A Practical Course in Standard

(GB) British English Pronunciation

PDF
SAMPLE

Sʘund
The

of

English
[Link]
How to use this ebook.
This course is designed for self-study and classroom use. Following
it from cover to cover, you will learn the sounds and symbols of the
standard British English pronunciation found in many dictionaries.

Audio is included throughout the course. You can download this for
offline use here [Link] or
follow the audio links in the book for online use.

Pronunciation is a skill that requires repetition to build accuracy so

you should regularly repeat the parts that are most challenging for
you. Use of a voice recorder and mirror are highly recommended to
track your progress and develop awareness.

Sections with white letters on a turqoise background are DRILLS

with spaces to repeat after the audio.

A little bit of regular practice is normally the most productive

approach with pronunciation.
Enjoy!
Interactive Features
This PDF has the following interactive features which are activated
by clicking or tapping on the page:

AUDIO - takes you to the online audio file.

0.1

ANSWER KEY - takes you to the answers at

132 the back of the book.

RETURN - takes you back to the course from

the answer key.

NAVIGATION - all items are clickable on

these pages and tapping the icon returns you
to the main course menu.
Course Sections
The course consists of an Introduction Chapter then 8 Chapters
each focusing on a different group of sounds.

- Part 1: Vowel Sounds (Chapters 1-4)

- Part 2: Consonant Sounds (Chapters 5-8).

Each chapter contains a mixture of the following parts:

SOUNDS
How to physically pronounce sound.

SPELLING TO SOUND
How to decode written English and use IPA.

LINKING
How sounds change and join in connected speech.

SOUNDS IN ACCENTS
Common variations heard in regional accents.
IPA Chart
iː uː ʊ
1) 6) 11) 14) 20)

bean moon shook ɪə

dear
ʊə
curious

ɪ ə əː ɔː
2) 7) 8) 12)
15) 17) 19)
tip the sir shore
eɪ
same
əʊ
go
ɔɪ
choice
ɛ ɛː ʌ ɒ
3) 4) 9) 13)

met hair fun lock 16) 18)

aʊ ʌɪ
a ɑː
5) 10)
loud hide
pan card

f θ s ʃ h p t k ʔ tʃ
21) 23) 25) 27) 29) 30) 32) 34) 45) 36)

first thick saw she hard pick team code witness choose

v ð z ʒ b d g dʒ
22) 24) 26) 28) 31) 33) 35) 37)

van these zen casual bed dine get jet

w r j l ɫ m n ŋ
38) 39) 40) 41) 46) 42) 43) 44)

watch rug yet look tall mode neck song

Key
1-44 Phonemes of GB English
1-20 Vowel Sounds
21-46 Consonant Sounds

Sounds in grey boxes are variations or non-standard, see relevant chapters for details.
Introduction
The Sʘunds of English
Vowels (1-20) Consonants (21-46)

/iː/ /θ/
1) 23)

bean thick

Consonant Articulation Voicing

Vowel Spelling IPA

car
/ˈdɔːnɒb/

‘Standard’ English

1
 Vowel
Sʘunds
0.1
Vowel sounds are made by shaping air as it
leaves the body.
Each vowel sound is a different position of the
mouth (tongue, jaw and lips):

1) 6) 11)

iː uː ʊ
bean moon shook

2) 7) 8) 12)

ɪ ə əː ɔː
tip the sir shore

3) 4) 9) 13)

ɛ ɛː ʌ ɒ
met hair fun lock

5) 10)

a ɑː /iː/
pan card bean

2
 14) 19)

ɪə
dear
ʊə
curious

15) 17) 20)

eɪ
same
əʊ
go
ɔɪ
choice

16) 18)

aʊ
loud
ʌɪ
hide

Monophthong vowel sounds (1-13)

are made with one position of the mouth.
Diphthong vowel sounds (14-20)
move from one mouth position to another.

Each different sound is a phoneme.

Most English vowel phonemes have several different

spellings in written English.

3
 Consʘnant
Sounds
0.2
Consonant sounds are made by blocking air
as it leaves the body:

Fricatives (21-30) squeeze air through a small gap:

21) 23) 25)
29)
f θ s ʃ h
21) 23) 25) 27) 27)
29)

first
22) 24) thick26) saw she hard
28)
28)
v ð z ʒ
22) 24) 26)

van these zen casual

Plosives (32-38) fully stop then release air:

34)
p t k ʔ
30) 32) 45)

pick team code witness

35)
b d g
31) 33)

bed dine get

4
Affricates
36) / plosive directly followed by fricative
36) 37)
tʃ
choose
dʒ jet

Approximants / vowel-like sound without full block

38) 39) 40)
w
watch
r
rug
j
yet

Lateral Approximants / sides of tongue release air

l ɫ
41) 46)

look tall

Nasals / nose releases air

m n ŋ
42) 43) 44)

mode neck song

5
 Consonant
Articulation
- What is the difference in the pronunciation of:
0.3
1.3
/p/ /t/ /k/
- Which mouth picture below matches each sound?
2)

1)

3)

128

6
0.4
We use a range of places in the mouth and throat
to block air to make consonant sounds.

These are the places of articulation:

alveolar ridge
hard palate
velum
(soft palate)
teeth
tongue

lips
glottis

7
 - Listen and match the places of articulation to their sounds:
0.5
1) 2) 3)

velar bilabial labio-dental

/k,g,ŋ/ /p,b,m/ /f,v/

dental alveolar glottal

/θ,ð/ /t,d,l,n/ /h/

4) 5) 6)

128
124

8
 Voicing
0.6

- Cover your ears with your hands

and pronounce the following sounds:
1. /s/
2. /z/

- What is the difference?

128

1.3 Some consonant sounds do not use the voice

0.7 when they are pronounced - they are voiceless.
Voiceless consonant sounds are:
/f,θ,s,ʃ,h,p,t,k,tʃ/ & [ʔ].
All other consonant sounds and all vowel sounds
are voiced - the vocal cords vibrate during pronunciation.

9
- Which of the following two words contains the voiced sound /z/?

cheese
0.8
mouse

128
124

0.9 Many sounds are in pairs - there is a

voiceless and a voiced sound made in the same place:
/f,v/ /θ,ð/ /s,z/ /ʃ,ʒ/ /p,b/ /t,d/ /k,g/ /tʃ,dʒ/
It is not always possible to tell whether a sound is voiced or
voiceless from its spelling.

10
 - Listen and match the sounds to the underlined letters:

voiced voiceless
0.10
1 /d/ /t/ played placed

2 /v/ /f/ off of

3 /ð/ /θ/ author father

4 /ʒ/ /ʃ/ mission vision

5 /b/ /p/ bath path

6 /dʒ/ /tʃ/ rich ridge

7 /z/ /s/ business biscuit

8 /g/ /k/ anger anchor

129
124

11
 Vowel
Spelling
- Match the transcriptions with the pictures:

/kat/ /wɒsp/ /bɔːl/ /ˈkɒtɪdʒ/ /kɑː/ 1.3

0.11

129
- Which vowel spelling is found in each word: a, e, i, o or u?

0.12
English has 5 vowel letters <a,e,i,o,u>
to spell its 20 vowel sounds.
Most vowel sounds can be predicted from spelling,
though there are many exceptions.

12
- Listen and decide which word has a different vowel sound in each line:

1. wool shook cool pull

0.13 2. put hut love flood

3. work north shirt burn

4. boat both broker bother

5. pair where earn pear

6. brown grow slow no

7. ear bare swear air

8. include wanted college taken

9. polite protect promise parade

10. calm aren’t war heart

11. not watch cough tough 130

13
 IPA
- Read the dictionary entry below:

doorknob
/ˈdɔːnɒb/
noun
a handle that is turned to open
a door

Most dictionaries include IPA (International Phonetic

Alphabet) transcriptions between slashes / /.
IPA symbols can vary slightly in different dictionaries - these
variations are included on the sound pages of the course.

14
 - Match the words with their IPA transcriptions.

1) foreign /ˈkʌbəd/
0.14
2) climb /ˈfɒrɪn/

3) wrist /hɑːf/

4) knot /ˈɔːtəm/

5) half /rɪst/

6) autumn /klʌɪm/

7) listen /θɔːt/

8) thought /nɒt/

9) march /ˈlɪs(ə)n/

10) cupboard /mɑːtʃ/

130

- Which silent consonant(s) does each word contain?

15
 ‘Standard’ English
In this course we use a ‘standard’ British
English pronunciation called General British or
GB English. This is the model found in British
dictionaries, though it is mainly spoken in the
South of England.

0.15

Sussex, England

If you travel 50 miles in the UK & Ireland you

will hear clear differences in local accents. The
‘Sounds in Accents’ section at the end of each
chapter provides a taster of some of the most
commonly heard variations in Britain and beyond.

16
The full 145 page version is available to purchase as an
ebook (£19.99) and paperback (£24.99)

BUY NOW
 Answer Key
Introduction 128

1 Weak Vowels 131

2 Short Vowels 134

3 Long Vowels 136

4 Diphthong Vowels 138

5 Fricatives 139

6 Plosives 141

7 Approximants 143

8 Nasals & Clusters 146

18
Introduction
0.3
The difference between /p/, /t/ and /k/ is the place the
air is blocked when they are pronounced:

/p/ /t/ /k/

0.5
1) bilabial 2) labio-dental 3) dental
4) glottal 5) velar 6) alveolar

0.6
/s/ is made only using air - it is a voiceless sound.
/z/ is made with voice (vibration of the vocal cords in
the throat) - it is a voiced sound.

0.8
CHEESE /tʃiːz/ contains the voiced /z/ sound.
MOUSE /maʊs/ contains the voiceless /s/ sound.

19
0.10
a) played - voiced /d/
1 b) placed - voiceless /t/

a) off - voiceless /f/

2 b) of - voiced /v/

a) author - voiceless /θ/

3 b) father - voiced /ð/

a) mission - voiceless /ʃ/

4 b) vision - voiced /ʒ/

a) bath - voiced /b/

5 b) path - voiceless /p/

a) rich - voiceless /tʃ/

6 b) ridge - voiced /dʒ/

a) business - voiced /z/

7 b) biscuit - voiceless /s/

a) anger - voiced /g/

8 b) anchor - voiceless /k/

0.11
/kat/ /wɒsp/ /bɔːl/ /ˈkɒtɪdʒ/ /kɑː/

20
0.13
1. cool /uː/ (the others are pronounced with /ʊ/)
2. put /ʊ/ (the others are pronounced with /ʌ/)
3. north /ɔː/ (the others are pronounced with /əː/)
4. bother /ɒ/ (the others are pronounced with /əʊ/)
5. earn /əː/ (the others are pronounced with /ɛː/)
6. brown /aʊ/ (the others are pronounced with /əʊ/)
7. ear /ɪə/ (the others are pronounced with /ɛː/)
8. taken /ə/ (the others are pronounced with /ɪ/)
9. promise /ɒ/ (the others are pronounced with /ə/)
10. war /ɔː/ (the others are pronounced with /ɑː/)
11. tough /ʌ/ (the others are pronounced with /ɒ/)

0.14
Silent letters:
g
b
w
k
l
n
t
gh
r*
p & r*

* some English speakers pronounce these < r >, see chapter 7.

21
“It has been amazing how in a few weeks I could sound with much
more clarity and finesse. Highly recommended for all those who
want to take their language skills to another dimension.”

JAVIER FERNANDEZ PENA

(SPANISH BUZZ - TOY STORY 3)

[Link]

© Joseph Hudson 2021-23

v23.1.1EP