9 Online English Pronunciation Resources for All Levels
Learning to pronounce English correctly can be tricky because of its unpredictable writing system and its many different sounds.
This means that words don’t always sound the way they’re written and there are a lot of sounds—especially vowel sounds—that can make a huge difference when you’re speaking.
But don’t worry: You can improve your English pronunciation online, today—whether it’s through complete online English courses or simple video lessons!
Contents
- Pronuncian
- FluentU English
- Easy World of English
- ManyThings.org
- TalkEnglish.com
- News in Levels
- BBC Learning English
- Flo-Joe
- ELSA: English Language App
- And One More Thing...
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Pronuncian
Pronuncian focuses on American English, so this website is perfect if you plan on speaking English with Americans or Canadians, or if you want to travel to one of those countries.
If you find yourself making mistakes similar to those at the beginning of this post, Pronuncian is the website for you!
It has an in-depth look at English vowels and uses minimal pairs to differentiate (show the differences between) similar sounds. For example, it’ll help you get your short vowel sounds right so you can pronounce the difference between dead and did.
Pronuncian also looks at consonant sounds and how they change depending on their place in a word. For example, the t sound in water isn’t fully pronounced; instead, it makes a sound similar to d. This happens with many other consonants.
There are many lessons and each one focuses on a specific sound. Every sound is divided into three sections: pronunciation (an explanation of the sound), spelling (how it’s written) and practice.
FluentU English
Think you can’t handle English videos made for English speakers? Think again! FluentU makes it easy to understand (and learn from) real native English speakers.
FluentU has an array of authentic English videos—like music videos and interesting talks—to help language learners see, hear and learn English in context.
Videos include built-in interactive subtitles in English that can be switched on or off. This way, you’ll always understand what’s being said, but it’s also easy to focus on the pronunciation without the distraction of subtitles.
The videos and audio clips can be sped up or slowed down so you can hear each sound better. You can also see the transcript (written out version) of each video as well as vocabulary words you might not know, so you can learn new words and hear how to say them properly right away.
It’s a powerful tool for learning English and perfect for improving your pronunciation while also seeing the vocabulary used in context by native speakers.
FluentU can be accessed on your browser or by downloading the iOS or Android app.
Easy World of English
Among its features, there are many pronunciation tools to help you make English sounds. These tools look at the different ways you can pronounce the letters of the alphabet. This is helpful because some letters can make more than one pronunciation, and there are actually some rules that you can use to figure out when to use which sound.
Easy World of English also looks at minimal pairs, the t and d sounds and special endings.
There are three levels of readings with 20 short segments in each. Every reading comes with audio for perfecting your pronunciation of the written words. Try repeating each sentence as it’s said in the audio and then reading it on your own.
The site also offers more than 40 grammar lessons for English with plenty of examples.
ManyThings.org
ManyThings.org also teaches American English, and it’s specifically made for ESL learners. The website has exactly what its name suggests: many things! It uses a variety of games, puzzles, readings and other tools for teaching English.
ManyThings.org also features readings and sentences with audio that can be listened to at normal or slowed-down speeds. This is great for practicing the pronunciation of words within the context of a sentence.
Topics for the readings and sentences include music, history, animals and daily life.
TalkEnglish.com
With content in American English, the focus of TalkEnglish.com is understanding and using spoken English.
The lessons on this website are completely free, and there are hundreds of short tutorials that teach you how to improve spoken English. The lessons are broken into three categories: “Speaking English Lessons,” “English Video Lessons” and “English Listening Lessons.”
There are also some extras, like “English Speaking Articles,” which give advice about communicating in English.
In addition to the website, there’s also an app for Android and iPhone.
News in Levels
News in Levels has current news stories from around the world, so it’s not just for American English learners.
The website gives you the option of seeing each news story in three different levels of English: Level 1 (for beginners), Level 2 (for intermediate learners) and Level 3 (for advanced learners). The texts are fairly short, and they have matching audio.
These lessons are great for listening to English in a natural setting and practicing English speech at a normal speed. I suggest repeating each sentence as it’s said in the audio and then reading it out loud on your own.
BBC Learning English
Offered by the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation), this website focuses on the pronunciation of British English.
In fact, the BBC offers complete courses in British pronunciation.
The first course is called “The Sounds of English.” The short lessons break down British English sounds and their IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) symbols. Each video shows the IPA symbol, some examples and a close-up of the mouth for making the sound.
The second course of this series is called “Tim’s Pronunciation Workshop.” Instead of focusing on individual sounds, Tim talks about how sounds change depending on their position in the word. Examples include the pronunciation of d at the end of words and linking vowel sounds.
BBC Learning English also has a YouTube channel where you can find a range of videos from the latest news to videos covering pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.
Flo-Joe
Like the BBC pronunciation courses, this website also focuses on British English. More specifically, it’s used for test preparation for the Cambridge English exams.
There are practice tests for the First Certificate in English (FCE), the Certificate of Advanced English (CAE) and the Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE). Tests are broken up into reading, writing and speaking sections. This is crucial for learners who are attempting to pass English proficiency tests.
By completing the speaking component in some practice tests, you’ll be able to practice your British English pronunciation and reduce your accent during the test and in real-world situations.
Each practice test comes with an answer key and grading scheme and you can get access to the Exam Success Plus course for 90 days for £24.00 (and up).
ELSA: English Language App
Do you want to perfect your pronunciation skills and sound like a native speaker? ELSA is a great tool for those wanting an in-depth analysis to test their English pronunciation skills.
Learners can choose from thousands of lessons covering a wide range of topics.
ELSA (English Language Speech Assistant) will not only help you work on your pronunciation by comparing your own to that of native speakers, but it will also analyze each individual sound in your English speech, highlighting any mispronounced sounds or words.
This will allow you to spot any reoccurring mispronunciations, enabling you to focus on them and begin to perfect your pronunciation—and ultimately your confidence in speaking English!
ELSA is available to download on iOS and Android.
Don’t wet… oops, I mean wait any longer! Improve your English pronunciation online today!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing...
If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials, as you can see here:
If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.
The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.
FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.
For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:
FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.
FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.
The best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
