Pronunciation & IPA Guides
Plain-English guides to the sounds behind the symbols. Read the IPA in any dictionary, then type the word into the Studio and hear it out loud.
Showing 5 of 5 guides
Learn how to read IPA step by step. This beginner's guide explains the symbols, slashes, and stress marks, with plain respelling and audio for every example.
The schwa sound is the weak 'uh' in unstressed syllables, written /ə/. Learn what schwa is, how it works, and why it is the most common vowel in English.
English has around 20 vowel sounds but only 5 vowel letters. This guide explains the English vowel sounds in IPA, with a plain-English vowel chart and audio.
English writes two TH sounds with the same letters: the quiet /θ/ in think and the buzzing /ð/ in this. Learn the TH sound in IPA, with respelling and audio.
A consonant is voiced if your vocal cords vibrate and voiceless if they do not. Learn voiced and voiceless consonants with the pairs, the throat test, and audio.