Programs that convert text to speech are really fun! Make eggs talk at the Talking Egg-a-Gram web site, courtesy of Holiday Inn. Or try Monk-E-Mail. Send your message on to a friend!
YouTube isn't just a place to find funny videos or shorts of your favorite TV shows. You can actually use YouTube to help you improve your speaking and pronunciation skills. The video below, which works on word stress, was created by an English teacher for speakers of other languages, and is a good example of how you can use the Internet, and web sites like YouTube, to work on your English skills.
To find more videos like this one, put "english pronunciation" in the search field of YouTube and click! A number of videos to help you work on your pronunciation will show up.
Summer is upon us and with this season, the prospect of travel! This holiday, think of going someplace truly unique: Eritrea - one of the world's hidden gems. This video shows a place that some may never even have heard of! While your pocketbook or work schedule may not allow you to go somewhere this year, why not take a virtual trip? And while you're at it, practice your English! How many different types of English and accents can you find in this video?
Dictionaries can be expensive to buy. They are heavy, cumbersome, and inconvenient at times. But there are a number of online dictionaries that you can use.
dictionary.com: a free online dictionary complete with thesaurus, games, and even featuring languages other than English
Merriam Webster Online: click on the speaker icon next to the word and hear the correct pronunciation, play a word game, do the daily crossword, or learn a new word each day. Lots of stuff here!
Cambridge Dictionaries Online: Here you can search the various Cambridge University Press dictionaries, including the Learner, which has graded language and clear examples of how the word is used.
Yourdictionary.com: get links to dictionaries for other languages, as well as an acronym finder
alphadictionary: play word games, find instant translators, sign up for the word of the day, take your chance at a virtual spelling bee, learn the most common false cognates in English, learn where the slang you hear is coming from, read a funny language joke, and much more.
Oxford University Press has a site for students who want to practice their pronunciation. Practice vowels, consonants, diphthongs (2 vowels or consonants that make one sound), regular past tense endings, and more. Hear the British pronunciation of the words by clicking on the word or icon. Repeat until you feel comfortable saying the sound. Play Stress Monsters - which is set up like a real video game, to practice syllable stress. Have fun!
