As we start the school year lots of students have difficulties with reading transcription of the words. It's a very necessary skill which helps to find out the pronunciation of a certain word in the dictionary. To master it you must learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a system where each symbol is associated with a particular English sound.
Learn the phonetic alphabeth in 4 steps
Step 1. Watch the video, listen to the pronunciation of each symbol and repeat after the speaker.
Phonetic Symbols: Pronunciation
Step 2. Use Interactive Phonemic Chart to practise reading the phometic symbols. The chart is clickable so you can click on each symbol or a sample word to hear. Work like this:
- Click and say
- Say and then click to check
You can also download British Council Phonemic chart here (see Downloads Section).
Step 3. Practise transcribing online. On the following page you'll find the section "Transcribe words to and from phonetics". Start with the words which pronunciation you are familiar with.
There's also a useful site which helps with typing phonetic symbols Type IPA phonetic symbols
Step 4. Have fun with Macmillan Sounds Pronunciation App
