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  • Let's take a look at the letter T. It can be silent, like in the word fasten. It can

  • be pronounced ch, as in the word future. It can be pronounced tt like in the word tap.

  • When it's paired with the H, it can be th, the unvoiced TH sound, as in thanks. Or it

  • can be th, the voiced TH sound, as in this. When paired with the letter I, it can be ch,

  • the CH sound, as in the word mention. But, it could also be sh, the SH sound, as in the

  • word motion. The letter T can actually represent various different sounds. This is why the

  • International Phonetic Alphabet makes it easier to study the pronunciation of foreign languages.

  • This video focuses on consonants.

  • What is the International Phonetic Alphabet? It's

  • a system of phonetic notation, and I use it a lot on my website and when I teach students.

  • I've also used it a lot when I've studied foreign languages. The IPA is especially

  • handy when studying English because English is not a phonetic language. This means when

  • you see a letter or a group of letters, it will not necessarily always be pronounced

  • the same in each word in which it occurs, just as in the example at the beginning of

  • this video. The IPA has a written symbol for each phonetic sound, so this makes it

  • easier to read about and write about pronunciation. As a student of pronunciation, it's important

  • that you become familiar with the symbols that represent the sounds of American English.

  • Dd, say that with me, dd. This sound is in dime, redo, smiled. Tt, say that with me, tt. This

  • sound is in washed, untie, tip. Vv, vv. This sound is in value, of, love. Ff, ff. This

  • sound is in staff, enough, phone. Bb, bb. This sound is in big, sob, abandon. Pp, pp.

  • This sound is in pan, snip, reapply. Gg, gg. This sound is in gap, exhibit, fog. Kk, kk.

  • This sound is in choir, quiet, back. Th, th. This sound is in thanks, filthy, with. Th,

  • th, this sound is in bother, this, bathe. Ss, ss. This sound is in ice, some, ax. Zz,

  • zz. This sound is in lazy, flowers, possess. Sh, sh. This sound is in polish, ocean, issue.

  • Dj, dj. This sound is in beige, vision, azure. Ch, ch. This sound is in ancient, march, chapter.

  • Jj, jj. This sound is in joy, grudge, change. Hh, hh. This sound is in happy, rehash, hi.

  • Rr, rr. This sound is in wrong, operate, ear. Yy, yy. This sound is in yummy. Yes. And it

  • often occurs in the 'ew' as in 'few' diphthong in words like music. Mm, mm. This sound occurs

  • in words like my, mumble, some. Nn, nn. This sound occurs in the words nine, no, undo.

  • Ng, ng. This sound occurs in the words ring, thanks, anger. Ll, ll. This sound occurs in

  • the words follow, lie, feel. Ww, ww. This consonant sound occurs in the words quiet, will, one.

  • Great. Familiarizing yourself with these symbols should make it easier to

  • study pronunciation. That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.

Let's take a look at the letter T. It can be silent, like in the word fasten. It can

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