VOA慢速英语--试试这些应用来改善你的发音

Try These Apps to Improve Your Pronunciation

Have you ever been sure that you were pronouncing a word correctly only to find out just how wrong you were?

That 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.

That 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.

One 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.

Say It: Pronunciation

(iOS | Android)

The 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 Oxford¹ University Press – the same publishers that brought us the world's biggest dictionary.

Users of Say It: Pronunciation can practice more than 35,000 words.

With the app, you can:

Take a pronunciation test of words pre-chosen by the app, from easy to difficult

Touch letters from the IPA to hear what each sounds like

Record 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

Play your recording² at a slower speed to hear differences between your pronunciation and the model's

Save a list of words you would like to practice often

And share your pronunciation recording with a friend or teacher

Say 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.

ELSA Speak

(iOS | Android)

Next up is the app ELSA Speak.

ESLA 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 detailed³ results and a score. Another is that its AI software lets you have conversations with the computer and get feedback.

With the app, you can:

Take a speaking test to help you understand your biggest pronunciation problems

After the test, ELSA Speak puts together your personalized lesson plans

Listen to ELSA Speak, repeat its words or phrases and get immediate⁴ feedback on how to move your lips and tongue for better sound clarity

Do four different types of lessons: pronunciation, listening, syllable⁵ stress and conversation

And choose a time that you want to practice and get reminders⁶ from the app each day

ELSA 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.

Accent Training

(iOS | Android)

Next 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, intonation⁷ and connected speech.

With the app, you can:

Practice listening to and using reduced speech

Read along as you listen to short passages and see, in red, which phrases are reduced

Try recording yourself reading the passages and compare your recordings⁸ to that of the model

Learn about different elements of pronunciation, such as voiced and unvoiced consonants⁹ and the schwa sound

And connect to other useful apps, such as ‘VOA English Learning,' which is not our app, but does use our content

The iPhone version offers 16 practices. The Android version offers a virtual conversation room. However, some users have complained about the room's technical problems.

The app is free, but unwanted ads show up often. You can choose whether to pay $2.99 to remove them.

English Pronunciation Tutor

(iOS | Android)

And 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.

With the app, you can:

Focus on one element of pronunciation in each unit. For instance, Unit 1 is about the front vowels¹⁰

See drawings and hear recorded explanations of the mouth shape and tongue positions that produce each sound

See pictures of similar sounds side-by-side and touch the pictures to compare how to produce each sound

Record yourself saying words and compare yourself to the model

And take a listening quiz on the sounds of each unit

The app is free for the first unit only. After that, you would pay $5.99 to activate¹¹ the full version.

Make communication key

Again, none of these apps can replace real-life speaking practice. But if you are in serious need of pronunciation support, they may help.

A 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.

Words in This Story

pronounce – v. to make the sound of a word with your voice

practice – v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

app – n. a computer program that performs a special function

IPA – n. (International Phonemic Alphabet)

stress – v. to pronounce (a syllable or word) in a louder or more forceful way than other syllables¹² or words

artificial intelligence – n. (AI) an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence

feedback – n. helpful information or criticism that is given to someone to say what can be done to improve a performance, product, etc.

score – n. the number of points that someone gets for correct answers on a test, exam, etc.

accent – n. a way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a particular region or country

admire – v. to feel respect or approval for someone or something

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

6 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

7 intonation   

n.语调，声调；发声

参考例句：

• The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
• Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。

8 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

9 consonants   

n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母

参考例句：

• Consonants are frequently assimilated to neighboring consonants. 辅音往往被其邻近的辅音同化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

11 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

12 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记