Despite there being just 26 letters in the English language there are approximately 44 unique sounds, also known as phonemes. The 44 sounds help distinguish one word or meaning from another. Various letters and letter combinations known as graphemes are used to represent the sounds. 

The 44 English sounds fall into two categories: consonants and vowels.

Phonemes

• The smallest units of speech sound that can convey a unique meaning
• There are 44 English phonemes, 34 in French and 46 in German
• Dyslexics have trouble distinguishing and manipulating the sounds
• Successful dyslexia reading programs help improve students’ abilities to discriminate, pronounce and manipulate the sounds

What are the sounds?

You may think there would be just 26 sounds in the English Language, one for each of the letters, but in fact there are 44. 

The IPA was created by the International Phonetic Association. Founded in 1886 in Paris, their original mission was to help school children pronounce words in foreign languages and to aid in the teaching of reading. Today their mission is to promote the scientific study of phonetics.