English Pronouncing Dictionary

The CD-ROM contains spoken pronunciations for every entry - that's over 80,000 high-quality recordings by native British English speakers.

You can search for entries in the dictionary either by typing in words or by using phonetic symbols (sounds). The image below shows the dictionary's Phonetic Keyboard, which lets you search for words simply by clicking on the keys.

This type of search, called a Sound Search, is especially useful when you want to find words which contain a particular sound or group of phonetic symbols. For example, a search for the phonetic symbols r, ei, z finds 'raise', 'rase', 'rays', 'raze', 'res', and 'Reyes'. You can also search just for British or just for American pronunciations.

And don't worry if you don't yet know the International Phonetic Alphabet - each key in the Phonetic Keyboard plays a recording of the sound it represents as well as a sample word using that sound. This feature helps make the dictionary an excellent tool for self study.

The dictionary's Pronunciation Practice feature lets you record and compare your own pronunciation with the recorded pronunciations on the CD-ROM. The image below shows the Pronunciation Practice window, which opens when you click the small microphone icon in any entry. By following the simple instructions in this window, you can record and listen to your own pronunciation over and over.

The CD-ROM contains 15 different types of pronunciation exercises which can help you learn about English pronunciation. Each exercise type focuses on a different area of English pronunciation, ranging from individual letters and diphthongs to stress patterns and syllable identification.

The exercises can also be printed for self-study or classroom use.

system requirements

    * Pentium 166MHz or higher
    * 32MB of RAM
    * Internet Explorer 4 or above
    * Super VGA 16-bit colour, 800x600 resolution
    * a mouse
    * a soundcard

Preview: