Scoring Your Pronunciation

Several websites record you saying a word or sentence. Then they analyze it and give feedback in a score, and often a graph. The approach allows you to practice repeatedly and improve your accent. The programs work by comparing your recording to the model recording in the program, after adjusting for any basic difference in pitch.The programs vary widely in what they offer. Items 1 is best for a tonal language. items 1-3 are excellent for other languages, and all 3 are worth getting. Here is Transparent's graph of the falling then rising tone of yǔ in Mandarin, meaning "and."

1. Transparent gives the most detailed graphs to show how well you pronounce. Each time you say a word or phrase, you can see an overall score, and graphs on how the pitch, consonants, and vowels sounded. They offer 76 languages at low cost.
   
2. Passport to Languages / Learn to Speak has a simple pronunciation score in 6 languages, without detailed graphs, but they have more vocabulary than Transparent. Any of these first programs costs $20-$40 for permanent ownership of courses and scoring.
3. Pronunciator is $30 per month, has good scoring in 72 languages, and is easier to use than Transparent, though its graphs are not as detailed as Transparent's. While it does graph pitch, it is not detailed enough to help you learn tones in a tonal language like Chinese. It has at least as much vocabulary as Learn to Speak. It offers free samples of the pronunciation scoring, which most do not. 
4. Two more are expensive and hard to use, according to reviews: Tellmemore and Rosettastone. Tellmemore (bought by Rosetta in 2014) scores pronunciation generously. I got undeservedly high scores in Spanish. A graph in old copies still available at retailers shows volume and an extra line for pitch to help you learn intonation. This would be good for Mandarin, which is one of the languages they teach, though at far higher cost than Transparent. Reviewers say that in sentences, you must speak each word separately to get a good score. Reviews say Rosetta's scoring of pronunciation does not work, and do not say that Rosetta has now picked up Tellmemore's graphs.
5. Babbel gives you too little feedback about pronunciation and then moves on to reading and writing. It scores good pronunciation on a scale 50-100, but gives you no score or feedback on poor pronunciation and goes on to the next screen before you get the pronunciation right. They let you say each word just once each time through a lesson.
   
6. Two others are free, but only teach intermediate English: EnglishCentral and GoEnglishMe.
7. Berlitzonline is expensive, and no samples or reviews are available.

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