The Best Online Dictionary for American English Pronunciation

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Many of you have asked me the question,

“What is the best online dictionary is for learning to pronounce American English words?”

I usually recommend  http://dictionary.reference.com/ because this site shows both the spelled pronunciation and the IPA spelling.

The audio is not terrific though.☹

For example, one of my accent reduction coaching clients found that in the audio pronunciation for the words:

  • stop
  • that

the “speaker” really popped or over articulated the word final /p/ & /t/ sounds.

American English speakers don’t say the /p/ & /t/ sounds strongly when they occur at the ends for words!!

If you do that, it will contribute to your accent when you speak.✔

The Merriam-Webster ESL Learner’s Dictionary has a great section called Pronunciation Exercises that I frequently recommend to my accent reduction clients.

Again, it’s not perfect but it is a free resource you can use to practice.

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