English pronunciation: free tools, tests and guides
Say a word or read a text, and see what a speech recognizer trained on native English actually heard. Every tool here runs in the browser, is free and needs no account. The guides explain the sounds that give learners away, each with a practice set.
Free tools and tests
- Pronunciation checkerPaste any text, read it aloud and see which words were not understood.
- Pronunciation test20 words that learners most often mispronounce. Say each one and get a score.
- Accent testRead 8 sentences aloud and get a 0–100 clarity score with the sounds to fix first.
- Russian accent test8 sentences built on the sounds that give Russian speakers away.
- What is my accent? (quiz)12 questions about how you say everyday words: American, British, Australian or Canadian?
- Text to IPA transcriptionPaste English text and get its phonetic transcription with stress marks.
- Minimal pairsA listening game with 24 word pairs that differ by one sound: ship or sheep?
- Shadowing practice15 sentences to shadow, from short to long, with audio and a voice check.
- Practice speaking aloneSeven ways to practise speaking without a partner, with a 15-minute daily plan.
Sounds
- The TH soundTongue between the teeth: the two TH sounds, with words to say and check.
- The R soundThe tongue touches nothing: how to make the English R, with a voice check.
- -ED endingsT, D or ID: the three sounds of the past tense ending and how to pick one.
- Silent lettersB in debt, K in knife, L in walk: every silent letter with the rule behind it.
- Dark L and light LWhy the L in “light” and the L in “full” are different sounds.
- The flap TWhen Americans pronounce T as a quick D: water, city, a lot of.
- The glottal stopThe catch in the throat that replaces T in “button” and “football”.
- Aspirated P, T, KWhy “pin” without a puff of air sounds like “bin” to an English ear.
- The NG soundOne sound, no G: sing, thing, running, and when the G does come back.
- DiphthongsThe gliding vowels of “day”, “my”, “boy”, “now”, “go”, with a chart.
- Tough, though, through, thorough, thoughtFive words, five different vowels, one spelling: -ough explained.
- IPA sounds chartEvery vowel and consonant of English with its symbol, example words and audio.
Stress, rhythm and connected speech
- Word stressWhich syllable to stress: eight rules that cover most words.
- The schwa /ə/The weak “uh” that replaces vowels in unstressed syllables.
- Connected speech and linkingWhy “what do you want” sounds like “whaddaya want”: five linking rules.
- Intonation and rhythmFalling, rising and fall-rise tones, sentence stress, and exercises for each.