Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to mark lewis:   
      
    ak>  My Oxford dictionary can pronounce words, but I still   
    ak>  cannot find "the quite difference" between sinner and   
    ak>  singer.   
      
      
              Since you're learning English as a foreign language you may indeed   
   find it difficult to hear.  And as one whose preferred learning style depends   
   heavily on ye olde phonics I'm reminded of my introduction to French in grade   
   eight.  This was a locally developed course... a sort of experiment in French   
   immersion... which mirrored the way people learn their native language.  Only   
   after a couple of months were we allowed to see in print what the teacher was   
   blathering about.  Meanwhile I scribbled under my desk what I *thought* I was   
   hearing.  So the phonics are different in French... I'm okay with that, and I   
   was much relieved when we were allowed to see the language written down.  But   
   now I understand why folks from China & Japan have difficulty with /r/ & /l/.   
   Bottom line is, English makes distinctions which are unfamiliar to them.  :-)   
      
      
      
    ak>  The main problem IMHO in the nasal sound in "ing".   
      
      
              Heh.  I reckon I probably learn as much from my Russian friends as   
   they do from me... and there's an example!  I hadn't thought of the "ng" as a   
   nasal sound because the mechanics of sound production are not my forte, but I   
   remember enough from linguistics class to look up "glottal stop".  That's the   
   phenomenon where (e.g.) people actually enunciate the /g/ in "-ing".  In some   
   regional dialects people do.  Dallas & I had a friend... now deceased... from   
   Manchester who did so, and THE CAMBRIDGE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE   
   confirms both your perceptions & mine here.  The nasal sound in "-ing" may be   
   transcribed phonetically as an "n" with a tail, like a "g".  The idea is that   
   it's half way beween "-in" and the version where the "g" is fully enunciated.   
      
      
      
    ak>  Which many pronounce very close to "in".   
      
      
              Yes, that does appear to be quite common in North America....  :-)   
      
      
      
    >>>  English Pronunciation: Sounds with N An "- ing" ending is   
    >>>  used regularly in central, northern and western areas.   
      
      
              Okay... without looking up the reference I can guess the writer is   
   one of those people for whom the Known World ends at the 49th parallel.  As a   
   denizen of the Land of Ice & Snow, I would add that it's usual here too.  ;-)   
      
      
      
    >>>  "Ing" is considered professional speech.   
      
      
              "Received standard", i.e. educated usage, definitely....  :-)   
      
      
      
    >>>  Americans use "in" regularly (instead of - ing) if they   
    >>>  live in the south -- this ending is part of the southern   
    >>>  dialect.   
      
      
              Uh-huh.  I hear it in many popular songs where (e.g.) "hidden dahn   
   the hahwee" means "heading down the highway" in Canadian English.  :-)   
      
      
      
    >>>  People outside of the south may use "in" for informal   
    >>>  speech, especially young people. In this case, a person   
    >>>  may say "ing" sometimes and "in" at other times depending   
    >>>  on the situation.   
      
      
              Yes, I've noticed similar tendencies around these parts....  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)