Problems with pronunciation

[Zote]

I do not understand IPA properly, but I am trying to follow it.
Consonant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
IPA vowel chart with audio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And I am using WordReferece to hear the pronunciation and see the IPA of the words.
English to French, Italian, German & Spanish Dictionary - WordReference.com

The differences between British English (BE) and American English (AE) make the learning more difficult.

I have problems to understand some English phonemes.

/t/ - I know [t], but "t" sounds different in English. The "t" in "take" sounds like [ts] in both English pronounciations, but the "t" in "cat" sounds like [t] in AE and [ts] in BE. Sometimes, it also happens with /d/. It may be related to aspiration, which does not exist in my native language.

[ð] - This phoneme is very strange. When I hear it, it sounds like [d] to me. When I try to pronounce it, I put the tongue between the teeth and blow as in [z] or [v], but it sounds like [v] and I think I am saying [z̪], which is another phoneme that I do not know. According to Wikipedia, the name of [z̪] is voiceless dental sibilant fricative.
Will I be understood without problems if I talk using [v], [d] or [z̪]?
"three" is a further problem, because I cannot say [ɾ] while my tongue is stuck between the teeth.

[ɹ] - This phoneme is more strange. I understand [r] and [ɾ].
"red" sounds like [wɛd] in AE and [ɾwɛd] in BE. And "bread" sounds like [bwɛd] in AE and [bwɾɛd] in BE.
Does the tongue moves with [ɹ]?
Will I be understood without problems if I replace [ɹ] with [w] or [ɾ]?

[ŋ] - I really do not understand this phoneme. I heard it in Wikipedia and it sounds like [n], but it sounds like [g] in "singer" in WordReferece.
I tried to hear "thin" and "thing" and they sound the same to me. Another problem is that I do not know if [n] is pronounced in the end of "thin", because if it is pronounced, the sound is too weak to be heard.
Will I be understood without problems if I replace [ŋ] with [n] or [g]?


I am not able to speak and listen to English vowels properly, because they do not exist in my native language. Furthermore, they sound different in BE and AE.

[ʌ] - "cup" sounds like [kap] in AE and [kɔp] in BE, but "cut" and "love" sounds like [kət] and [ləv] in AE and [kɔt] and [lɔv] in BE.

[ɒ] - "clock" sounds like [klak] in AE and [klɔk] in BE, but "lost" sounds like [lɔst] in both pronounciations.

[æ] - "bad" sounds like [bɛd] in AE and [bad] in BE. And "bed" sounds like [bɛd] in both pronounciations. "man" and "men" is way more difficult.

[ɪ] - "bit" sounds like [bet] in AE and [bit] in BE.

[ʊ] - "book" sounds like [bok] in AE and [buk] in BE.


If there is an easy wrong, but acceptable, way to pronounce the phonemes, it is ok to me.

Thank you.

 

[5jj]

Welcome to the forum, Zote. :hi:

One problem is that different dictionaries use different notations. Each time you use a dictionary, you need to check which system is being used. It is very difficult to answer your questions, because we don't know which sybols you re using.

A second problem is that a symbol between square brackets, [], is a phonetic symbol. This symbol will be pronounced in exactly the same way by every phonetician in the world. A symbol between dashes, //, is a phonemic symbol, and will cover a range of pronunciations that will are considered the same sound by native speakers.

A third problem is that speakers of some varieties do actually use different sounds within the same word. For example, some speakers of AmE use the same vowel in the words 'cot' and 'caught'; most speakers of BrE a different vowel in each word.

If you want us to help, you need to ask about one sound or word at a time, and take your examples from one book or online source - and tell us which.

 

[Zote]

I edited the text to fix the IPA, but the message disappeared.
I used IPA from Wikipedia in the text.
I heard the pronunciation from WordReferece.

 

[5jj]

I edited the text to fix the IPA, but the message disappeared.
I used IPA from Wikipedia in the text.
I heard the pronunciation from WordReferece.

Try posting questions about one phoneme at a time. We may be able to help then.

None of us volunteers has the time or energy to work through all the points yu raised in your first post/

 

[Zote]

Ok. I will ask about one phoneme per time. I can reuse a recent thread to ask about another phoneme, can I?

I have problems with [ɹ]. I know [r] and [ɾ] and I do not know if it helps. I heard some words with [ɹ]. "red" sounds like [wɛd] in AE and [ɾwɛd] in BE. And "bread" sounds like [bwɛd] in AE and [bwɾɛd] in BE.