Pronunciation Coach

Pronunciation models

Pronunciation Coach uses the concept of pronunciation models to show you how to accurately pronounce any sound or word. Each model provides an interactive view of the speech production process and consists of the lips, teeth, tongue, soft palate and vocal cords. To create a pronunciation model, simply type in any word or sentence. Once the model has been created, a waveform providing information on timing, pitch and speech intensity is displayed. Use the media controls to play, pause and step through the model one phoneme at a time.

Each pronunciation model contains:

1. Audio, for listening to the pronunciation.
2. A video of the mouth and lips.
3. A video of the speech anatomy.
4. A video showing tongue contact with the roof of the mouth.
5. Phonetic symbols, to identify the individual speech sounds.
6. Waveforms, for viewing timing, pitch and speech intensity (loudness).

Pronunciation dictionary

The Pronunciation Dictionary lets you quickly create pronunciation models from over 21,000 words and sounds. The words and sounds are conveniently arranged in alphabetical, vowel and consonant order, so you can easily locate the words or sounds you want to practise. You can also create custom word lists.

Recording pronunciation

Pronunciation Coach lets you record your speech so you can compare it with the pronunciation model. In addition, speech recognition provides valuable feedback on your speech intelligibility.

Each recording contains:

1. Audio, for listening to your pronunciation.
2. A video of your mouth and lips (this option requires a webcam).
3. Speech recognition result.
4. Speech intelligibility score.
5. Waveforms, for viewing your timing, pitch and speech intensity (loudness).

Scoring pronunciation

Once you've learned how to pronounce individual sounds and words, you can use the speech intelligibility scorer to provide valuable feedback on your conversational speech. Speech intelligibility refers to the 'understandability' of speech, and the ability to use speech to communicate effectively in everyday situations. It can be affected by many factors, including pronunciation accuracy, audibility and speaking rate.

To score your speech intelligibility, simply enter any text and read it out loud. As you speak, the recognised words are scored from 0 to 100% and highlighted in green. Any unrecognised words are highlighted in red. Once all of the words have been highlighted, the following results are displayed:

• Speech intelligibility (expressed as a percentage).
• Audibility (loudness).
• Speech rate (number of words spoken per minute).
• Number of recognised words.
• Number of unrecognised words.

The speech intelligibility scores are categorised as follows:

Intelligibility description	Intelligibility score
Unintelligible	0%
Poor	10% - 30%
Fair	30% - 50%
Good	50% - 75%
Excellent	75% - 100%

System Requirements

Supported operating systems	Windows 10, 8, 7 and Vista (requires US English language pack)
CPU	x32 and x64 architecture
Memory	Minimum 2 GB of RAM
Storage	27 MB of free hard disk space
Microphone	USB headset microphone recommended
Webcam (optional)	Windows compatible webcam