Talk a Lot Learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Why Bother Learning the International Phonetic Alphabet? It’s simple… …if you can read the sounds of English with the International Phonetic Alphabet, you will be able to correctly pronounce every single word in an English dictionary You will become a more independent learner, because you won’t need to rely on asking your friends or teacher – or native speakers – “How you say this word?” It may seem like a daunting challenge when you first look at the chart on p.18.6, and learning the IPA will take a bit of effort – like just about every other worthwhile activity in life – but once you’ve learned to recognise the symbols, and which sounds they represent, you’ll remember them and be able to use this valuable skill as you continue learning English throughout the rest of your life You don’t have to learn the entire IPA anyway – that’s not necessary Just the sounds of English, and sounds that your language has but which English does not have The IPA covers all of the languages of the world, but you need only focus on learning the 48 sounds of English As you learn, you will better understand the differences between pronunciation in your language and English For example, I teach English in Poland, where all of my students speak Polish (as you would expect) In Polish there are only vowel sounds, while in English there are 23 In Polish there are no long vowel sounds, like LìWL or L^WL and no diphthongs, like LÉfL or L]rL Before I began to teach the IPA in my classes, one of the most common causes of pronunciation mistakes used to be when students tried to speak English using only the vowel sounds of Polish, instead of the 23 vowel sounds of English Their words sounded clipped and unnatural, without any long vowel sounds or diphthongs They spoke like that because that was how they understand language to be: “If it’s like that in my language, it must be like that in English too.” You will also be able to focus in on problem areas in your spoken English by identifying which specific sounds you are having problems with For example, my Polish students find the two consonant sounds LqL and LaL really difficult, because they don’t have these sounds in Polish They didn’t learn to make these sounds when they first learned to speak Furthermore, they don’t want to stick their tongues out between their teeth when they speak, as LqL and LaL demand! Other sounds that are difficult for them include the vowel sounds L‰WL and L¾L, so we always spend more time practising words with these sounds A note about the schwa This sound, L]L, which is called a schwa, is worth spending extra time studying, because it is the most common sound in English It’s the weak stress sound of the articles “a” L]L and “the” La]L and appears in the unstressed syllables of the majority of English words with more than one syllable (If you don’t believe me, have a look at the Discussion Words from Books and 2, from pp.18.29-18.38, and see how many schwas you can count!) So, how I go about learning the IPA? If you’re learning on your own, you could use the flashcards (starting on p.18.9) to memorise the sounds, and test yourself, as well as using the worksheets (starting on p.19.1) and tests (starting on p.19.17) that are included in this handbook Look online on the Talk a Lot pages For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 18.1 Talk a Lot Learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Why Bother Learning the International Phonetic Alphabet? for our mp3 file “The Sounds of English…”, on which you can hear each sound being spoken Learning the sounds of English with the IPA is one of the best things you could to improve your level of spoken English …or how I teach it to my class? You could follow the lesson plan on p.18.3 for guidance on how to introduce the sounds of English with the IPA to a group of Elementary-Pre-Intermediate learners, and then use the materials in this handbook to consolidate learning (see p.19.1 onwards) The IPA may not seem like an easy topic to teach, but your students will enjoy it, and later on they’ll thank you for covering it with them If you give them the chance to learn the sounds of English with the IPA, their spoken English will improve as their understanding of the language – including stress and vowel sounds – increases You’ll be giving them a gift that keeps on giving A gift that’s for life, not just for one lesson! Good luck! For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 18.2