Speakers of any language - be it English, Hindi or Mohawkalready 'know' about phonetics and phonology. We use our language all the time and we do so without typically making errors in pronunciation. But this knowledge is not something we are conscious of as speakers of a language. This book examines some of the ways linguists can express what native speakers know about the sound system of their language. Intended for the absolute beginner, this text requires no previous background in either linguistics generally or phonetics and phonology in particular. It is an introduction to the speech sounds of human languages - phonetics - and to the basic notions behind the organisation of the sound systems of human languages - phonology.