1 00:00:00,260 --> 00:00:07,290 Welcome to this pronunciation course. 2 00:00:00,260 --> 00:00:07,290 Before we dive in and master all the 3 00:00:07,290 --> 00:00:13,049 English sounds, let me just explain a few 4 00:00:07,290 --> 00:00:13,049 things so that you can get the most out 5 00:00:13,049 --> 00:00:21,600 of this course. Have a look at this word, 6 00:00:13,049 --> 00:00:21,600 the word cough as you can see on the 7 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:26,160 screen. However what are those symbols in orange? 8 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:35,670 Well, these symbols represent the sounds. So cough the spelling has five 9 00:00:35,670 --> 00:00:43,680 letters: C-O-U-G-H. But when we actually say the word cough, there are only three 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:55,289 sounds: /k/ // and /f/. /k/ // /f/ make cough. I just want to 11 00:00:55,289 --> 00:01:02,370 highlight this because the relationship 12 00:00:55,289 --> 00:01:02,370 between sound and spelling in English is 13 00:01:02,370 --> 00:01:10,260 sometimes a bit odd, sometimes a bit 14 00:01:02,370 --> 00:01:10,260 strange. But there are spelling and sound 15 00:01:10,260 --> 00:01:16,500 relationship patterns. I want you to 16 00:01:10,260 --> 00:01:16,500 start to notice the patterns between 17 00:01:16,500 --> 00:01:26,820 sound and spelling. For example 'c' can 18 00:01:16,500 --> 00:01:26,820 represent the sound /k/. But it can 19 00:01:26,820 --> 00:01:31,850 also represent other sounds which we'll 20 00:01:26,820 --> 00:01:31,850 see later in the course. 21 00:01:31,850 --> 00:01:40,049 'gh' can represent the sound /f/ as you can see in the spelling cough. So just keep 22 00:01:40,049 --> 00:01:48,270 these patterns and relationships in mind. The symbols that represent the sounds 23 00:01:48,270 --> 00:01:55,579 in English, that you just saw in orange, 24 00:01:48,270 --> 00:01:55,579 are the IPA symbols. IPA means 25 00:01:55,579 --> 00:02:04,079 International Phonetic Alphabet, which 26 00:01:55,579 --> 00:02:04,079 just means the sound alphabet. Now these 27 00:02:04,079 --> 00:02:10,950 symbols are very good to learn. They will 28 00:02:04,079 --> 00:02:10,950 help you with your pronunciation and you 29 00:02:10,950 --> 00:02:19,680 will be able to read a new word 30 00:02:10,950 --> 00:02:19,680 using the IPA. During this course, in 31 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:25,800 each lecture I'll show you the symbol, 32 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:25,800 the IPA symbol that represents each 33 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:32,220 sound. Do your best to try and learn 34 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:32,220 the different symbols which represent 35 00:02:32,220 --> 00:02:38,310 the different sounds of English. Another thing I want to highlight is 36 00:02:38,310 --> 00:02:47,580 that there are 26 letters in the English 37 00:02:38,310 --> 00:02:47,580 alphabet, but how many sounds are there 38 00:02:47,580 --> 00:02:54,510 in English? There are more than 40 sounds in English. What does this tell you? This 39 00:02:54,510 --> 00:03:00,450 tells you that each letter in the 40 00:02:54,510 --> 00:03:00,450 alphabet can represent more than one 41 00:03:00,450 --> 00:03:09,630 sound. For example the letter 'c' in 42 00:03:00,450 --> 00:03:09,630 English can represent the sound /k/ as 43 00:03:09,630 --> 00:03:22,799 in cough. But it can also represent the 44 00:03:09,630 --> 00:03:22,799 sound /s/ for example rice R-I-C-E rice. 45 00:03:22,799 --> 00:03:29,489 Keep this in mind as well: some letters 46 00:03:22,799 --> 00:03:29,489 can represent different sounds, not just 47 00:03:29,489 --> 00:03:38,570 one. English doesn't have a one-to-one 48 00:03:29,489 --> 00:03:38,570 relationship between spelling and sound. 49 00:03:38,570 --> 00:03:48,290 Now let's move on to the first sounds. 50 00:03:38,570 --> 00:03:48,290 See you in the next lecture.