The chart shows the sounds of English. Each sound has a symbol and with these sounds you can say all the words in the dictionary, and every piece of grammar!
The chart is also a map. It shows the three kinds of sound; vowel, diphthong, consonant. It also shows you HOW and WHERE to make the sound in your mouth.
To use the chart:
Learn to hear the differences between the sounds, and practise saying each sound, with and without the sample word.
Watch the video below for a guided tour of the chart with its creator, Adrian Underhill.
Guided tour of the chart 5:21
The wordlist contains around 650 items of vocabulary, with their phonemic transcriptions. These words have been selected as they are both useful high frequency ones and potentially challenging to pronounce.
Scroll through the list to see all of the words, then tap on a word to hear it.
You can also record your own pronunciation to help you improve and overcome problem sounds. Tap on the Record button at the bottom of the screen, then speak clearly. Tap on the green Play button to playback your recording. You can alternate between playing back your recording and the wordlist audio.
There are three practice modes included with the app: Read, Write and Listen. These let you explore the different elements of pronunciation.
When you start an activity you will be asked to choose between practising just one specific phoneme, or all phonemes. If you choose one phoneme you will need to select the one you want to focus on from the phonemic keyboard.
You will be presented with a word in phonemics at the top of the screen. Enter the correct English spelling of the word using the keyboard. Tap on Check to see if you were right. If you made a mistake you can use the delete button to clear the entry box. Tap on Show to see the correct answer and Next to move on to the next question. You can see your progress at the top of the screen.
You will be presented with a word at the top of the screen. Enter the correct phonemic spelling of the word using the phonemic keyboard. Tap on Check to see if you were right. If you made a mistake you can use the delete button to clear the entry box. Tap on Show to see the correct answer and Next to move on to the next question. You can see your progress at the top of the screen.
You will hear a word when you select this mode. Enter the correct phonemic spelling of the word using the phonemic keyboard. You can listen to the word as many times as you need to by tapping the speaker icon at the top of the screen. Tap on Check to see if you were right. If you made a mistake you can use the delete button to clear the entry box. Click on Show to see the correct answer and Next to move on to the next question. You can see your progress at the top of the screen.
There are two different quiz types included with the app: 3 Minutes and 3 Lives. Both of these can be played focusing on reading, writing or listening. These function in a similar way to the Practice modes.
When you select Quiz you will be asked to choose between Read, Write or Listen. You will then need to choose to play either 3 Minutes or 3 Lives.
You have just three minutes to get as many answers correct as you can. Type in your answer then tap Check. You will see if your answer was right or wrong, then the next question will appear automatically. The game ends when the time runs out.
You have just 40 seconds (shown by the green countdown clock) to answer each question. If you don’t answer within that time you lose a life. In addition if you give a wrong answer you also lose a life. The game ends when you have no more lives left.