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natalyadHow do you say that again?
Many people struggle to pronounce words including people in the following situations:
If you have only ever seen the word written down.
English is not your native language.
If you have any kind of hearing loss (deafness).
If you have dyslexia or similar which can make it harder for you to break down words.
Google's define pronunciations
If you type "Define:WORD" into Google's search box you sometimes get a speaker symbol which provides a pronunciation alongside the definition and meaning of the word. The pronunciation is usually in US English but is occasionally in a British English format. It doesn't always make it clear there are differences or multiple acceptable variants.
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols
Many dictionaries provide IPA phonetic symbols to guide the user in the word's pronunciation but it requires training to understand and remains difficult for people with reading difficulties.
For example the IPA for the word Advertisement renders as
for the UK/British and US/North American pronunciations.
Online dictionaries with British pronunciation guides
I found some online dictionaries which provide human voices reading out British word pronunciations.
I have listed them below:
1) Cambridge Dictionaries Online
2) Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
3) Macmillan dictionary
4) http://howjsay.com
I also found one which covers translation of words from one language to another with pronunciation guides
5) Dict.CC
All three dictionaries are using human1 recorded voices.
All autocomplete words in the searchbox (sometimes unreliable) and provide their own word definitions.
I think the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries are pretty similar so that may come down to individual preference.
Macmillan has the least cluttered interface.
Macmillan Dictionary
Found at http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/
The default pronunciation is British English with an additional North American English pronunciation button available if there is a pronunciation difference for that
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Found at http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com.
Click the red speaker icons labelled BrE for British English and NAmE for North American English pronunciations.
Other Oxford dictionary services can clutter up the screen but definitions are comprehensive and sometimes have a usage note providing more detail.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
Found at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british
Click the red speaker icon for British English and blue speaker icon for North American English pronunciations.
The full screen of the results can be a bit cluttered with ads and semi-related dictionary material but the definitions are comprehensive.
Dict.cc found at http://www.dict.cc/
Select appropriate languages in the drop down
Results will mix UK, USA and other English forms e.g. Australian pronunciations in but can be distinguished by flags
Provides examples of words in grammatical context with appropriate translations
I hope you will find these helpful.
* Thanks to Red for testing the pronunciation voices and telling me that they're all human - I couldn't quite tell.
Many people struggle to pronounce words including people in the following situations:
Google's define pronunciations
If you type "Define:WORD" into Google's search box you sometimes get a speaker symbol which provides a pronunciation alongside the definition and meaning of the word. The pronunciation is usually in US English but is occasionally in a British English format. It doesn't always make it clear there are differences or multiple acceptable variants.
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols
Many dictionaries provide IPA phonetic symbols to guide the user in the word's pronunciation but it requires training to understand and remains difficult for people with reading difficulties.
For example the IPA for the word Advertisement renders as
for the UK/British and US/North American pronunciations.
Online dictionaries with British pronunciation guides
I found some online dictionaries which provide human voices reading out British word pronunciations.
I have listed them below:
1) Cambridge Dictionaries Online
2) Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
3) Macmillan dictionary
4) http://howjsay.com
I also found one which covers translation of words from one language to another with pronunciation guides
5) Dict.CC
Macmillan Dictionary
Found at http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Found at http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
Found at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british
Dict.cc found at http://www.dict.cc/
I hope you will find these helpful.
* Thanks to Red for testing the pronunciation voices and telling me that they're all human - I couldn't quite tell.
