How to learn phonetic symbols from scratch in English

Thread Content

This post was last edited by Thank goodness you're here on 2015-11-14 at 10:24. For those with no foundation in English, learning phonetics can be challenging in China. Due to different focuses in English teaching, it’s quite common for people to end up with only a superficial understanding of the language; many score well in English tests but fail as soon as they try to speak. The emergence of various speaking courses is driven by demand and supply. To reduce this problem of superficial English skills, numerous speaking classes have sprung up across society. For those who have no foundation in English and want to learn, enrolling in speaking courses might be a good option. From the very beginning, one learns from foreign teachers*, so pronunciation won’t be a problem later on! Therefore, those with no prior knowledge should know that the key things to focus on at this stage are: understanding phonetic symbols correctly, pronouncing words properly, and developing a strong interest in English. In fact, the most important aspect of pronunciation is knowing the phonetic symbols; by mastering them correctly, one can improve their pronunciation and also remember English words more easily. The golden rule of English pronunciation: vowels should be pronounced fully; consonants should be clear and crisp. Double long vowels are pronounced fully and distinctly (2); single short vowels are pronounced quickly and forcefully (3). Consonants with different properties tend to be pronounced together, while consonants with similar properties tend to be pronounced separately; there is also no release of sound when such consonants occur next to each other. There are 5 long vowels:,,,,. The technique for pronouncing long vowels: Long vowels are the opposite of single short vowels; if a single short vowel takes one beat, then a long vowel should take two beats, and it’s important to stretch the sound appropriately when pronouncing it. 　　It’s common to see many people, when discussing learning methods, recommend reading and memorizing a lot! This is not beneficial for beginners, as their grasp of each word is still insufficient at this stage; if they keep hearing incorrect pronunciations, it’s easy for them to learn the mistakes as correct ones. Therefore, the first step in learning English is to imitate the teacher’s pronunciation! This shows just how important it is to have a teacher who helps build a solid foundation. Additionally, improving one’s pronunciation and intonation relies mainly on practice – it’s essential to study phonetic symbols carefully, especially those related to vowels. One must make every effort to master the correct pronunciation of each phonetic symbol, and then read every word and sentence thoroughly. This process may take at least a month for everyone. The process of correcting pronunciation is painful, because you may not be able to accept that you have been pronouncing words learned in elementary school incorrectly for nearly a decade. But there’s nothing to be ashamed of about this; focus on improving your pronunciation now, so that you can gain respect in society in the future! Improving pronunciation isn’t something that can be achieved in just a day or two, so it’s advised not to try to do too much at once and not to rush the process. 　　Linguistics* is a process of developing linguistic intuition, and there’s no need to rush it. This process requires planning and perseverance, but as long as the daily tasks are completed, perseverance is developed unconsciously. Many people who seem to have extraordinary perseverance in the eyes of others simply do what they have planned to do every day; there’s nothing difficult about it. If they can do it on the first day, they can do it on the second day as well! Finally, let me remind everyone of one thing: practice makes perfect! Keep striving!