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Catchy rhymes can be a fun and easy way to remember some of those pesky phonics rules. Have you heard of this one?
When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.
It’s a cute rhyme that’s easily remembered, and most teachers simply take it for granted that it is true, especially if their phonics program includes the rule as fact. And for the sake of convenience, it would be wonderful if this rule were true—teaching reading and spelling would be much simpler. But this “rule” is actually false 60% of the time.
To test the rule, I took the 1,000 most common words and analyzed them by applying the rule to each one. I discovered that, contrary to the rule’s claim, only 43% of the words actually followed the rule, and a stunning 57% of the words did not! When I analyzed the top 2,000 words, the percentage shifted even further—only 36% of the words followed the rule, and 64% did not. So much for this oft-repeated phrase!
This is not to say that the rule is entirely invalid. There are many cases in which two vowels “go walking,” including ai, au, ea, ee, ei, ie, oa, eo, oi, oo, ou, and ui. And when a pair of vowels appears in a word, it is often the first vowel that “does that talking,” as represented in words like green, sea, hair, coat, clean, rain, and peach.
However—and this is the important part—these same vowel teams also exist in many words that don’t follow the “when two vowels go walking” rule, including good, about, earth, bear, noise, author, and friend.
Instead of relying on the incorrect guidance of this (fake) rule, teach your students the sounds of the letter combinations (called phonograms). Your student will learn important and fundamental concepts, such as ai says /ā/, au says /aw/, oa says /ō/, and oi says /oy/. This knowledge will give your students some real tools to work with—and there will be nothing to unlearn later!
Were you ever taught that “when two vowels go walking, the first does the talking?”
Franzieka VanHorn
says:So how would anyone correctly speak this name in English my mother origin is Germany and I don’t remember her ever calling me franzieka.It was always Frances so how is Franzieka sounded out
Robin
says: Customer ServiceFranzieka,
Names are odd things. They are pronounced the way the namer (usually parent, but sometimes the owner of the name) wants them to be pronounced. Often it is because the name has a spelling that reflects it’s non-English roots (this is why Sean is pronounced “shawn”), but sometimes it is because the namer wanted a creative spelling.
So, your name is pronounced the way your mother wanted it pronounced, or the way you want it pronounced.
No one can tell you how to correctly speak your name but you.
Bounda Cosette
says:I was going to teach these rules,thank you for this resource.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Bounda! I’m glad this information helped you to find other, more reliable, ways for teaching vowel teams.
Judy Davis
says:Yes, it has an it messed me up all the time example I live near a town spelled KEARNEYV pronounce it, Carney 😱
Robin
says: Customer ServiceJudy,
Names are something else! First names, family names, place names, they can be spelled and pronounce any which way with little or no regard for English rules.
sylvia smith
says:Thank you! Your information is accurate and useful.
Can you help me with this question–How do you teach a child to correctly spell single syllable words ending in magic e vs single syllable words with a double vowel? ie boat/bote bait/bate
Robin
says: Customer ServiceGreat question, Sylvia.
Unfortunately, there is not rule for why some words are spelled with a vowel team (like boat and bait) and some are spelled with a silent e (like bone and bake). Such words must be learned visually. Not rote memorization, but becoming very familiar with the words so that “bote” just doesn’t look right.
All About Spelling approaches this by separating the teaching of such spellings with lots of lessons in between. Words with silent e is taught in the first half of Level 2 and there is a lot of practice of many words using this pattern, as well as word banks to be read slowly and with focus on more than one occasion to help build up a student’s visual memory of words. Our 4 Spelling Strategies You Won’t Want to Miss article discusses word banks and the visual strategy for spelling.
Then, it isn’t until Level 3 that phonograms AI and OA are introduced. By that time, most students will have become so accustom to the silent e words, that they spell most correctly without a problem. An occasional one will sometimes pop up after the vowel teams are introduced (such as spelling cane as cain because the student has learned rain). If that happens, reviewing the silent e word banks and practicing the correct spelling soon corrects the issue.
Does that help? The multiple spelling of sounds can be tricky. The most important thing is to introduce each new way to spell a sound one at a time with lots of time (often months or even a year between) so that students can fully master one spelling before having to deal with the next.
Caitlyn
says:So I learned phonics while my son was being taught phonics, but the British school system teaches phonics based reading and unlike the American system teaches the individual sounds in phases rather than ear,air,ure are all taught as one sound as well, it think the phrase is a good starting point to help kids remember. We moved back to America and are still using much of the British curriculum and style.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceCaitlyn,
For some children, learning “ear” and “air” and so on as a chunk can work well. However, many children struggle with memory difficulties, and learning each of these chunks means they have to memorize far more than just learning the 72 basic phonograms and how to use that phonogram knowledge to read words.
Jon
says:When teaching English as a second language to adult French speakers, the two vowels go walking is a place to begin. They can understand the rule only applies less than half the time. Through immersion and reading aloud, they can learn its place. Does it sound right and familiar. Although French and English share a 26 letter alphabet, only 6 sounds are in common. We work on reading and phonics (even though English is not a phonetic language). Students have to acquire a vocabulary, not memorize a vocabulary. French words, French mouth shapes. English words, an English word mouth shape. Training the ear to what sounds right is more important than rules. But rules no matter how bad are a place to begin.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThank you for sharing your perspective, Jon.
However, please know that English is a phonetic language. While it may have more outliers than French and other romantic languages, English does follow it’s own phonetic rules more than 95% of the time.
There are other, more reliable and helpful, starting places to teach English than this so-called “rule.” This one “rule” has done more to convince people that English is not phonetic or reliable than probably any other teaching. Instead of teaching a rule that may work less than half of the time, why not teach the sounds that each vowel team phonogram can make? These are 95+% reliable. You can find the 72 basic phonograms and their sounds here: How to Teach Phonograms.
Jeanie
says:But…ai doesn’t always said the long a. What about “said?”
Robin
says: Customer ServiceGreat question, Jeanie!
The words said, again, and against are the only words where AI says the short E sound. There are hundreds of words where AI says long A, and just these three where it doesn’t. It is more efficient for most students to learn these three words as rule breakers, and that is how All About Reading and All About Spelling teach them.
Judy Wittmer
says:Adding to the exception list, would “curtain” be one where AI says short E?
Robin
says: Customer ServiceJudy,
Words like curtain, mountain, and others are not really exceptions. Rather, any vowel in an unstressed (unaccented) syllable can become muffled or take on an /uh/ or /ih/ sound. This is often called the schwa sound, and we discuss this in our How to Teach Schwas article. The exceptions I listed above are all in the stressed (accented) syllable.
And what sound the AI takes on in the word curtain varies by your regional accent. Many will be /uh/ or /ih/ (cur-tun or cur-tin), but some will drop the vowel sound altogether and just have “curt’n.” I don’t think I’ve heard a short E sound for curtain (cur-ten), but I’m sure it is possible.
Also, common word endings (AIN, TURE, IVE, and many others) take on pronunciations that are not expected based on their spellings alone. These are best taught explicitly, and both All About Reading (Level 4) and All About Spelling (Level 6) have lessons that explicitly teach words with the AIN ending.
Tores
says:I don’t get it
Shasta
says:I was not taught “When two vowels go walking…” but “When the vowels go walking…”
Robin
says: Customer ServiceShasta,
Yes, there are multiple twists on this unreliable rule.
Jodi
says:I agree that this rule doesn’t work a lot of the time, but we also can’t just teach that ai says /ā/ as a ‘rule’ either…what about said, curtain, certain, captain among many others. I simply teach my kids that the ‘rules’ we learn don’t apply to 100% of all word with the same graphemes/digraphs/vowel teams etc, and that some words we just have to learn, but we also look at the different ways certain letters/letter combinations can sound within examples.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceJodi,
All About Reading and All About Spelling focus only on rules that are highly reliable. Yes, every rule will have exceptions, but we only teach rules that hold true at least 95% of the time (most rules we teach are 97% or greater). We do teach some patterns or generalizations that fall below that threshold (we use the words “usually” or “often” when we do to make it clear these are less reliable), but still they all hold true well over half of the time. The “two vowels go walking” so-called rule doesn’t even make that threshold.
Phonograms are extremely reliable, but as you mention, they too have exceptions. Said is taught as a Rule Breaker and focus is drawn to the AI phonogram not saying what we expect it to say.
As for words like curtain, certain, and captain, there is something else entirely going on there. In those words, the second syllable (the one with the AI phonogram) is unaccented and any vowel or vowel team can say the muffled /uh/ or /ih/ schwa sound in an unaccented syllable. In fact, in these words, the second syllable can be so muffled that some of the consonants disappear too in many regional accents. Curtain becomes cur’n, certain cer’n, and captain cap’n with glottal stops instead of /t/. Since ALL vowels and vowel teams can take on this schwa sound, it is best for students to address the concept of muffled vowels and syllables directly. In addition, All About Reading Level 4 and All About Spelling Level 6 both have lessons specifically on AIN at the end of words. You may want to see our article on How to Teach Schwas.
Kim
says:I went to school in the fifties and sixties and never hear this rule. I got my MAE:ESL in 2019 and didn’t here it then either.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceKim,
I’m pleased to hear that the “Two Vowels Go Walking” rule is not being taught to educators any longer! However, it was taught to me when I was learning to read in the ’80s, and there were lots and lots of educational materials teaching this rule when I was teaching my first child to read in the early ’00s. It’s about time this very inaccurate and unreliable “rule” went out of fashion.
Rosalie
says:Where is my comment?
Robin
says: Customer ServiceRosalie,
I’m sorry you didn’t see your comment right away. Sometimes it takes a bit of time for the system to show new comments.
Suzanne
says:But I immediately thought of the word “said” and the long a phonogram rule above does not work. So many complications!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceSuzanne,
Well, the word “said” is a true rule-breaker. AI is not expected to say that sound. For me, words like soup and soil come up.
Jan Lynn Erie
says:Great
Julianah Ona Daropale
says:I think the rule is limited to kindergarten, because when you use the rule of when two vowels go walking, the first does the talking the children easily grasp the concept since the words sounded more like a rhyme. However it is also important to teach them the phonogam.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Julianah. However, many children become confused when a rule they were previous taught is then later shown to be not a rule. It is often best to simply teach phonograms only from the beginning. Children understand and master them easily.
Sapphire
says:This is like the “I before E except after C” and then you realise just how many words fall out of this concept as you grow. Learning the rhyme majorly made it difficult for me to remember what words fell outside of it. If not taught that, I probably wouldn’t have the trouble of constantly undoing what I was taught for so many years, I try to avoid the rhymes with my children, don’t want to cause any confusion.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceYes, great points, Sapphire.
All About Spelling actually teaches a modified I Before E rule that is highly reliable. We add, “If the sound is /ē/, it’s I before E except after C.” This eliminates all the long A, long I, and short E exceptions (like weigh, feisty, and foreign). Then All About Spelling teaches the 10 common exceptions in two easy to remember silly sentences.
Kim
says:What about seize and siege?
Robin
says: Customer ServiceKim,
Yes! As I mentioned, All About Spelling teaches the 10 common exceptions to the “If the sound is /ē/, it’s I before E except after C,” rule.
ramya
says:very useful tip
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Ramya!
Oletha
says:Learned this rule in the 8th grade In Catholic school, that was in the 60’s so I looked it up because I was pronouncing “Weis” as “Weese” using that rule. So glad I looked it up!❤️
Mashani
says:I am also teaching this method.. I am following jolly phonics training
Robin
says: Customer ServiceWonderful, Mashani!
Dorothy
says:I did but I also learned that there are exceptions to the rules
Higi
says:I believe it is a good tool for very early beginning spellers. Just be sure to say there ARE many exceptions.
Sophie
says:I had no idea this rule even existed :)
Glad to learn why it doesn’t work though.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceGlad to help you learn something, Sophie!
Franzieka VanHorn
says:I’m still needing som Ed one to give me a punctuation for this name before I die I’m 60 yrs old and not once in my life could it be spoken by anyone reading it help me it is a. Misp Ed lled from birth cause they never understood what she was saying.
Fran z ie ka. Help
Maria G
says:This is so interesting! There’s so many grammar rules that I wasn’t taught well or aren’t the often, and I struggle with beginning to teach them to my kids!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceMaria,
That is where All About Reading and All About Spelling will be so useful for you with their “No Gaps” Approach to Reading and Spelling. Our programs teach only the reliable rules of English and are designed to be Easy to Teach with no prior experience or training.
Rosalie
says:In reading there are no rules. Just practice makes perfect! When a child opens a book it’s a beautiful adventure. And when you clog it up with all of the rules then it stops the possible and creates the impossible. That is the exact reason children give up on a single word. Trying to figure out what the ready rules are. How did Abraham Lincoln learn to read and write with absolutely nothing but a stick with some ash on it and a slat. Then when he was formally trained to read he already had the desire because of simple beautiful magic that comes into play when Our minds our hands and our eyes reach for the stars and reading writing and arithmetic comes alive. No power on earth can stop the imagination. Except a basket of rules set on. Child’s heart that will teach your not smart enough to figure it out. Words are like patterns they form in our minds and when practiced and practice makes perfect. So a child feels the small word turning into a bigger picture. Not a blank wall of confusion. After a child masters the simple task of reading then fir what reason I’m not sure, rules can be read and tests can be taken because a child is reading.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThank you for your thoughts, Rosalie.
However, extensive educational research going back for more than a century has found that there are many very reliable and helpful rules in English. Sadly, currently in the United States, more children struggle with reading than succeed with it (as measured by the NAEP 2022 report on reading proficiency). Our approach incorporates the findings of the National Reading Panel (2000) (Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.)
Irma A. Garcia
says:I found the rule “when two vowels go walking” on the internet, however it didn’t say anything about two vowels walking.
Thaadhi
says:Can I use “aa” to write a name. Ex: “Thaadhi “.
In my mother language we have separate letters for “Tha” & “Thaa ” sound.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThaadhi,
Yes, of course you can spell names however you like, especially if the names comes from another language!
Franzieka Emery
says:My name is spelt Franzieka how is it pronounced by English Grammer I’m 59 years old and have this name but no one can tell me how it’s pronounced. Because it was a miss spelling because mom was german. So they spelt it way it sounded when she said it. Someone help me with my name that’s not listed as a name. It’s a name mistake that’s original . Can I get a he real pronunciation.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceFranzieka,
Your name is pronounced as you want it to be pronounce. There is no right or wrong way. In English, names can and do break all the rules with spelling and pronunciation. If you are unsure how you want it pronounced, then go with the way your mother wanted it pronounced.
I will add, however, that in German, when two vowels are together, the first is silent and the second is long. Since your mother was German, she may have wanted it to be Fran – zee – ka.
Joan Amsler
says:I was taught when you have 2 vowels in a short word the first vowel says it’s name and the second one sleeps
Make ,take, wake
Robin
says: Customer ServiceInteresting, Joan. The words make, take, and wake are all silent e words. We have a great blog post on Silent E: Teaching Kids the Whole Truth that you may enjoy.
Mona
says:Thank you for sharing this. It will be a great help for my RTI group.
Crystal
says:I teach phonics rules while also pointing out at the same time there are outliers. I like the rule “when two vowels go walking” because it’s easy to remember. I teach it with ai, oa, ea, ay, ow, igh, and ue. At the same time I am teaching it, I made a big deal of adding the words “usually, but not always” to the end of the rhyme. I do that with ALL phonics rules I teach because all of them have exceptions. I give several examples of those exceptions. I explain why english has so many exceptions (because english comes from so many other languages that all have different rules). Then I teach dipthong vowels (oi, au, ou, etc) separately. I explain that those vowels are similar to digraphs, where instead of saying only one sound, or saying the sounds together, the sound changes altogether. It seems to work very well. My kids will be the first to say, “but not always” whenever they hear the rule.
I also teach them what to do when they get to a word where they try “the first one does the talking” and it doesn’t work. Like with the word “earth”. If it’s a word we’ve never studied, they could try other vowel sounds to see if it makes sense. Or try the short vowel and see if that makes sense. Usually they can check with me to be sure. We often keep track of the words that don’t follow the rule on the wall so we can pay special attention to them.
Lindsay Harkins
says:Earth is actually an /er/ phonogram- ear, ir, er, ur.
Stacey Keniston
says:Crystal, I’m with you all the way. During my O-G Tutor training we were taught to avoid it at all costs. Eighteen years later, I teach it much like you described. Mainly because I have not met a student who has not heard it from someone. Luckily it does work with the most common and first taught vowel teams. Then when we get to au….,”Our word is launch, does that fit our VT rule and make the long a sound?” “What sound does it make?” It’s like from out of no where, isn’t it?
Raymond Abobo
says:Thanks again
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you for explaining your approach to this rule, Crystal.
Jeannie
says:Yep! And I continued to teach that rule after I began my teaching career until I learned all about Orton-Gillingham and other reading methods. Thank you for pointing this out. I love your articles and your knowledge is outstanding and practical. I am a retired special education teacher and just recently starting working with a severly dyslexic student. I am reteaching myself all kinds of new things to help her using your articles. Your All About Reading program is really great! Just started using that, too!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m so pleased to hear that All About Reading and the articles here are helpful for you, Jeannie! Thank you.