January 11th, 2011 
admin After writing a couple of articles on stressed pronunciation and silent pronunciation, I got a lot of requests to write a note on pronunciation in general. To start with please not that it is pronunciation not pronounciation. Before jumping into deep waters, let us look at the basics of speech. Once you learn to strike the key note properly then you would have no problems in pronouncing.
English is not Phonetic
Before starting the exercise we should understand that English is not phonetic i.e. the words are not pronounced as they are spelt. To make matters worse, there is stressed/silent pronunciation also homophones (words having different meaning but same pronunciation) are to be taken care of. To start with we should therefore get a grasp of the syllables and their pronunciation. You can listen to the syllable pronunciation in many of the sites available over the internet. Make sure you practice as you listen to them.
Learning Phonemes:
Learning Phonemes
Phonemes help in getting the basics for pronunciation correctly. You may need to check few of the freely available software to get you phonemes correctly. Once your phonemes are in place, we can look to explore other things. The below table would help you to infer the phonemes and their usage.
Pronunciation — Sounds
After phonemes, we should look at their usage from the perspective of English usage. Remember English is not phonetic? So we need to take care of homophones, stressed pronunciation, silent pronunciation and likes. Remember this list is not exhaustive, but one may move to others once these are mastered.
Symbols sounds and examples
Phonetics Symbols sounds and examples
I hope this would sufficiently excite you to unravel the puzzle of pronunciation and set you apart in English speaking community.
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