How to Learn to Read Using Phonetic Transcription

If you're studying a foreign language--including English, if you're not a native speaker--you may notice that your course materials use "International Phonetic Alphabet" (IPA) transcriptions as pronunciation aids. Using internationally-recognized symbols, the IPA represents written languages in a globally-standardized manner. Learning how to read this way will come particularly in handy if you don't regularly have oral instruction to help you with pronunciation, but can be indispensable in many scenarios, such as if you need to pluck a word from a dictionary and speak it without ever having heard it.

Things You'll Need

  • IPA symbol chart
  • Dictionary (English and foreign-language)
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Download and print an IPA symbols chart from the link listed under "Resources" if you don't already have one. Familiarize yourself with the sounds the symbols represented by pronouncing the words underneath them. The "schwa", for example, represents a nasal "a" sound, such as in the word "America."

    • 2

      Make lists of several words from your own language--10 is a good number to start with--which contain sounds each symbol represents. The "schwa", for instance, is present in all of the following English words: about; taken; pencil; eloquent; supply; supple; dinner; seldom; doctor; alarm. Making such lists will not only give you additional real-world context for the symbols, but will also introduce you to the various ways you can use them. Do the same in the language you're trying to learn for additional practice.

    • 3

      Practice transcribing words, phrases and sentences you know into phonetic transcription, making sure to check your answers with a dictionary only when you've completed the transcriptions to the best of your ability. Learning IPA in the context of words you already know will better equip you for reading words you've never seen.

    • 4

      Incorporate new words into your spoken vocabulary by reading their IPA pronunciations from the dictionary. Test your skill at reading IPA by gauging the response you receive when you say the words to others. If they understand the words perfectly, it means you've pronounced them almost or totally correctly--and that the work you've done to master reading phonetic transcription has paid off.

Learnify Hub © www.0685.com All Rights Reserved