I agree with you and Eván.The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is absolutely wonderful for teaching *pronunciation* (of English, or any other language on the planet) to non-native speakers. Most native English speakers have no use for the IPA, but it is a fantastic tool for learning to pronounce foreign languages. Actually, using IPA would be of great help to any native English speakers seriously interested in learning foreign languages…. So-called “phonics” is very useful for teaching English reading to people who *already speak English with proper pronunciation,* and simply need to learn our ridiculous orthography, which is etymological rather than phonetic / phonemic. By that, I mean that English spelling is based on how words were pronounced hundreds of years ago, despite massive sound changes in the interim.

I am baffled (this means confused) by the idea of using a 'phonetic alphabet.' and the advice given for how teachers are supposed to teach this. I cannot understand what is wrong with helping students by pronouncing the words naturally. I cannot see how these sorts of methods are supposed to work. I have a colleague who once taught in Japan and he has been trying to teach our Hungarian colleague how to pronounce the word 'toad,' correctly. He tries to do this by using these so-called phonetic sounds and he ends up pronouncing the word in a completely unatural way that is not helping the Hungarian at all.

In my opinion, the phonetic alphabet is one of the least used and most useful tools when learning a language. After struggling with german for a whole year I came across that resource through another spanish student in my university. In only one month my pronunciation had changed quite substantially. Everyone kept telling me how they could now understand my speech much better. It may be a bit dry at first, and because you are not learning new words or expressions it may feel a bit like a waste of time, something too theoretical for a normal student. But if you go beyond that initial hurdle AND PRACTICE, the results are amazing and last for ever. I am surprised that teachers are not allowed to teach something useful.