As you probably know, phonetic symbols are a great help when it comes to learning to pronounce English words correctly. Any time you open a dictionary, you can find the correct pronunciation of words you don't know by looking at the phonetic pronunciation that follows the word. Unfortunately, learning the phonetic alphabet is not always the easiest thing to do. In English, as you certainly know, many words can have the same pronunciation but be written differently with different meanings. For example "to, two, and too" which all have the phonetic transcription /tu/. Sometimes, words can be written similarly but have different pronunciations as in the "ough" combinations thought, though, bough, and through. Another factor in pronunciation is the how the word is stressed. Understanding the phonetic alphabet can greatly simplify the learning process, especially for students who do not have the opportunity to work with a teacher.
pin, slip, chip, hit, will, rich, nil, lip, slim, busy, sausage, manage, England, filled, biggest, message, women, sit, film, him	key, bean, sheap, reach, police, sleep, dream, piece, wheel, field, cheap, leap, see, me, free

book, good, shoud, foot, could, push, wood, would, woman, cook, full, pull, look	do, food, soup, school, cool, who, boot, fruit, pool, Luke, fool, crude

door, saw, score, four, sort, more, call, bought, floor, war, law, catch, water, clause, walk	coat, boat, joke, so, old, brooch, show, go, alone, home, know, toe, although, sew, close, woe, woke

egg, leg, treasure, friend, leasure, dead, many, said, bury, head, get	cat, man, land, hand, fan, sack, match, rash, lack, drank, stamp, dad	cup, duke, come, tough, done, blood, does, young, other, much, rush, luck, drunk, double, monk
tsock, lock, knowledge, what, not, cough, want, Austria, yacht, rod, clock, fox, jog, hop		coat, snow, boast, most, rose, although, throat, folk, folks, ghost, soak, road, cloak,
bird, word, heard		car, art, hard
attack, maker, doctor
p (unvoiced)		t (unvoiced)
pen, pig, pencil		tea, taxi, table
(unvoiced)		k (unvoiced)
church, chin, chat		kick, cake, contact
b (voiced)		d (voiced)
book, bad, baby		did, dog, depend
(voiced)		g (voiced)
June, journey, judge		get, great, glass
f (unvoiced)		(unvoiced)
food, phone, laugh		thin, throw, thumb
s (unvoiced)		(unvoiced)
so, swim, sun		sheep, shine, assure
v (voiced)		(voiced)
voice, very, receive		then, this, there
(voiced)		m
pleasure, leisure, measure		man, among, calm
n
no, not, annoy		bring, banged, singing
h		l
hot, height, hero		leg, hallo, always
r		w
red, around, proud		wet, away, swim
j
yes, yellow, usual
Following the chart is an example of a text that has been transcribed into phonetics. Notice how the text, as it would be spoken, differs from how each word might be transcribed individually. This is principally due to two factors; elision and unstressed syllables.
This text is the following: There is a police message for motorists in the Barnet area of London. A lorry has shed its load at the Apex Corner roundabout on the A1. You are asked to avoid the area as much as possible. South-bound traffic will be diverted for the next two hours. That is the end of the message.     As you can see, the phonetic alphabet seems like another language entirely, however, with patience, it can serve you well in improving your pronunciation.