Say the Alphabet ABC
Vanessa: Hi, I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Let’s talk about the alphabet. Saying the
alphabet seems like a pretty easy task, right?
You probably learned the song as a kid, A,
B, C, D E F G, but do you know when you need
to spell things out loud? It’s usually in
really important situations. Just last week,
I called our family doctor to make an appointment
for my new baby. Don’t worry, he’s okay, it’s
just a checkup. And I had to spell his name,
but what if I spelled his name wrong or they
couldn’t understand the letters that I said?
Well, it would be wrong on the paperwork,
the insurance company would have a problem
processing the payment. It would just be a
big, annoying hassle. So, it’s important to
be able to say each letter correctly.
When we moved in to our new house, I had to
call the internet company and spell our street
name so that they could come out and set up
the internet. What if I had spelled our street
name incorrectly, or I’d said the letters
in a way that they couldn’t understand? Well,
we wouldn’t have internet and goodness knows
what would happen if we didn’t have internet.
So, as you can see, saying the letters correctly
is essential in daily life.
Today, we’re going to go through the alphabet
and I’m going to help you to say each letter
of the alphabet correctly. We’re going to
talk about the letter, how to pronounce it,
and also three words that start with that
letter. But I have a little something extra
too. I have a box and inside that box is something
that begins with each letter of the alphabet.
I thought this would just be a fun way to
talk about the letters of the alphabet. To
be honest, I did not come up with this idea.
My three-year-old was watching an alphabet
show and they had things inside of a box.
Hey, it’s a fun idea. So let’s do it.
A.
Theo: A.
Vanessa: Can you … that’s right. A. We have
things that start with A like alligator, angry,
and what’s that? Can we show everybody, what
is it?
Theo: An ambulance. (*mispronounced)
Vanessa: Ambulance, that’s right. Okay. Let’s
go to our next letter. Are you ready for the
next surprise? Okay. B.
Theo: B.
Vanessa: B things are blue, bike, and what
is it? Do you know what that is?
Theo: What?
Vanessa: It’s a …
Theo: Stag Beetle.
Vanessa: A Stag Beetle, that’s right. It’s
a beetle. It starts with a B. All right, let’s
go to the next letter.
Theo: Hey, can I see this first?
Vanessa: Whoa. We’re going to look at the
camera and say, C.
Theo: C.
Vanessa: Things that start with C are catch,
camera. And what is that? It’s a clock. Let’s
show everybody. Oh, you want to twist it?
Now we don’t know what time it is. Clock.
D.
Theo: D.
Vanessa: D. That’s right. Things that start
with D are like donut, doctor. And? What is
that?
Theo: Dragon.
Vanessa: Dragon. “Hi Theo, I’m your dragon
friend. Can you give me a hug?”
Theo: “What are you doing?”
Vanessa: Awe, thank you. What are you doing?
Theo: We’re doing a business with lots of
things.
Vanessa: Yes. Theo is helping me with my business.
That’s right. All right. Let’s go to the next
letter,
Theo: E E
Vanessa: Things that start with E are, eat,
elephant. And…what is that? What are these?
Theo: Stickers.
Vanessa: Stickers? And what’s what picture
are the stickers?
Theo: Eyes.
Vanessa: Eyes. That’s right. Eyes start with
E. The next letter is F.
Theo: F
Vanessa: Things that start with F are flute,
five. And…what is that guy?
Theo: A flamingo
Vanessa: A flamingo. This is a Flamingo from
when I was a little girl. This was my toy.
I made a little apron for her. The next letter
is G.
Theo: G.
Vanessa: That’s right. Things that start with
G are guitar.
Theo: Guitar.
Vanessa: Gorilla and, what is that?
Theo: Another globe
Vanessa: A globe that’s right. Globe starts
with G. H…
Theo: H.
Vanessa: H things that start with H are hawk,
hair and oh, oh…are those light? No, these
are…
Theo: Heavy.
Vanessa: Heavy, That’s right. They’re very
heavy. I…
Theo: I…
Vanessa: Things that start with, I are impossible.
Ice cream, and what’s in there?
Theo: Ice cube.
Vanessa: Ice cube. That’s right. They’re kind
of getting a little melted cause it’s hot
out here. You think you can get it out? Oh,
there you go.
Theo: I put it in there. I get all of it.
Vanessa: Oh, all right, let’s put them on
the table and we’ll see if they melt. Do you
want to leave them in their container?
Theo: No.
Vanessa: Okay. J…
Theo: J…
Vanessa: Things that start with j are jungle,
jaguar and…
Theo: Jam.
Vanessa: Jam, that’s right. This is strawberry
jam. Great work. K…
Theo: K…
Vanessa: Things that start with K are kangaroo,
keys, and what do you think is in here? What
is that?
Theo: What?
Vanessa: Let’s show it to our friends. It’s
a… Kettle. It’s a kettle for boiling water.
Do you want to put your ice cubes in there?
Oh, Ooh. They’re cold. They’re dripping on
my leg.
Theo: Yeah. Let’s see how it works.
Vanessa: Yeah, let’s see how it works. What
do you think is going to happen to those ice
cubes in there?
Theo: They will melt, and then it will be
water.
Vanessa: That’s right.
Theo: And pour it out. And put this on and
then pour it out.
Vanessa: Do you want to put the rest of the
ice cubes in? Okay. All right. L…
Theo: L…
Vanessa: Things that start with L are lion,
love, and oh, what’s in that bag. Whoa…Do
you know where we got these books, Theo?
Theo: At the library.
Vanessa: That’s right. Library starts with
L, too. M…
Theo: M…
Vanessa: Things that start with M are mice,
move, and…what is that cool thing? Let’s
show our friends. What is this?
Theo: A microscope.
Vanessa: That’s right. Microscope starts with
M, too. N…
Theo: N…
Vanessa: That’s right. Things that start with
N are nineteen, newspaper, and what is that?
Theo: A net
Vanessa: A net. Yes, net starts with N, too.
O…
Theo: O…
Vanessa: Things that start with O are old,
ox, and…what’s that?
Theo: Onion.
Vanessa: Onion. Yes. Onion. Sometimes when
we chop this up, kind of makes you cry a little
bit.
Theo: Why?
Vanessa: Because there’s some acid in here
that gets in your eyes. Remember when you
helped me chop the onions and your eyes kind
of hurt. Yeah. P…
Theo: P
Vanessa: Some things that start with P are
pickle, present, and…what am I? It’s a penguin.
Theo: I want to tell the penguin.
Vanessa: You want to tell him something?
Theo: It’s rain.
Vanessa: Yeah. It looks like it’s starting
to rain. You think we should finish soon?
I think so, too. Q…
Theo: Q…
Vanessa: Things that start with Q are quiet,
question and…
Theo: Money.
Vanessa: Money? Does money start with a Q?
Hmm, this coin is called a quarter. A quarter.
A quarter is 25 cents and together they are
50 cents. Two quarters. R.
Theo: R.
Vanessa: Things that start with R… Roses,
Remember? And what is this big thing sticking
out of this box? It’s a …
Theo: Rake.
Vanessa: A rake, that’s right. S…
Theo: S…
Vanessa: Wow. Things that start with are slide,
skating. And what’s inside the box?
Theo: Seaweed.
Vanessa: Seaweed. That’s right.
Theo: Do you eat it?
Vanessa: Theo loves seaweed. Um, we’re not
going to eat it right now, but maybe after
we finish this video we can eat it. Would
you like it as a snack?
Theo: Mm-hmm.
Vanessa: Okay. T.
Theo: T.
Vanessa: That’s right. Ticket, tennis and…
Theo: Tea
Vanessa: That’s right. This is a box of tea.
Theo: I want to see what’s in there.
Vanessa: It’s a little hard to open. Let me
help you. Inside is some loose leaf tea. So
it’s going to kind of move around and spill
easily. You want to touch it?
You have some on your fingers.
U…
Theo: U…
Vanessa: Things that start with you are umbrella
unicorn… And what is that? Ukulele that
needs to be tuned…very seriously.
V…
Theo: V.
Vanessa: V…things that start with V are
van, very, and what is this?
Theo: Turn it over
Vanessa: Oh no. Can you help me pull it out?
What is this?
Theo: Turn it over.
Vanessa: Oooh, it’s a vacuum. Yes, This is
actually our robo-vacuum.
Theo: Turn it over.
Vanessa: What do you want to see underneath
it? What’s under here. Oh, the wheels. Yeah.
It’s pretty exciting, especially for little
kids.
Theo: Why does it pop up?
Vanessa: Why does it pop up? That’s going
to help it to get over some uneven surfaces.
Pretty cool, huh?
W…
Theo: W…
Vanessa: W…things that start with w are…
Wash, witch, and this doesn’t even fit in
the box. What is this?
Theo: Sword.
Vanessa: It’s a sword. It’s not a real sword.
It’s not sharp, but do you know what a sword
is? A sword is a weapon and that starts with
w… weapon. Say it with me.
X…
Theo: X
Vanessa: X…Things that have an X are the
words fix, sixteen, and what is in the box?
What is that?
Theo: A box…
Vanessa: What is that? A box. A box in a box.
Y…
Theo: Y…
Vanessa: Yellow? Young and yogurt. Yogurt.
Theo: Can I try some?
Vanessa: Theo loves yogurt.
Z…
Theo: Z…
Vanessa: Zebra, zone. And what is that?
Theo: A coat.
Vanessa: It’s a coat. And what’s on the front
of your coat here? Do you know what this is?
Theo: That’s a Zipper.
Vanessa: A zipper, that’s right. Z. Now in
the UK, they call this zed, but in the U.S.,
we say Z. Good work, Theo. Thank you so much
for helping me with my business today. I appreciate
it. You did a great job.
Did you enjoy that little alphabet review?
I hope so. Now, I have two tests for you.
The first test is simply to go through the
alphabet and say all the letters out loud.
The second test, well we’ll get to that in
just a moment. Let’s start by saying all the
letters in the alphabet. A, B, C, D, E, F,
G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T,
U, V, W, X, Y, Z. Great work saying the alphabet.
Let’s go on to the second test which is to
say this sentence out loud and spell every
work. Can you guess what’s special about that
sentence? The quick brown fox jumps over the
lazy dog. What’s special about that sentence?
Hmm..it uses all twenty-six letters of the
English alphabet. So, what I want you to do
is to spell every single word out loud with
me.
Use your speaking muscles, use what you just
learned about the different letters of the
alphabet, and spell it out loud with me. T
H E Q U I C K B R O W N F O X J U M P S O
V E R T H E L A Z Y D O G. Great work practicing
the alphabet today and now I have a question
for you. Can you spell the name of your country?
Write it in the comments. I want you to write
your country’s name and also read it out loud.
Practice using all these letters and speak
it out loud. Thanks so much for learning English
with me and I’ll see you again next Friday
for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel.
Bye.
Right now, on the clock, it say it’s 12:20.
But, there is actually not a battery in this
clock, so it’s not going to work. Oh, let’s
see what’s the next letter?
Dan: He’s really good at closing his eyes.
Theo: M…
Vanessa: Things that start with M are…mice,
math, and oh, I forgot to put something in
there…oh no.
Theo: It sweeps up the room and sweeps up
the strawberries and dumps them all up and
squishes those strawberries up.
Vanessa: Squishes strawberries?
Theo: If we find any strawberries today we
can put them in here.
Vanessa: In the vacuum?
Theo: So they can be really tasty.
Vanessa: Oh boy, that will be quite an experiment.
Well, something I learned from this is I should
not leave you alone with strawberries and
a vacuum.
Say it with me. Z…
Theo: I’m going to show you how this strawberry
smusher works.
Vanessa: Do you remember what your payment
is going to be?
Theo: Get me some…get me some chocolate.
Vanessa: Chocolate? That’s right. Theo is
going to get a little piece of chocolate.
Actually, I promised you two little pieces
of chocolate for this business venture. Thank
you for helping me. You’re a good worker.
Theo: Or Four.
Vanessa: Or four? Oh, well you’re a good negotiator.
What about two and a half?
Theo: Two and a half.
Vanessa: Two and a half is good? All right.
The next step is to download my free ebook.
Five steps to becoming a confident English
speaker. You’ll learn what you need to do
to speak confidentially and fluently. Don’t
forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel
for more free lessons. Thanks so much. Bye.