Human language is a fascinating, beautiful, and complicated phenomenon – with at least 4,000 languages spoken in the world today, and a variety of writing systems (or sometimes no writing at all), trying to make sense of it can be difficult. But never fear! In this class, we’ll be learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (or IPA): the standardized system for writing any sound that language can produce. The IPA is one of the foundations of linguistics and language studies, and this class offers a look into its mechanics and uses. You’ll leave this class with the ability to use IPA to write any word or sentence you might hear, in any language! You could even use it as a code to communicate with your friends who also know IPA – it’s all up to you!