Sound and spelling are different as sound refers to the pronunciation of a word, and spelling refers to the written form that we assign for that sound, which can vary for sounds that are the same depending on the context (Hudson 39). For example, in English the words “read” and “reed” have the same pronunciation although they are spelled differently and have different meanings. The opposite is also true as words that are spelled the same can have different pronunciations and meanings, such as “bass” which can be pronounced as “/beɪs/” for an instrument and “/bæs/” for a type of fish (Macmillan Dictionary). This is very important to keep in mind when learning new vocabulary in Korean because different words with the same pronunciation can have very different meanings in different contexts, so it is important that I learn to ask clarifying questions and understand other words that would be applicable to the context of the vocabulary words I’m learning. I’ve already been learning how similar a lot of sounds are in Korean, so it’s very important to train my ears to hear the distinctions between the sounds and to enunciate them correctly. As I first began my language learning lessons, I realized very quickly that there were many sounds in Korean that don’t exist in English, so I’m constantly learning new ways to use my vocal chords and tongue as well as pay attention to the air flow in my throat to mimic the correct pronunciations. I think the pronunciation of Korean consonants use similar or even the same sounds as most consonants in English, but the Korean vowels is where I struggle most with the new sounds, especially as some different vowels sound very similar to each other (for example, the “ae” and “e” endings for various vowels). I’m learning that constantly speaking and trying to pronounce the vowels and consonants has helped me to learn to say them correctly, and it definitely takes a lot of listening to learn the distinctions between each. I’ve constantly been asking my language learning partner to repeat the pronunciations correctly and ask if I’m pronouncing it correctly. I’ve also found many online audio samples and videos very helpful to learn the pronunciations while looking at the written form of the characters so I can learn these distinctions.
Source: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/pronunciation/american/bass_1
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