Welcome! This page lists some resources to help improve your confidence and abilities pronouncing words in English.

Rules and Basics

Phonetics Rules: This page gives an overview of many of the basic rules for phonetic speech in English. Beware, though, since the most important rule is that these guidelines don't always work for every word.

Word Lookup: This online dictionary allows you to look up any English word and hear a recording of its pronunciation, as well as see the word's phonetic structure and other information.

Guide to different spellings: This document gives examples of many common spellings and letter patterns in English words and examples of how to pronounce each one.

Soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu: This Univeristy of Iowa resource lets you look up different English sounds, hear them pronounced, and read/see guides to how to form the sounds in your mouth. A mobile app is available via the site as well.

Practice

Perfect pronunciations exercises: This resource gives practice exercises for pronouncing the differences between common, similar sounds in English.

Minimal pairs: This page has dozens of practice games for "minimal pairs," sounds in English that are very similar to each other and often trip up non-native speakers.

Rhythms and stress patterns: This series of practice games focuses on emphasis and accents in multi-syllable words.

Sounds of English printable cards: This website has numerous sets of free flashcards and guides to pronunciation available to print.