Phonetics

I started learning phonetics in May, and I realized it's a good tool. I can pronounce a word with confidence. I encourage all my friends to learn phonetics if they REALLY want to improve their English. The course at the International Phonetic Association has only 6 sessions but there are lots of materials. I need to practice what I have learned in class frequently in order to acquire the skills of phonetics. And they work!

We never learned phonetics while we were at primary school. If we had learned it, we would have been able to pronounce many English words with confidence.

A writer in Hong Kong says that "If we compare learning language with building a high rise, phonetics is the foundation of a language and grammar is the cement and steel. If the foundation is stable by going deep and the cement and steel are sufficient, the building can be built from bottom to top. If the foundation does not go deep and the structure does not use cement and steel, the building can go up to 4 levels at most... schools in Hong Kong shall teach English phonetics and grammar... phonetics and grammar should be learned in primary school and junior forms of secondary school respectively."

The website of IPA is www.ipa.edu.hk and the above writer above is 詹德隆. The quotes above are from his book 中通外直 Part 1 Culture.