Grammar
- Class Wars
We can't open our mouths without revealing the social class we come from. England is no exception here, possibly even the worst case of a class-obsessed society where everyone is able to tell exactly which social class somebody else belongs to. The...
- Vowels And Consonants
There are two types of meaning associated with the words 'vowel' and 'consonant'. First, the phonological definition says that consonants are simply those segments that occur at the edges of syllables, unlike vowels which occur at the...
- Spelling And Pronunciation - Making Sense Of Augh And Ough
A well-known poem on the difficulties of English pronunciation starts: I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough. Others may stumble, but not you, On hiccough, thorough, though, and through And we might say that this...
- Exploring Spelling And Pronunciation, Part 1
Complex, yes. But impossible? The complexity of English spelling undoubtedly poses problems for both foreign learners and native speakers. While some languages, like Spanish for example, have a clear relationship between spelling and sound, this...
- Vocab Quizzes - Gardens And Gardening
These quizzes have three main ideas: 1. Dictionary resources - Take advantage of the online resources at the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD) and the Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary (M-WVD). 2. Learn progressively - You can start...
Grammar
Pronunciation game using IPA symbols
Practise using IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) symbols with these quizzes. You have a choice of keyboards: one laid out by letter type, the other a sort of (Q)werty board. Try individual sounds or whole words.
Use the 'Select quiz' dropdown to start. For individual sounds, the program will tell you automatically if you are right or wrong. For words or combined sounds, click on 'Check'. If you get stuck on either sounds or words, click on 'Show'.
If you want a reminder of which symbol stands for what sound, you can look at my page or try one of the links below.
You can find a version of the pronunciation poem with sound files at the link below (poem 2).
| ɪ | ʊ | ʌ | ɒ | ə | e | æ | short vowels | |
| ɪ: | u: | ɑ: | ɔ: | ɜ: | long vowels | |||
| eɪ | əʊ | aɪ | aʊ | ɔɪ | ɪə | eə | ʊə | diphthongs |
| p | t | ʧ | k | f | θ | s | ʃ | unvoiced consonants |
| b | d | ʤ | g | v | ð | z | ʒ | voiced consonants |
| l | m | n | ŋ | r | w | j | h | other consonants |
| eɪ | əʊ | aɪ | aʊ | ɔɪ | ɪə | eə | ʊə | |||||
| w | e | r | t | ɪ | ɪ: | ɜ: | ʌ | ʊ | u: | ɒ | ɔ: | p |
| æ | ɑ: | s | ʃ | d | f | g | h | j | ʒ | k | l | |
| z | v | b | n | ŋ | m | ʧ | ʤ | θ | ð | ə |
Links
- Pronunciation game at Sporcle.com (American English conventions)
- BBC Learning English - Excellent facility - with a sounds chart and short videos for each sound, with tips and examples
- Stuff.co.uk - phonetics chart with pronunciation
- Vowels - with links to examples (Univerity of Manitoba)
- Consonants - with links to examples (Univerity of Manitoba)
- Stress
- Hints for learning how to hear stress
- The best free online text-to-speech program I've found seems to be Ivona - it's quick, can do up to 250 characters, and is quick. It also has an incredible selection of voices.
- Pronunciation poem 1
- Pronunciation poem 2
- Pronunciation poem 3
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- Class Wars
We can't open our mouths without revealing the social class we come from. England is no exception here, possibly even the worst case of a class-obsessed society where everyone is able to tell exactly which social class somebody else belongs to. The...
- Vowels And Consonants
There are two types of meaning associated with the words 'vowel' and 'consonant'. First, the phonological definition says that consonants are simply those segments that occur at the edges of syllables, unlike vowels which occur at the...
- Spelling And Pronunciation - Making Sense Of Augh And Ough
A well-known poem on the difficulties of English pronunciation starts: I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough. Others may stumble, but not you, On hiccough, thorough, though, and through And we might say that this...
- Exploring Spelling And Pronunciation, Part 1
Complex, yes. But impossible? The complexity of English spelling undoubtedly poses problems for both foreign learners and native speakers. While some languages, like Spanish for example, have a clear relationship between spelling and sound, this...
- Vocab Quizzes - Gardens And Gardening
These quizzes have three main ideas: 1. Dictionary resources - Take advantage of the online resources at the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD) and the Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary (M-WVD). 2. Learn progressively - You can start...