Learn How the International Phonetic Alphabet Symbols Relate to Phonics

The IPA – International Phonetic Alphabet was devised to represent the sounds heard when words are pronounced. These are the symbols that linguists, speech therapists and dyslexia therapists learn when they are trained to differentiate between the sounds heard in language.

‘PRS Module’ is the module where the sound is first taught. (A brief introduction to all of the sounds appears in module one.)

‘PRS Sample Word’ represents the words and images used in the eBook to prompt memory of the sound. The images and colours found in the eBook help the student to memorise phonemes and graphemes.

Symbol	PRS Module	PRS Sample Word	Symbol	PRS Module	PRS Sample Word
æ	3	apple	ʃ	14	fish
d	3	dog	θ	14	thumb
ɒ	3	orange	ð	14	feather
n	3	nest	tʃ	14	chocolate
p	3	pig	ŋ	17	ring
ɛ	4	egg	ʊ	24	book
s	4	snake	eɪ	25	cake
t	4	table	iː	26	tree
ɹ	4	rabbit	aɪ	27	bike
ɪ	4	igloo	əʊ	28	bowl
b	5	bed	uː	29	moon
k	5/6/7	cat – kite – queen	juː	29	cube
f	5	frog	ɑː	30	car
g	5	goat	ʊə	31	ball
l	5	lamp	ə	32	earth – ago
dʒ	6	jug	ɔɪ	34	boy
m	6	mug	ɛə	35	chair
h	6	horse	aʊ	36	cow
ʌ	6	umbrella	ɪə	44	ear
z	7	zebra	ʒ	52	treasure
v	7	violin	ʔ   This symbol represents the ‘t’ sound in football*
j	7	yellow	There is no symbol for the letter x in the IPA
w	7	window		7	box (ks) or (gz)

*This sound is called the glottal stop. The speaker holds back from pronouncing the closed ‘t’ sound fully.E.g. button, bitten, treatment, atlas – foot, soot. In some cases the missing ‘t’ sound can be attributed to a Cockney accent. E.g. butter, fatter, matter. (The ‘t’ sound is omitted entirely.) 

International Phonetic Alphabet Sounds in the Practice Reading and Speaking eBook

Note that every sound seen in the International Phonetic Alphabet is covered in the Practice Reading and Speaking eBook.It teaches reading and pronunciation of the English language by means of phonics.

The eBook focuses on the Estuary English accent.  Its clarity and thorough organisation of the sounds and their spellings means that it does NOT need to feature the International Phonetic Alphabet. It teaches all of the sounds heard in English without the use of the IPA symbols or the need for technical jargon. The International Phonetic Alphabet chart found here is merely for comparison.

How the International Phonetic Alphabet relates to the British Accent

To learn how the International Phonetic Alphabet relates to the British Accent it is useful to buy the Practice Reading and Speaking eBook, learn phonics and practice British pronunciation stage by stage. If you have already learned the International Phonetic Alphabet, you will be given thousands of practice words which contain the sounds represented by symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet.

This 70 module reading and pronunciation course links the sounds to over 1,000 different spellings of the English sounds. The eBook includes teaching notes reading/pronunciation tests and useful resources for teachers. It has been designed to teach reading and/or pronunciation until the student reaches a fluent adult reading age or a fluent British English accent.

The International Phonetic Alphabet is interesting to know but only necessary if you are studying a language with a view to teaching it. It is possible to learn to speak with a British accent without the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet given the right resources.