Examples of IPA use in common English words.
List of challenging English sounds and words especially for Chinese people.

Diphthong Vowels

The key is to pronounce two symbols clearly

IPA Symbol Word examples remark
aʊ Mouth, house, brown, cow, out, downtown
əʊ No, don’t, stones, alone, hole, ghost
eɪ Face, space, rain , case, eight, name two symbols
aɪ My, sight, pride, kind, flight, time
ɔɪ Joy, employ, toy, coil, oyster, point, coin
ʊə lure, tour
eə Hair, there, care, stairs, pear, fair, stare tongue back enough

Short Vowels Or Single Vowels

IPA Symbol Word examples remark
æ Cat, hand, nap, flat, have, apple tongue back enough
e Went, intend, send, letter, bed, step
ʌ Fun, love, money, one, London, come, hungry, but
ɒ Rob, top, watch, squat, sausage, job
ə Alive, again, mother, toward, banana
ʊ Put, look, should, cook, book, look, good
ɪ city, skin, kill, sit expand mouth

Long Vowels

IPA Symbol Word examples remark
ɑ: Fast, car, hard, bath, garden, park
ɔ: Talk, law, bored, yawn, jaw, soft, loft tongue back enough
ɜ: Nurse, heard, third, turn, earth, earn
u: Few, boot, lose, gloomy, fruit, chew, do
i: Need, beat, team, me, keen expand mouth

Consonants Sounds

IPA Symbol Word examples remark
l large, milk, pill, chill, melt Approximants / tongue touch teeth
m Room, mother, mad, more Nasals
n Now, nobody, knew, turn Nasals
ŋ King, thing, song, swimming, long, rank tongue touch roof of back mouth
θ Thank, Think, Bath, Mouth
ð There, those, brothers, others
s snake, sense expand mouth
z Zoo, crazy, lazy, zigzag, nose, close
ts treats, tweets
dz ends, bends, friends
f Full, Friday, fish, knife, fair, fine
v Vest, village, view, cave, live, very
k Cash, quick, cricket, sock, kind, clock
g Girl, green, grass, flag, great, egg
t Time, train, tow, late, tour
d Door, day, drive, down, feed, dog
p Pin, cap, purpose, pause, pet
b Bag, bubble, build, robe, bus
ʈʃ Choose, cheese, church, watch, chance
dʒ Joy, juggle, juice, stage, jar
ʃ Shirt, rush, shop, cash, shut, shall
ʒ Television, delusion, casual, leisure
tr trend, treasure
dr drive, dry
h High, help, hello, have
r Road, roses, river, ring, ride, rare, rest
w Wall, walk, wine, world, where, what
j Yellow, usual, yield, yesterday, yard.