bas | ket)

Vocabulary Glossary

1. Syllable (*noun*)
   ភាសាខ្មែរ: ព្យាង្គ (P'yeang)
   A single 'beat' in a word, made of one vowel sound. We can clap the syllables. ↩ back to text
2. Two-Syllable Word (*noun*)
   ភាសាខ្មែរ: ពាក្យពីរព្យាង្គ (Peak pii p'yeang)
   A word with two beats or claps, like 'stu-dent' or 'Kam-pot'. ↩ back to text
3. VCCV Pattern (*noun*)
   ភាសាខ្មែរ: ទម្រង់ VCCV (Tum-rong VCCV)
   A word pattern with a Vowel, then two Consonants, then a Vowel. We usually divide it between the consonants (VC-CV). ↩ back to text

Homework Task

Syllable Hunt!

1. Clap the syllables for these words you already know. How many claps does each have? Write the number.
   • happy: ___
   • market: ___
   • water: ___
2. Read the "Reading Practice Sentences" in Part 3 aloud. Try to say the two-syllable words smoothly.

(Answers for #1: 2, 2, 2)