6 ways to hear the correct pronunciation of English words

The English language, like no other, like a sponge, constantly absorbs more and more new concepts. This year alone, the Oxford English Dictionary has added 1,400 new words and expressions, including “Jedi mind trick” and “abugida”. Each word should not only be spelled correctly but also pronounced correctly.

The meaning of the statement often depends on the pronunciation. It is worth a little differently to pronounce a few words and light flirting turns into caustic sarcasm. Fortunately, learning to pronounce difficult words correctly, and at the same time improving pronunciation in general, is not so difficult. Online dictionaries can help you with this.

Google search

In a Google search, a new option to help learn pronunciation using audiovisual effects. The function does not yet have a name, and it does not work on all devices, but the idea itself is not bad.

The voice search tool uses machine learning and speech recognition technology. You can practice your pronunciation directly while searching, and to better understand the terms you are looking for, Google will offer you visual cues. Google’s innovations don’t end there. So, in Google Maps there was a tool that pronounces the names of cities and villages in languages ​​you don’t know. This option will certainly come in handy when traveling to other countries.

Howjsay

Howjsay Dictionary has been helping users improve their conversational English skills for over ten years. Type any English word (or expression) to hear exactly how it should be pronounced. All words are dictated by real users, native speakers. No software speech synthesizers are used.

Howjsay supports both American and British pronunciation. If you type a misspelled word, the service will offer a choice of several suitable options. You just need to click on any word to hear exactly how it should be pronounced. You can enter several words at once, separated by semicolons (for example, cat; cut; cart). This is especially useful when you want to compare the pronunciation of several similar words. For example, affect and effect or desert and dessert. Do you want Howjsay to always be with you? Install mobile apps on iPhone and Android.

Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com is one of the best online dictionaries in the world and a real paradise for language learners.

At the top of the home page, you will see a scrolling line with the words whose pronunciation users are most often interested in. Here you will surely come across colloquial words and slang expressions that you do not yet know. From idiom meanings to grammar tips and puns, you’ll find everything on the site. For each not the most common word, there is a pronunciation hint.

Dictionary service gravitates towards American English. If you are looking for British English or an internationally accepted version of English, check out the Lexico website. In addition to the site, an application is available for Android and iOS.

Forvo

Forvo service developers call their brainchild the largest pronunciation dictionary in the world. This seems to be true, since the site’s database is updated by users from all over the world. Once you register, you can add words spoken with your voice at any time.

The service database includes almost 6 million words, spoken in over 390 languages. And all these thanks to users from different countries who are constantly developing the resource. The list of languages ​​even includes Esperanto and the nonexistent Klingon language from the fantasy TV series Star Trek.

In Forvo, you can enter any words, even curses. The service also offers the pronunciation of common phrases, which will be useful to any user learning a foreign language.

Names.org

Names like Jim, John or Jane are still common and do not raise questions in terms of pronunciation. What about Dylan or Genevieve? Are you sure you pronounce them correctly and put the emphasis on the correct syllable? Names.org is not a pronunciation dictionary, but a database of names.

Each name is accompanied by a block of interesting information associated with it, as well as usage statistics. That is, you can find out how popular a name is and what it means.

You can choose on this site a name for your newborn baby or check in the service database for names in the pronunciation of which you doubt. You can even send your version of a name to the site if it is not already in the database.

Youtube

YouTube is the second most popular search service after Google. You may not think of it as a “search engine” in the usual sense of the term. And you may not consider it a pronunciation dictionary. However, in practice, YouTube can be both.

Just enter something like How do you say [word] or How do you pronounce [word] into the search bar. In the search results, YouTube will surely give you several videos from which you can learn the correct pronunciation.