Howjasay?: Pronunciation Dictionary

Details

Activity Description

Use this site in class to provide a model of pronunciation or to prepare for an oral presentation. You can also have students use it to hear pronunciations of words on a spelling or vocabulary list, or in a reading passage. This site is a free online Talking Dictionary of English Pronunciation that does not provide definitions, only pronunciation of words.

Preparation

Make sure that the site is not blocked at your school before using it or having students use it.
Set speaker settings to a reasonable volume. If students will be working at their own computers, you will probably want headsets.

How-To

Visit the Example Web Site above.
Type a word in the textbox and choose the Submit button.
When the word appears in pink, mouse over it to hear it spoken. Note that periods cannot be included in an entry. For example "a.w.o.l." is entered as "awol." Compare multiple entries, such as minimal pairs, by entering them separated by semi-colons. For example: cat;cut;cart. Both American and British spellings are provided. Select the Browse button to see alphabetical lists of words.
Mouse over the pink words to hear them spoken.
Have students listen and repeat pronunciation as many times as needed.

Teacher Tips

Many sites, like these, have advertising. Teach your students what it looks like and how to avoid selecting ads since sometimes they contain malware that they will not want on their computers, at school or at home. It is a very important and necessary skill for them to know.
The speaker has a hint of British accent on some words. For words that have different British and American pronunciation, both pronunciations are provided.

More Ways

The site has an app available for iPhone and Android phones .

Program Areas

ESL: English as a Second Language

Levels

Beginning Literacy
Beginning Low
Beginning High
Intermediate Low
Intermediate High
Advanced
All Levels

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