Try These Apps to Improve Your Pronunciation
2020-12-23
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1Have you ever been sure that you were pronouncing a word correctly only to find out just how wrong you were?
2That happened to me on a trip to France a few years ago.
3I was at a cafe ordering food. When I said the word "egg" in French, the server did not understand me.
4After a few more tries, he still had no idea what I was trying to say.
5I was very surprised.
6That experience reminded me of something: Having too few chances to speak a language can leave us unclear about our pronunciation ability.
7Many of you out there can probably relate. You may have had trouble finding English practice partners in your own city or country.
8One answer is to use an app for pronunciation practice.
9While most such apps are imperfect, they may support your overall efforts to be better understood in English.
10On today's Education Tips, we will talk about four American English pronunciation apps.
11The first one is called Say It: Pronunciation.
12This app's goal is to help learners improve the clarity of their pronunciation.
13It was developed by Oxford University Press - the same publishers that brought us the world's biggest dictionary.
14Users of Say It: Pronunciation can practice more than 35,000 words.
15With the app, you can:
16Take a pronunciation test of words pre-chosen by the app, from easy to difficult
17Touch letters from the IPA to hear what each sounds like
18Record yourself saying a word. The app then creates a waveform from your voice and you can compare it to that of the model speaker. A marker shows which part of each word to stress
19Play your recording at a slower speed to hear differences between your pronunciation and the model's
20Save a list of words you would like to practice often
21And share your pronunciation recording with a friend or teacher
22Say It: Pronunciation offers a free version.
23But its usability is limited.
24You would need to buy the paid version to get full use of the app, which costs $6.99.
25Next up is the app ELSA Speak.
26ESLA Speak uses artificial intelligence, or AI, to act as your own American English pronunciation teacher.
27One of the strong points of this app is that it offers a speaking test with detailed results and a score.
28Another is that its AI software lets you have conversations with the computer and get feedback.
29With the app, you can:
30Take a speaking test to help you understand your biggest pronunciation problems
31After the test, ELSA Speak puts together your personalized lesson plans
32Listen to ELSA Speak, repeat its words or phrases and get immediate feedback on how to move your lips and tongue for better sound clarity
33Do four different types of lessons: pronunciation, listening, syllable stress and conversation
34And choose a time that you want to practice and get reminders from the app each day
35ELSA Speak has a free 7-day trial version that lets you take the speaking test and use its 1200 lessons.
36After that, you would need to pay for the full version.
37Prices range from $0.99 - $99 for in-app purchases.
38Next up is Accent Training, which was designed for iPad and can operate on an iPhone.
39It also has an Android version, which goes by the name American English Accent Guide.
40Both center on a few important elements of pronunciation, including reduced speech, intonation and connected speech.
41With the app, you can:
42Practice listening to and using reduced speech
43Read along as you listen to short passages and see, in red, which phrases are reduced
44Try recording yourself reading the passages and compare your recordings to that of the model
45Learn about different elements of pronunciation, such as voiced and unvoiced consonants and the schwa sound
46And connect to other useful apps, such as 'VOA English Learning,' which is not our app, but does use our content
47The iPhone version offers 16 practices.
48The Android version offers a virtual conversation room.
49However, some users have complained about the room's technical problems.
50The app is free, but unwanted ads show up often.
51You can choose whether to pay $2.99 to remove them.
52And finally, we have English Pronunciation Tutor.
53On Android, the app is called American English Pronunciation Tutor.
54Developed by Language Arts Press, the app is useful if there are specific sounds in English that give you continuous trouble.
55With the app, you can:
56Focus on one element of pronunciation in each unit. For instance, Unit 1 is about the front vowels
57See drawings and hear recorded explanations of the mouth shape and tongue positions that produce each sound
58See pictures of similar sounds side-by-side and touch the pictures to compare how to produce each sound
59Record yourself saying words and compare yourself to the model
60And take a listening quiz on the sounds of each unit
61The app is free for the first unit only.
62After that, you would pay $5.99 to activate the full version.
63Again, none of these apps can replace real-life speaking practice.
64But if you are in serious need of pronunciation support, they may help.
65A word of advice: Aim for better communication rather than perfection.
66Keep in mind that having an accent is normal and only an issue if it prevents listeners from understanding you.
67So, make your goal to be understood, not to sound exactly like an American.
68Note that many Americans, in fact, admire the accents of English learners.
69I'm Alice Bryant.
1Have you ever been sure that you were pronouncing a word correctly only to find out just how wrong you were? 2That happened to me on a trip to France a few years ago. I was at a cafe ordering food. When I said the word "egg" in French, the server did not understand me. After a few more tries, he still had no idea what I was trying to say. I was very surprised. 3That experience reminded me of something: Having too few chances to speak a language can leave us unclear about our pronunciation ability. Many of you out there can probably relate. You may have had trouble finding English practice partners in your own city or country. 4One answer is to use an app for pronunciation practice. While most such apps are imperfect, they may support your overall efforts to be better understood in English. On today's Education Tips, we will talk about four American English pronunciation apps. 5Say It: Pronunciation 6(iOS | Android) 7The first one is called Say It: Pronunciation. This app's goal is to help learners improve the clarity of their pronunciation. It was developed by Oxford University Press - the same publishers that brought us the world's biggest dictionary. 8Users of Say It: Pronunciation can practice more than 35,000 words. 9With the app, you can: 10Take a pronunciation test of words pre-chosen by the app, from easy to difficult 11Touch letters from the IPA to hear what each sounds like 12Record yourself saying a word. The app then creates a waveform from your voice and you can compare it to that of the model speaker. A marker shows which part of each word to stress 13Play your recording at a slower speed to hear differences between your pronunciation and the model's 14Save a list of words you would like to practice often 15And share your pronunciation recording with a friend or teacher 16Say It: Pronunciation offers a free version. But its usability is limited. You would need to buy the paid version to get full use of the app, which costs $6.99. 17ELSA Speak 18(iOS | Android) 19Next up is the app ELSA Speak. 20ESLA Speak uses artificial intelligence, or AI, to act as your own American English pronunciation teacher. One of the strong points of this app is that it offers a speaking test with detailed results and a score. Another is that its AI software lets you have conversations with the computer and get feedback. 21With the app, you can: 22Take a speaking test to help you understand your biggest pronunciation problems 23After the test, ELSA Speak puts together your personalized lesson plans 24Listen to ELSA Speak, repeat its words or phrases and get immediate feedback on how to move your lips and tongue for better sound clarity 25Do four different types of lessons: pronunciation, listening, syllable stress and conversation 26And choose a time that you want to practice and get reminders from the app each day 27ELSA Speak has a free 7-day trial version that lets you take the speaking test and use its 1200 lessons. After that, you would need to pay for the full version. Prices range from $0.99 - $99 for in-app purchases. 28Accent Training 29(iOS | Android) 30Next up is Accent Training, which was designed for iPad and can operate on an iPhone. It also has an Android version, which goes by the name American English Accent Guide. Both center on a few important elements of pronunciation, including reduced speech, intonation and connected speech. 31With the app, you can: 32Practice listening to and using reduced speech 33Read along as you listen to short passages and see, in red, which phrases are reduced 34Try recording yourself reading the passages and compare your recordings to that of the model 35Learn about different elements of pronunciation, such as voiced and unvoiced consonants and the schwa sound 36And connect to other useful apps, such as 'VOA English Learning,' which is not our app, but does use our content 37The iPhone version offers 16 practices. The Android version offers a virtual conversation room. However, some users have complained about the room's technical problems. 38The app is free, but unwanted ads show up often. You can choose whether to pay $2.99 to remove them. 39English Pronunciation Tutor 40(iOS | Android) 41And finally, we have English Pronunciation Tutor. On Android, the app is called American English Pronunciation Tutor. Developed by Language Arts Press, the app is useful if there are specific sounds in English that give you continuous trouble. 42With the app, you can: 43Focus on one element of pronunciation in each unit. For instance, Unit 1 is about the front vowels 44See drawings and hear recorded explanations of the mouth shape and tongue positions that produce each sound 45See pictures of similar sounds side-by-side and touch the pictures to compare how to produce each sound 46Record yourself saying words and compare yourself to the model 47And take a listening quiz on the sounds of each unit 48The app is free for the first unit only. After that, you would pay $5.99 to activate the full version. 49Make communication key 50Again, none of these apps can replace real-life speaking practice. But if you are in serious need of pronunciation support, they may help. 51A word of advice: Aim for better communication rather than perfection. Keep in mind that having an accent is normal and only an issue if it prevents listeners from understanding you. So, make your goal to be understood, not to sound exactly like an American. Note that many Americans, in fact, admire the accents of English learners. 52I'm Alice Bryant. 53Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor. 54Have you ever used a pronunciation app? What was it called? What did you like or not like? What improvements did you notice? Write to us in the Comments. 55________________________________________________ 56Words in This Story 57pronounce - v. to make the sound of a word with your voice 58practice - v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it 59app - n. a computer program that performs a special function 60IPA - n. (International Phonemic Alphabet) 61stress - v. to pronounce (a syllable or word) in a louder or more forceful way than other syllables or words 62artificial intelligence - n. (AI) an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence 63feedback - n. helpful information or criticism that is given to someone to say what can be done to improve a performance, product, etc. 64score - n. the number of points that someone gets for correct answers on a test, exam, etc. 65accent - n. a way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a particular region or country 66admire - v. to feel respect or approval for someone or something