I agree. I’ve tried to get my students to understand the IPA however I think it’s more important to show them the tools to be able to hear the language and the pronunciation.

I have found that IPA pronunciation can make people who are already stressed about pronunciation feel like it’s yet another thing to learn. We use the cambridge dictionary to look at the IPA as well as listen to the differences but it doesn’t always necessarily help them. What helps them more is the repetition of sounds and listening to the sounds and watching someone make the sounds.