English Sounds and the International Phonetic Alphabet

     As we look for a way to represent the sounds produced when we speak in English, we found ourselves leading with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
     The International Phonetic Association created the alphabet in order to represent the sounds of any language spoken in the world, so whoever wants to reproduce those sounds, just follows their representation (phonetic transcription) and will be able to reproduce the word.  They classified each sound produced with a symbol that is distributed according to two criterias: the way the sound is produced (manner of articulation) and where the sound is originated in the mouth (point of articulation).  Those two features, and the fact that the vocal cords vibrate (voiced) or not (voiceless) when producing the sound is enough to reproduce any sound in any language.  The following image is a representation of the sounds used in the English language.

(Image taken from: https://englishpronunciationclasses.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ipa.jpg)

     The sounds are divided in two groups: consonants and vowels.  As English teachers, it is a must for us to familiarize with a phonetic system in order to have a guide in the pronunciation of the language.  There are other ways to represent the same sounds, so