The Complete Introduction to English Pronunciation

Let's look in more detail at the topics we will study in this course.

The main learning goal of this course is to introduce you to the 44 sounds of English (and some differences between British and American pronunciation). This includes studying VOWELS, DIPHTHONGS, and CONSONANTS. I will teach how we make the sounds and which sounds are difficult. Then we will look at example words and do practice activities.

In addition we will study syllables, word stress, and rhyming and also look at helpful examples and do some practice activities together.

Let's start!

The IPA phonemes are symbols (for example /aʊ/ /ð/ /ɜ:/ /ŋ/) we use to write pronunciation. Why? Because English spelling is so strange it often doesn't help us! Don't be scared of them! They are our friends because they make it easier to study pronunciation. We will use these symbols a lot in the course so let's talk about them a little bit.

What are vowels? How do we make them? In this short introduction video we talk about these topics and I introduce you to a "map" of the mouth we use to understand the different vowel sounds in English. Remember: pronunciation is physical! When we study pronunciation it is like taking our mouth to the gym! So this "map" will show you the different mouth shapes we use to make the different sounds. There is also a PDF document for you to download and study.

The Schwa sound is the most important sound in English! But it is also difficult. In this video lesson we will study this difficult but important sound and look at example words to help you make this sound correctly.

The schwa is important for many reasons. One big reason is we use it to make weak forms. In this lesson we will talk about this important topic and you will understand why the schwa is so important for your pronunciation.

Schwa wars is a fun activity which teaches students how common the schwa is. The activity is simple: find the number of schwas in a sentence. It sounds easy...but is it?

The /e/ sound (for example "men") is quite an easy sound and is also a very common sound. In this video we look at some useful example words to help you make this sound.

The /æ/ sound (for example "cat") is another easy sound but is important because it is very common so in this video lesson we will look at some useful examples to help you.

Minimal pair activities are a very useful way to practice learning the different sounds in English. We will do this activity a few times during this course. This activity in this lesson practices the /e/ and /æ/ sounds.

The /ʌ/ sound (for example in the word "up") is a bit difficult. So let's learn about this sound.

An activity to help you practice the difficult /ʌ/ sound

The short vowel/long vowel pair /ɪ/ /i:/ cause lots of problems for students. The problem is that many languages do not have long vowels, so students often have problems with words like "ship" and "sheep" or "chip" and "cheap" etc. In this lesson we will study these important sounds.

A minimal pair activity is the perfect way to practice the difference between /ɪ/ and /i:/

The /ɑ:/ sound (for example car) is another long vowel in English. It is not a difficult sound, but let's practice it. in this lesson we will look at some example words and also talk about how this sound is made and also some US/UK differences.

The /ɜ:/ sound is very difficult. It's a long vowel and is similar to the schwa (also difficult). It's an important sound for good pronunciation so in this lesson we will practice this very difficult sound. It is also another sound with some US/UK differences so we will talk about that.

Students often say /ɑ:/ when they want to say /ɜ:/ In this lesson we will practice this difficult pair and learn more about the difference between these two sounds.

Another common sound. The /ɒ/ sound (for example "dog") is not so difficult. This is the first rounded vowel we will look at. At the end of this lesson you will practice this sound and learn about the rounded vowel sounds.

The /ʊ/ sound in English (for example "good") is not so common, but is important when we study diphthongs later in the course. After this lesson you will know more about this sound and be well prepared for when we study diphthongs very soon.

The /ɔ:/ sound is another long vowel sound. These are a little bit difficult for some students because many languages do not have long vowels. After this lesson you will be able to confidently make this sound.

In this lesson we learn about the /u:/ sound in English (for example "you", "blue"). It is usually okay for most students but let's practice with some example words.

Well done! You have now studied ALL of the vowel sounds in English. We have studied short vowels, long vowels, and rounded vowels and we have also studied the difficult /ə/ /ʌ/ and /ɜ:/ sounds. In this video we review what we have studied until now.

We have studied a lot. But let's practice more. To improve your pronunciation it is important for your ear to know the different vowel sounds. If your ear knows the difference then your mouth can make the different sounds. We have already practiced minimal pairs so now let's practice ALL of the vowel sounds in this exercise lesson. Do your ears know all of the English vowel sounds?

A syllable is a "part" or "unit" of a word. In this video you will learn how we count syllables in English and why understanding syllables is important for you if you want to have good pronunciation.

In the previous lesson we learned about syllables. Now in this lesson we will do an exercise to practice counting syllables in English words. Good luck!

In this video lesson we will learn about diphthongs. A diphthong is two vowel sounds spoken together and they are very important to make your pronunciation sound natural. Some are easy but some are difficult, so it is important to study them and practice making these sounds.

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to make the /eɪ/ sound (for example "wait" or "eight"). We will look at this diphthong first because it is probably the easiest.

In this lesson we study the /aʊ/ sound (e.g. "house"). We need to use the /ʊ/ sound and this sound is quite important for a few diphthongs so we should practice.

In this lesson we look at the /əʊ/ sound (e.g. "no"). It has both the /ə/ and /ʊ/ sounds - both not so easy. so let's look at some helpful example words.

Because the /əʊ/ sound is a little bit difficult, students often say /ɒ/. In this activity we practice the minimal pair "won't" (with the /əʊ/ sound) and "want" (with the /ɒ/ sound). Good luck!

In this lesson we will study the /ɪə/ sound (e.g. "here"). It has a schwa so it is a little tricky, but the sound is very common in English so it is important to study it.

In this lesson we will study the /ʊə/ sound. It's quite difficult because it uses also the /ʊ/ and /ə/ sound. However, it is very interesting because it is different in US pronunciation but also many British English speakers use /ɔ:/ instead. 

In this lesson we practice the /aɪ/ sound (e.g. "eye"). It's not so difficult but it is very common so it's important for us to practice and look at some example words.

In this lesson we study the /eə/ sound (e.g. "hair"). It's a sound much more common in British English than American English so you will also learn how American people pronounce this sound.

In this lesson we will practice the /ɔɪ/ sound (e.g. "boy"). Not so difficult, but we need to talk about the /ɔ/ sound to make this diphthong correctly.

Well done! You've now studied all of the diphthongs in English. Diphthongs are a very important part of good English pronunciation so you need to know them very well. So let's have a quick review and also try another practice activity in the attached PDF.

We've already looked at syllables when we finished the vowel section. However, we also need to study how we count syllables with diphthongs. In this lesson you will learn how to do this and we will also do a practice activity.

Word stress is SO important in English for many reasons. In this lesson you will learn why it is so important and do an activity with me to help practice your ability to hear word stress. In addition, there are extra PDF activities too to help you learn about this topic.

Minimal pairs are usually about words with one different sound. However, this minimal pair activity is about words with a different stress. Students often confuse words like "18" and "80" so this is a useful activity to practice this common mistake.

Well done! We've studied and practiced all of the vowels and diphthongs in English. Now it's time to look at the consonants. There are lots of consonants in English and it is important to understand HOW we make the different sounds. In this short video I will introduce you to English consonants so you can be prepared to practice the sounds in the consonant lessons.

The /j/ and /w/ sounds are sometimes called semi-vowel sounds. They are consonants...but also a little bit like vowels. In this video lesson you will practice these sounds which become very important in the next course when we study connected speech.

In this video we will study the /l/ and /r/ sounds. For some students these sounds can be quite difficult. Especially the /r/ sound. For example, Asian students often cannot notice the difference. Other nationality students, for example Latin speakers OVER-pronounce the /r/. So it's important for us to practice these two important sounds.

In this activity lesson we will look at two very useful and fun TONGUE TWISTERS to help you practice the /l/ and /r/ sounds.

In this video we will practice the /h/ sound. For most students it is easy, but we will learn about the difference between unvoiced and voiced consonants in this lesson. This idea will be important for other consonant sounds too.

The plosive sounds are a group of six consonant sounds /p/ /t/ /k/ and /b/ /d/ /g/. In this short video we will learn about how we make these very common sounds.

Our first plosive pair. In this lesson we will learn HOW we make these sounds and what the difference is between them.

Our second plosive pair. In this lesson we will learn HOW we make these sounds, what the difference is between them, and how they are different to /p/ and /b/

Our final plosive pair. In this lesson we will learn HOW we make these sounds, what the difference is between them, and how they are different to /t/ and /d/

In this activity lesson we will practice a very common tongue twister to practice some of the plosive sounds we have studied.

In this video lesson you will learn about the nasal consonants. These are sounds we make with our nose. Then we will practice the nasal consonant /m/ and learn how it is different to /n/

In this video lesson you will learn about the second nasal consonant: the /n/ sounds. It is an easy sound but we will practice with some example words so you understand the difference between the /n/ and the /m/ sound.

The /ŋ/ sound is a strange sound in English. In this video lesson you will learn about this little bit difficult sound and which spelling it is always connected to in English (HINT, we use this sound in the word "English).

This is the "th" sound in English and is one of the most difficult sounds in English. Maybe THE most difficult. This is because many languages do not have this sound. In this lesson you will learn HOW we make this sound and how you can quickly improve your English pronunciation by making this sound correctly.

The /ð/ sound is another way to pronounce the "th" sound in English. In this video lesson we will learn how it is different to the /θ/ sound and look at some helpful example words.

In this activity lesson we will practice two very useful and fun tongue twisters to practice the difficult "th" sounds. Good luck!

In this video lesson we will practice the /s/ and /z/ sounds. For most students these sounds are quite easy. However, the difference between the unvoiced and voiced sound becomes important in the next video.

In English, if a word ends in a "s", sometimes we pronounce it as /s/ and other times we pronounce it as /z/ (and sometimes /ɪz/ ). In this video lesson you will learn the rules so you never make this mistake again.

Let's practice the sounds we have just studied with some more useful and fun tongue twisters.

In this lesson we practice the very common /f/ and /v/ sounds. We will learn HOW to make these sounds and why for some students they can be a problem.

In this activity video we will practice some more important sounds with some minimal pairs and we will talk about why some students have problems.

These two sounds have very strange symbols, but don't be worried. Actually the /ʃ/ sound is quite common and even though the /ʒ/ sound is more difficult it is not so common. In this video lesson we will look at some example words to help you pronounce these sounds.

Another tongue twister activity  video to practice the /s/ and /ʃ/sounds because some students confuse these two sounds. This tongue twister is a classic.

Two more sounds with difficult looking symbols. But don't worry, in this lesson we will learn how to pronounce these sounds and how to make the sounds correctly.

Wow! You've now studied ALL of the sounds of English. Maybe some sounds are easy. Maybe some are still difficult for you. But that's no problem. We have lots of example words now so you can continue to practice and improve. Before the next section, let's review.

In this course we have used the IPA phonemes. It is a very, very tool to help you improve your pronunciation. Here are some more activities to help you remember.

Actually, I think it's more important to be able to read the phonemes than write them. BUT...if you can write them it will be very helpful for you when you make notes in your textbook. So let's practice writing them a bit more.

If you listen to music in English you probably have heard lots of rhyming. It is very common in songs and poems and it is a good way to train your ear to "feel" the sounds of English. In this video lesson we explain rhyming and practice with some examples and an ODD ONE OUT exercise.

You did it! Well done! I'm very happy you've finished the course. Now you have all the information you need to improve your English pronunciation and also KEEP improving your pronunciation in your English journey. However, this is only the beginning. In this video we will talk about your next steps. Good luck! It's been a pleasure to be your teacher!