Review: Forvo - How do you pronounce…?

There we are, in the middle of the class preparation when suddenly that name or word, unpronounceable, just like this one. Worst of all, chances are that it won’t be in a dictionary...and now, what can we do? Use Forvo, of course.

This is what the website looks like:

Forvo is more than the usual pronunciation guide. You may find thousands of words pronounced by people from all over the world, and best of all, once you log in, you may contribute as well, recording the pronunciation of words in your own language, which may help other users.

So, how do you find the pronunciation? All you’ve got to do is type the word in the search box and go.

Then, click on the “play” icon in the result and listen to the recording. It comes with information like male or female and where the person is from.

If you’re a teacher, I’m sure you’re going to love this website for your personal use and to develop some activities to teach pronunciation to your students. If you’re a student, you’ll find a very useful guide with authentic recordings made by native speakers, in several cases with varieties of English that you may not find in a usual hardcopy dictionary.

Now check the pronunciation of ‘unpronounceable’ to get started in the world of Forvo.

http://www.forvo.com/

by Wil Onishi