The dreaded IPA (Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies) Language Learning Forum

The dreaded IPA
Tags: International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) \| Pronunciation
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Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies

30 messages over 4 pages: 1 2 3 4

Jamopy
Newbie
EnglandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4579 days ago
26 posts - 31 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Swedish

Message 25 of 30

18 September 2013 at 3:03pm | IP Logged

Where is a good place for a beginner to start with IPA? If i speak to native speakers i
can pick up the sounds and intonations quickly, but i've never tried doing it from only
reading.
1 person has voted this message useful

Lykeio
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4243 days ago
120 posts - 357 votes

Message 26 of 30

18 September 2013 at 3:57pm | IP Logged

Jamopy wrote:

Where is a good place for a beginner to start with IPA? If i speak to
native speakers i
can pick up the sounds and intonations quickly, but i've never tried doing it from only
reading.

Obviously you're going to be listening/watching audio/video when learning anyway so its
not urgent, moreover some of the recommendations in this thread and around the site are
good.

However I suggest, for absolute beginners, to check out these brief series of videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bCM9RnDBZw
2 persons have voted this message useful

Марк
Senior Member
Russian Federation
Joined 5055 days ago
2096 posts - 2972 votes

Speaks: Russian*

Message 27 of 30

18 September 2013 at 4:06pm | IP Logged

Jamopy wrote:

Where is a good place for a beginner to start with IPA? If i speak to
native speakers i
can pick up the sounds and intonations quickly, but i've never tried doing it from only
reading.

Are you sure you do it correctly?
1 person has voted this message useful

LaughingChimp
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 4698 days ago
346 posts - 594 votes

Speaks: Czech*

Message 28 of 30

18 September 2013 at 4:44pm | IP Logged

Jamopy wrote:

Where is a good place for a beginner to start with IPA?

The Wikipedia article is quite good.

Jamopy wrote:

If i speak to native speakers i
can pick up the sounds and intonations quickly, but i've never tried doing it from only
reading.

I don't think it's possible, even with IPA. You have to hear the language in order to learn it properly.
1 person has voted this message useful

sans-serif
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Finland
Joined 4558 days ago
298 posts - 470 votes

Speaks: Finnish*, English, German, Swedish
Studies: Danish

Message 29 of 30

18 September 2013 at 5:45pm | IP Logged

Jamopy wrote:

Where is a good place for a beginner to start with IPA? If i speak to native speakers i can pick up the sounds and intonations quickly, but i've never tried doing it from only reading.

Everything I know about the IPA--not the entire system but nevertheless a reasonable subset of it--I've learned "in context", by reading Wikipedia articles on the phonologies of the languages I know and study. While often a bit dry and academic, the articles are usually very informative, although in some cases it has taken me several read-throughs to realize it. Also, having real and meaningful examples with which to associate the different sounds has been very helpful.

In your case, it's probably best to learn the IPA in the context of English. I don't have any experience with the Introduction to Phonology courses that are out there, but if those seem intimidating, you could try easing yourself into it by reading pronunciation guides of English written for ESL students. Just make sure that they use the IPA and teach a variety of English that you know well.
1 person has voted this message useful

Arekkusu
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Canada
bit.ly/qc_10_lec
Joined 5380 days ago
3971 posts - 7747 votes

Speaks: English, French*, German^C1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto
Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian

Message 30 of 30

18 September 2013 at 6:11pm | IP Logged

LaughingChimp wrote:

Jamopy wrote:

If i speak to native speakers i
can pick up the sounds and intonations quickly, but i've never tried doing it from only reading.

I don't think it's possible, even with IPA. You have to hear the language in order to learn it properly.

I agree with LaughingChimp. While IPA can potentially indicate all the finer subtleties of human sounds, typically most of that information is left out in the context of a given language (in part because a lot of this is predictable). And of course, IPA provides no information about intonation, and while it may indicate primary and secondary stress, it can't tell you how one compares to the other, and certainly not how their intensity decreases over a complete sentence.

But once you understand how the sounds of a language work, IPA can provide a very consistent way to note these sounds. There is no other system to consider. IPA is it. But only as a consistent way to point to a language's sounds.

2 persons have voted this message useful

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