IPA for English learners

English spelling does not tell you how a word sounds. The letters ough alone are said at least six ways:

IPA fixes this by giving each sound exactly one symbol. Read the symbols and you know the pronunciation, whatever the spelling is doing.

/ə/ is a short, weak, neutral vowel, and it appears in almost every unstressed syllable in the language. Learning it is the fastest single improvement most learners can make, because pronouncing unstressed vowels fully is what makes speech sound laboured.

Length is not the whole story — these pairs differ in tongue position too, which is why simply holding the vowel longer does not fix them.

/θ/ and /ð/ — the two th sounds — are missing from most languages. The tongue tip touches the top teeth; the first is voiceless, the second voiced.

Read slowly first. Pronounce each syllable deliberately before trying to blend them at full speed. Rushing hides the vowel and consonant shapes your ear needs to learn.

Record yourself. Most phones have a voice memo app — record a word, then compare it to the playback here. Hearing the gap between your version and the model accent makes targeted practice far easier.

Focus on one accent. Jumping between American, British and Australian in the same session creates confusion. Pick the accent you encounter most and stick with it until the patterns feel natural.

Every word above is a button. Set the accent and voice you want on the main screen, then come back — the guides use whatever you chose. To hear two accents against each other, use Compare; to test whether you can actually hear a contrast, use the listening quiz.