Intro
In this tutorial you wil learn about IPA phonetic transcriptions and how to add IPA to your Anki cards.
International Phonetic Alphabet
English pronunciation is confusing. The pronunciation of each English word you learn is unique. English is not phonetic. The letters in the words might help you pronounce the word, but it can also confuse you.
Example:
Ridiculous English Spelling: food, dude, flu, flew, fruit, blue, to, shoe, move, tomb, group, through
Awesome IPA Spelling: fud, dud, flu, flu, fɹut, blu, tu, ∫u, muv, tum, grup, Ɵɹu
-Wyner, Gabriel. Fluent Forever : How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It (9780385348102) Random House Digital. Kindle Edition.
Never assume you know the pronunciation of a word by the spelling. There is no way in English to be 100% sure of the pronunciation without an IPA phonetic transcription.
Where can I find IPA phonetic transcription?
In your dictionary. IPA is your visual guide to pronouncing English words. If you know the IPA sounds and symbols well, you will always know the correct way to pronounce English words.
Tutorial
Most dictionaries include IPA in their definitions. Here in the Longman Dictionary, we can see the IPA for American and British English.
You can see the large text shows you how to break the word into syllables. This word has three syllables.
I’d recommend putting all this information on your flashcard. There is a specific field just for IPA.
When you preview the card, you can see the IPA phonetic transcription on the back.
Extra Tips
Don’t need it, don’t use it
If the pronunciation of the word is not difficult for you, you can skip adding IPA.
Use IPA and audio together
Use both the IPA and the audio recording of the word together. You may think that just listening is good enough, but seeing the pronunciation visually with IPA is the most accurate way to learn pronunciation.
Keep practicing!
You might not be able to make the sounds correctly yet. Keep practicing every day and your pronunciation will get closer and closer to native speaker pronunciation.  You don’t have to pronounce words perfectly all the time. It’s important that you know how the word is supposed to be pronounced and you are trying to pronounce it that way. (see Get it right in your head)
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