Pronounciation Keys Tutorial..?

Question

Hi,
Could sbdy pl point at some resource containing a short tutorial on american english pronounciation keys..?
and an american dictionary, where for each word, they give you the pronounciation keys of that word..?

I want to improve my pronounication by listening pronounication and reading it..

Thanks a ton!!!

IS THERE A STANDARD FOR AMERICAN PRONOUNCIATION KEYS?
OR DIFF DICTIONARIES / WEBSITES FOLLOW THEIR OWN PRONOUNCIATION KEYS..?????

Answer 1

Here a link to the American Heritage pronunciation key.

http://dictionary.reference.com/help/ahd4/pronkey.html

Here's a second link to a website with practice quizzes.

http://www.manythings.org/pp/

Answer 2

There are actually several different 'phonetic alphabets' (or pronunciation keys) used to describe English pronunciation. Most dictionaries have a section at the beginning where they show you a chart of the symbols and sounds and give example words. (ie - just get a good dictionary and look at the first few pages before the word listings)

You can even buy a dedicated pronunciation dictionary that all it does is explain the pronunciation. Electronic dictionaries these days even give you sound bytes to follow but personally I don't think thats necessary but whatever helps and whatever fits your learning style is good.