Hello Sparky,

I teach English in Italy and write a links blog for my students to help them become more independent learners. I was just checking to see if anyone had done a good sound-by-sound pronunciation video series on YouTube. There you were. That's great work you've done. I hope you're proud of it. Keep them coming please.

I'm going to link your English Pronunciation page to my "for-learners" blog. I'll have to explain a couple of differences to my students when I post it. Could you help me out with a short IM interview or a couple of answers?

The principle thing would be the reason you aren't using the International Phonetic Alphabet with in Japan and where you source your symbols. Are they typical in USEng./Japanese dictionaries or other ubiquitous instructional English texts?

Why did you choose to feature these sounds first? How important is pronunciation for Japanese students?

Where do Japanese learners hear English outside the classroom?

Is Information Technology incorporated into English learning in public schools and private institutions?

Is it because you believed pronunciation to be the most challenging aspect of language learning to find help with online that you decided to put these videos together?

Any other good English-only sources used in Japan beyond your site?

How frequently should we check in with japanlinked.com for the next installment.

Thanks for the work. It'll be a great resource here.

Yours, etc.

John Whipple
Ancona Italy
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