According to the Ethnologue, English is the third most spoken language in the world (379 million in 137 countries) by number of people who speak it as their mother tongue. No matter where you are in the world, there is almost always someone who understands and can speak the language.
There are many people who understand and speak English but cannot pronounce words correctly. As a result, communication becomes more difficult. Often, people who come to English-speaking countries for work or vacation find themselves in such situations. You should not only learn new words, but also practice their pronunciation. This will help you move forward in your career, studies, and make a good impression on others. Let's take a look at some apps that will help you improve your pronunciation.
ELSA
This is the only app you need if you are willing to pay 1690 rubles per year for access to all the functionality. A full review of ELSA (English Language Speech Assistant) would take up several A4 sheets. Here I will tell you about only a small part of its functionality.
Let me start with the simple. You can choose what you want to do: daily lessons, improving your pronunciation, studying a specific topic (14 categories, 168 topics) or preparing for a certificate (IELTS preparation contains 267 lessons, and Oxford Business Review 1157 lessons).
During the lessons, you will practice pronouncing phrases. Listen and repeat. After each test, it will show which words you pronounced correctly and which ones you made mistakes in and where. If you click on a word with an error, a report will appear for each letter, with instructions for correction. Here you can also listen to how to speak correctly and how you said this sound. Depending on the results, the application will either ask you to repeat the phrase or allow you to move on. If you have difficulty with a word, use the lip and tongue movement hints.
To quickly assess your pronunciation of any word or even phrase, go to the Discover tab, select Dictionary and write down your phrase. And after taking a 10-minute test (you can find it here: Discover -> Coach -> Assessment test) you will learn your strengths and weaknesses and receive a personalized training plan.
Available for Android / iPhone.
English Pronunciation
English Pronunciation will tell you how to pronounce the selected sound correctly. All sounds are divided into short and long vowels, double vowels, voiceless and voiced consonants.
By clicking on the desired sound, you will see additional options. The screen will show the position of the tongue and lips with detailed instructions in English, plus a video from YouTube. But that's not all. A list of words with the selected sound will be shown and you can listen to the pronunciation of each word. I was pleased that the voice-over was done by a native speaker, not a robot. But only the first five words are available for free. To access the voice-over of the rest, you need to buy a subscription for 159 rubles per month.
For each sound there is an audio test, in which you need to listen to the word and choose the correct option from two. For example, if you are training the letter "p", then the word is pronounced and you need to choose whether it was cap or cab. There is also a pronunciation test on a 3-point scale, but I did not like it. It seemed that it simply recognizes the voice through the built-in system, and that's it.
TalkEnglish
If in a nutshell, then TalkEnglish — is a dialogue database for practicing spoken language. There are 12 main categories, 73 subcategories and 220 topics for conversation. Each dialogue is voiced by a native speaker. And all this is free. Simply an ideal option for those who want to work on pronunciation, but can’t find an interlocutor.
Here you will not be told which word you pronounced incorrectly and will not be awarded points for good pronunciation. Only independent work! Listen to the dialogue in the Listen tab, choose your character (in the Record tab) that you will voice, press the voice recording button, listen again (all conversations are recorded).
During recording or practice, you will first hear the words of the interlocutor, then there will be silence, during which you will have to manage to pronounce your phrase. Like in literature lessons at school.
Utter
The learning process in the app Utter is built on communication with the bot. After authorization, it will test you through an interactive chat, in which you will need to answer several questions. This is important for the correct configuration of the program.
There are different courses for different scenarios. For example, you can choose a course for communicating with friends about travel, the office, work. The training is conducted at three levels:
- Basic - for everyday tasks. Asking the time or getting directions.
- Intermediate - for casual conversation with friends.
- Extended - for office, work communication.
After learning the basics, mastering English pronunciation begins. You need to record your voice, giving answers to different questions. Utter's goal is to help you prepare for any situation.
Each level includes two free lessons. To continue learning, you will have to pay about $3. Utter not only teaches you how to communicate, but also helps you prepare for different situations.