1. Vowel Symbols [i] beed small i [ɪ] bid cap i, or small cap i
[e] bait small e
[ɛ] bed epsilon
[æ] bad ash
[ɑ] pod script a (note the difference between [A] and [a])
[ɔ] bought open o
[o] boat small o
[ʊ] book upsilon
[u] boot small u
[ʌ] but caret or wedge or turned v
[ɚ] bird schwar
[ə] about, mantra schwa

2. “buy”: [a]->[i]; “now”: [a]->[u]; “boy”: [ɔ]->[i]
Diphthong Symbols
[au] bout (Note that we’re using typewriter ‘a’ here. Explanation later.)
[ɔi] boy
[ai] ride (Again with typewriter ‘a’.)
[ʌi] write (Don’t worry just yet how the diphthongs in “ride” and “write”
are different. For now just use [ai] for both.)
What’s a diphthong?
di = two; phthong = Greek word for sound (those whacky Greeks)
So, diphthong = two sounds; in this context, two vowels.
monophthong: one vowel ([i], [u], [ɪ], etc.)
diphthong: two vowels; i.e., one vowel quality slides into another one:
“buy”: [a]->[i]; “now”: [a]->[u]; “boy”: [ɔ]->[i]
Notes:
(1) Monophthong/diphthong distinction not quite that simple; more later
(2) The word is diphthong, NOT dipthong

3. Summary of IPA Consonant Symbols
(excluding the obvious ones – b,d,g,p,t,k,w,l etc.)
[θ] thin theta
[ð] then eth or bar d
[ʃ] / [s] shoe long s or esh
[ʒ] / [ž] measure long z
[ʔ] uh-oh / button glottal stop
[tʃ] / [č] church t/long s
[dʒ] / [ǰ] judge d/long z
[j] yes ????
[ʍ] which / whether (for speakers who distinguish which/witch)
[ŋ] sing engma or long n
[ɾ] butter flap

4. Rhotic Diphthongs
English has quite a few diphthongs consisting of some initial vowel followed by [ɚ]
Some examples:
beer near fear rear [iɚ]
bear dare care chair [eɚ]
floor door war sore [oɚ]
tour contour [uɚ]
tar bar far car [ɑɚ]
These are thrown in for completeness. We’ll spend some time on them later. For now, just know they exist.

5. A Few Comments on Transcription
Do your best to get spelling out of your head – e.g., the 1st sound in “cat” is [k], not [c].
Transcribe the utterance as it is spoken, not as you would say it.
Case matters – e.g., “Bill” = [bɪl], not [Bɪl].
Transcription practices vary across phoneticians; i.e., there often isn’t just one acceptable way to transcribe an utterance. I’ll try to stick with the approach that MacKay uses, but get used to the idea that when you leave here supervisors may have different ways of doing things. Avoid transcription fist fights if possible. They’re unprofessional.
Transcription is mostly easy, but a few things will require some work and practice (e.g. , schwa, flaps, glottal stops, syllabic consonants, etc.)

6. 6. Letters vs. phonetic symbols:
Jimmy – These are letters
[dʒɪmi] – These are not letters. They are phonetic symbols.
7. Sometimes phonetic symbols are enclosed in square brackets and sometimes in slashes:
[dʒɪmi]
/dʒɪmi/
Don’t worry about that just yet. We’ll talk about it later.