As if the learning of English wasn't difficult enough by itself without the inclusion of unexplainable complications such as silent letters and tricky spelling rules. Whether you are learning English for the first time or are a native speaker, English can be a very complicated language. Given the hundreds of spelling and grammar rules, English doesn't always look the way it sounds. A perfect example of this is the use of silent letters within words. In this article, we are going to outline the rules associated with silent letters and the spelling structures that decided whether they are sounded or silent. Auxiliary silent letters work with other letters to form one specific sound. They include exocentric and endocentric combinations. Exocentric combinations make a sound that doesn't sound like either of the letters in the silent letter pair. A good example of this is 'ph' when it makes the 'f' sound. These types of silent letters aren't alw...
David White is an Australian English teacher who has been living in Peru since 2001. In partnership with his wife Claudia, they are the owners of ¨English For You Language Institute´, an institute that specializes in the teaching of all levels of English from Basic (A1) to Advanced (C2) including international exam preparation. They are also the owners of ELT Educational Services and David is also the Headmaster of the American School, a respected bilingual ib school in Northern Peru.