Useful Links

 
Pronunciation

University of Iowa On-line Phonetics -- This very thorough site has moving flash diagrams as well as pronunciation video clips that help students both hear and see how to pronounce the basic sounds in English.  Its only drawback for typical students is its academic vocabulary.  However, if you can find the sound you want, this site will show you how to say it.  Click on ENGLISH SOUNDS LIBRARY.

Okanagan On-line Pronunciation Workbook--This site is not as thorough as the Iowa site, but it conveniently focusses on the biggest pronunciation problems for non-native speakers.  It, too, has animation and video clips, and it includes practice exercises.


 
Dictionary

Merriam-Webster On-line – An excellent, deep, on-line dictionary that also includes a pronunciation feature as well as definitions.  Hint: for most effective use of this dictionary, you need to know what part of speech your vocabulary word is (noun, verb, adjective….).  There is also a thesarus at this address in case you need to use one in a writing class.


 
ESL Practice Sites

EnglishListening.com (Advanced) – Useful set of ten listening passages spoken by native speakers.  Each passage comes with optional questions, answers to the questions, and transcripts.  If you become a member of the site, you will have access more listening material.

ESL-lab.com – The General Listening section of this site helps students practice for typical needs.  Two other sections, Listening for Academic Purposes and Long Conversations with RealVideo,  can help with work on the TOEFL test.  Each section has interactive quizzes and transcripts.
 


 
Interesting Sound Sites (non-ESL)