Session One - An Introductory to the 44 IPA Sounds

The first lesson is a challenging lesson. How can I help the participants become confidence in learning English pronunciation? Most participants have never learnt International Phonetic Alphabet before. So I decide to focus on familiarising them with the 44 IPA symbols. I also introduce the relationship between 26 English alphabet letters and 44 IPA sounds.

44 IPA letters

24 consonants

8 paired consonants

p, f, t, k, s, th, sh, th (voiceless)

b, v,d,g, z, th, sh, th (voiced)

8 single consonants

m, n, ng, l, r, w, y (voiced) h (voiceless)

20 vowels

Long Vowels: ae, ee, ie, oe, ue
Short Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
R-Vowels: ar, er, ir, or, oo
Diphthongs: are, eer, oor, oi, ou