Scoring Your Pronunciation

The flow of each phrase (emphasis, speed, pauses) is as important as pronouncing each sound correctly. Researchers call each sound "segmental". A series of sounds in a word or phrase is "suprasegmental". A 2014 study found very little research on the best ways to teach so that people can understand you more easily. A 2018 study discusses how computers can score students.

Several websites record you saying a word or sentence. Then they analyze it and give feedback in a score. 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.

1. Pronunciator is free through many libraries, has good scoring in 99 languages. It shows one word at a time, for you to speak, and it scores your pronunciation.
2. Transparent $30 per month, (cheaper for longer terms) in any one of 100 languages, 2,000+ words; limited graph only shows volume, accepts poor pronunciation, but you can replay pronunciation of the native speaker and yourself to compare them and improve 
3. Rocket is $100 for each level of each language, with free samples on the web. It offers many words and short phrases on a page, where you click one button to hear the native speaker and another to speak yourself and get a score. You can practice with this for a long time. It seems to score rhythm and pitch, more than exact pronunciation.
4. Passport to Languages / Learn to Speak has a simple pronunciation score in 6 languages, but it needs an old computer with Windows XP or earlier. 
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Two others are free, but only teach intermediate English: EnglishCentral and GoEnglishMe.
8. Berlitzonline is expensive, and no samples or reviews are available.

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