Learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a really useful way to improve your English pronunciation. That’s because the relationship between spelling and pronunciation is pretty irregular (I mean, why do the words there, their and they’re all sound the same?!).
If you’re familiar with English phonemes, it will help you to make sense of our language. Did you know, for example, that there are 12 vowel sounds in English even though there are only 5 vowels in the alphabet (A, E, I, O, U)?
Here are four really good apps and websites that will help you familiarise yourself with the sounds of English. They’re also very useful for experienced speakers of English as a reminder about how a phoneme is pronounced, or want to tune in to a British or American accent, here are some useful resources.
1. English File Pronunciation Chart (Website)
A clickable chart with all the sounds of British English
2. American English IPA Chart (Website)
An interactive chart with the phonemes of American English. Many sounds are the same as in British but there are a few differences.
3. Sounds Right App (iOs/Android)
This app is from the British Council’s Learn English website and (unsurprisingly) features British English. Like the websites above, it’s an interactive chart helping you to learn phonemes. Now you can have a British accent in your pocket!
4. BBC Learning English – Pronunciation Tips Videos
An oldie but goodie! What’s lovely about these videos is that you can see how the speaker’s mouth moves as she teaches you the sound. In certain videos, you can also practise commonly-confused sounds. The link below is a playlist of all 45 videos.
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Are you an English teacher who would like to improve your students’ pronunciation? If so, you’ll love our online teacher training course, Helping Students with Pronunciation.
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