not an english buff....What do these mean.

[Kai Redfern]

How does one pronounce IPA symbols? like in the na'vi and english dictionaries, after the main word? liek the n combined with the j thing...

I have no idea what ejectives, glottal stops, voiceless stops and lentitions are. I read through the topics and I still can pick nothing up as to what they are. I need real examples, and short and simple explanations, if pssobiel. PLEASE  

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

Redfern, I do not know anything about your background, or where you are from. So, this advice may seem a bit generic.

First of all, since there is no 'formal' way to learn Na`vi, you need to find out what works for you. It will take some effort on your part, but you will find the effort made well worth it. Not only will you learn Na`vi, but you will learn a lot of the foundational stuff that makes learning any language easier.

First of all, look at this document http://www.learnnavi.org/docs/Linguistic-terminology-crash-course.pdf This document is a bit dated, and may contain some minor inaccuracies, but it will acquaint you with many of the linguistic terms used here. For other terms, Wikipedia has a lot of useful information you can find by just searching on the term.

Second, IPA stands for 'International Phonetic Alphabet'. It is like a pronunciation guide that is designed to cover the sounds found in most languages, including all the sounds found in Na`vi. This enables one to easily work out the sounds of letters in most any language (thus all the odd symbols). Search for an IPA reference in your language, and work from there.

Third, the most useful tool for a new Na`vi learner is this book http://www.learnnavi.org/docs/Navi_in_a_Nutshell.pdf This will answer the other questions you have. There is another, more scholarly Na`vi grammar, http://www.learnnavi.org/docs/horen-lenavi.pdf that some people might find easier to use, as it is prescriptive in nature.

After that, get yourself a current dictionary for your language. Most dictionaries can be found at http://www.learnnavi.org/downloads/, as can the learning resources mentioned above. (Some of these are available in alternate languages as well.)

A fun tool for learning Na`vi is this workbook: http://www.learnnavi.org/docs/Easiest_Way_to_Learn_Navi_Ever-Vol_1.pdf This will help you learn the basics and enjoy doing it.

There are many other learning resources here to help you learn lì`fya leNa`vi Explore the site and interact with the many good folks here. There are no dumb questions, just unasked ones!

syayvi asìltsan nang (good luck!)

[Tirea Aean]

How does one pronounce IPA symbols? like in the na'vi and english dictionaries, after the main word? liek the n combined with the j thing...

I have no idea what ejectives, glottal stops, voiceless stops and lentitions are. I read through the topics and I still can pick nothing up as to what they are. I need real examples, and short and simple explanations, if pssobiel. PLEASE 

ejectives: the kx px and tx sounds. a more harsh popping version of k p and t
glottal stop: the apostrophe ' it is a quick total cutoff of your voice
voiceless stop: p t and k at the end of a word, and ' (glottal stop) these you stop your voice. p t and k keep their shape to alter slightly the pronunciation
lenition: changing of letters (kx to k, px to p, tx to t, k to h, p to f, t and ts to s, and the disappearing of ') at the beginning of a word under certain circumstances such as plural prefixes(me+, pxe+, ay+) or certain adpositions (little words which mostly deal with locations)

are there any more you'd like a quick tl;dr on?

['Oma Tirea]

voiceless stop: p t and k at the end of a word, and ' (glottal stop) these you stop your voice. p t and k keep their shape to alter slightly the pronunciation

Actually the real reason that they're called voceless is because you're not using your voice (and in fact you can't have a voiced glottal stop, since your glottis is basically your vocal cords), at least while you're holding that puff of air.

More on the IPA: IPA j is the same as an English/Na'vi y, IPA æ and ɛ are the same vowels as in English bad and bed, ʔ is just another way of writing the glottal stop, and the apostrophies after p, t, and k represent the ejectives, as per the custom of 'Rrtan languages, such as Navajo.

[Tirea Aean]

Don't worry too much about the IPA. For people it confuses, it's best to hear examples of many words. we dont write in IPA, the only real reason we have it is to put in the dictionary as a pronunciation standard. Trying to give examples of what the IPA characters sound like is a waste of time unless you and the person you are explaining to are and have been living in the same place in the world. The US, British, and Australian IPA for the same word in many cases are very different, for example. We have sound examples somewhere.

most of the IPA is somewhat straight forward.

[ŋ] is ng (it's closer to an n in nature, but the sound is made very far back in the mouth, near the throat where as n by itself is made in the front of the mouth near the teeth)
[æ] is what ä is
[ɛ] is what e is
[j] is y (If you've studied German, this makes a tad more sense)
[ʔ] is what ' is (a stop in your speech, most used example is uh-oh)

Basically what 'Oma Tirea said.

like I said, examples words of what these sound like are very subjective to where you are born and raised. That's why it's most effective to listen to Na'vi word examples. maybe even at the same time as looking at the IPA in the dictionary.

[Kai Redfern]

Irayo, this is really helpful!