Why use phonemic symbols The alphabet which we use to write English has 26 letters but (British) English has 44 sounds. Inevitably, English spelling is not a reliable guide to pronunciation because Some letters have more than one sound Sometimes letters are not pronounced at all The same sound may be represented by different letters Sometimes syllables indicated by the spelling are not pronounced at all Questions: How do you pronounce gh in 'enough, through 'and ghost?(like f in fun, not pronounced like g in got How many syllables are there in ' chocolate"?Why use phonemic symbols? The alphabet which we use to write English has 26 letters but (British) English has 44 sounds. Inevitably, English spelling is not a reliable guide to pronunciation because •Some letters have more than one sound •Sometimes letters are not pronounced at all •The same sound may be represented by different letters •Sometimes syllables indicated by the spelling are not pronounced at all Questions: •How do you pronounce gh in 'enough', 'through' and 'ghost'? (like f in fun, not pronounced, like g in got) •How many syllables are there in 'chocolate'?