Free online courseEnglish Pronunciation Course: Master All 44 IPA Sounds and Clear Speaking
Duration of the online course: 1 hours and 21 minutes
New
Free BBC English pronunciation course to master all 44 IPA sounds, improve vowels and consonants, and speak more clearly and confidently.
In this free course, learn about
Core Short Vowels and Schwa
Th Sounds, Long Vowels, and Nasals
Essential Diphthongs and Fricatives
More Diphthongs and Core Consonants
Final Consonants and Approximants
Course Description
Build clearer, more confident English speech with this free pronunciation course from BBC Learning English. It focuses on the International Phonetic Alphabet and helps you recognise, practise, and produce all 44 English sounds so your speaking becomes easier to understand in everyday conversations, study, and work.
You will strengthen key vowel contrasts and master common problem sounds, including short and long vowels, the schwa in unstressed words, and the full range of diphthongs used in modern English. The course also guides you through essential consonant sounds, covering both voiced and voiceless pairs and helping you notice what your tongue, lips, and breath are doing.
With practical examples and targeted tips, you will learn to hear the difference between similar sounds, reduce accent-related confusion, and improve overall clarity. If you want a structured way to practise English pronunciation from the basics to more advanced sound combinations, this course is an effective place to start.
Course content
Video class: Short vowel /?/ in ‘bid’, 'tip02m
Exercise: Which pair best demonstrates the contrast between the short vowel /I/ and the long vowel /I:/?
Video class: Short vowel /?/ in ‘foot’, ‘put’00m
Exercise: Which short vowel sound is being practiced in the lesson?
Video class: Short vowel /?/ in ‘strut’, ‘mud’01m
Exercise: Which IPA symbol represents the short vowel sound in words like strut and mud?
Video class: How to say the schwa sound /?/ in words like ‘the’, ‘of’04m
Exercise: Which statement best describes the vowel sound /ə/ (schwa) in English pronunciation?
Video class: Improve your pronunciation with BBC Learning English - Introduction01m
Video class: THIS is how to say the English /æ/ sound in ‘trap’, ‘stamp’00m
Exercise: Which IPA symbol represents the short vowel sound practiced in the lesson?
Video class: Short vowel /?/ in ‘lot’, ‘odd’00m
Video class: Long vowel /i?/ in 'fleece’, ‘sea’02m
Exercise: Which IPA symbol represents the long vowel sound heard in words like fleece, sea, and machine?
Video class: Short vowel /e/ in ‘dress’, ‘head’01m
Video class: Voiceless consonant /?/ in 'thin’, ‘think’01m
Exercise: How is the voiceless consonant /θ/ produced?
Video class: Long vowel /??/ in 'father’, ‘start’00m
Exercise: Which IPA symbol represents the long vowel sound taught here?
Video class: Voiced consonant /d/ in 'did', 'dame', 'odd' and 'ladder' - English Pronunciation Tips02m
Exercise: How is the voiced consonant in dame produced in English?
Video class: Long vowel /??/ in 'nurse’, ‘stir’00m
Exercise: Which IPA symbol represents the long vowel sound taught here?
Video class: Consonant /n/ in 'nice', 'funny'02m
Exercise: How is the consonant sound /n/ articulated in English?
Video class: Long vowel /u?/ in 'blue’, ‘two’00m
Video class: Long vowel /??/ in 'law’, ‘north’00m
Video class: Voiced consonant /ð/ in 'this', 'other' and 'smooth' - English Pronunciation Tips01m
Video class: Consonant /m/ in 'hammer', 'mime' and 'more' - English Pronunciation Tips02m
Exercise: How is the consonant sound /m/ produced?
Video class: Diphthong /e?/ in 'face’, ‘day’01m
Video class: Voiceless consonant /?/ in 'ship’, ‘sure’02m
Exercise: Which word begins with the voiceless consonant sound /ʃ/?
Video class: Voiceless consonant /p/ in 'pack’, ‘pan’02m
Video class: Diphthong /??/ in 'near’, ‘hear’01m
Exercise: What is the IPA symbol for the diphthong sound in the word ear?
Video class: Diphthong /a?/ in 'mouth’, ‘now’02m
Exercise: What best describes the diphthong /aʊ/?
Video class: Diphthong - /??/ - 'boat’, ‘show’02m
Video class: Voiced consonant /d?/ in 'judge', 'age' and 'soldier' - English Pronunciation Tips01m
Video class: Diphthong - /e?/ - 'square’, ‘fair’01m
Video class: Diphthong - /??/ - 'tour’, ‘pure' and 'cure' - English Pronunciation Tips01m
Video class: Diphthong - /a?/ - 'price’, ‘high’01m
Video class: Voiceless consonant - /t?/ - ‘teacher', 'match' and 'church' - English Pronunciation Tips01m
Video class: Voiceless consonant /t/ in 'tin', 'button' and 'get' - English Pronunciation Tips02m
Video class: Voiceless consonant /s/ in 'soon’, ‘mister'01m
Video class: THIS is how to say the English /?/ in 'pleasure', 'leisure' and 'vision' - Pronunciation Tips00m
Video class: Voiceless consonant /f/ in 'fat', 'coffee' and 'fluff' - English Pronunciation Tips01m
Exercise: Which pair shows the contrast between the voiceless /f/ and the voiced /v/ sound?
Video class: Voiced consonant /b/ in 'back', 'habit' and 'job' - English Pronunciation Tips02m
Video class: Diphthong - /??/ - 'choice', 'noise' and 'boy' - English Pronunciation Tips01m
Video class: Consonant /?/ in 'rung', 'anger' and 'thanks' - English Pronunciation Tips02m
Video class: Voiceless consonant /k/ in 'came', 'lucky' and 'sick' - English Pronunciation Tips02m
Video class: Consonant /r/ in 'right', 'wrong' and 'sorry' - English Pronunciation Tips03m
Exercise: How is the /r/ sound formed according to the mouth and tongue position described?
Video class: Voiced consonant /v/ in 'view', 'heavy' and 'move' - English Pronunciation Tips03m
Exercise: How is the voiced consonant /v/ formed, according to the description?
Video class: Consonant /j/ in 'yet', 'use' and 'beauty' - English Pronunciation Tips00m
Exercise: Which words start with the consonant sound being practiced?
Video class: Consonant /w/ in 'wet', 'one' and 'when' - English Pronunciation Tips02m
Exercise: Which pair of words practices the contrast between the consonant sounds at the start of “wet” and “vet”?
Video class: Voiced Consonant - /z/ - 'zero', 'music' and 'roses' - English Pronunciation Tips01m
Exercise: Which word contains the voiced consonant sound /z/?
Video class: Consonant - /l/ - 'light', 'valley' and 'feel' - English Pronunciation Tips03m
Video class: Voiceless consonant - /h/ - 'hot', 'whole' and 'ahead' - English Pronunciation Tips01m
Exercise: Where does this voiceless consonant sound (as in hear, hot, hello) occur in English words?
Video class: Voiced consonant /g/ in 'get', 'giggle' and 'ghost' - English Pronunciation Tips01m
