Learn about phonetics and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
Description
Phonetic Flash helps you learn phonetics and IPA — the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Devices with display screens:
You can start by saying, “start short”, “start medium”, or “start long”, to determine word length.
Each round consists of 10 words. You will be shown the IPA representation, and prompted to pronounce the word. If you get it correct the first time, you score a point. If you don’t get the word right (or in case Alexa misunderstands you), you can say “repeat” to try again, or “next” to go to the next word. If you say “answer”, you will hear the correct word. If you say, describe, you will hear the named phonetic components of the word. At the end of each round, you can say “play again” to play at the same level, or choose a different word list (e.g. “start medium”).
You can also ask to show the I.P.A. and hear the phonetic construction of any word in the vocabulary of nine thousand words. For example, say, “describe elephant” to see the word “elephant” rendered in IPA and hear it described phonetically.
Audio-only devices:
You can start by saying, “start short”, “start medium”, or “start long”, to determine word length.
Each round consists of 10 words. You will be given a phonetic description of a word, and prompted to pronounce the word. If you get it correct the first time, you score a point. If you say, repeat, you will hear the description again. If you don’t get the word right (or in case Alexa misunderstands you), you can say “repeat” to try again, or “next” to go to the next word. If you say “answer”, you will hear the correct word. If you say “describe” you will hear the named phonetic components of the word. At the end of each round, you can say “play again” to play at the same level, or choose a different word list (e.g. “start medium”).
You can also ask to hear the phonetic construction of any word in the vocabulary of nine thousand words. For example, say, “describe elephant” to hear the word “elephant” described in its phonetic components.
NOTE: The phonetic descriptions can be quite lengthy for medium and long words, so start practicing with short words.
For more information about the International Phonetic Alphabet, see https://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org
Thanks to Josh Kaufman for the word lists and Menelik Christie for the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary converted to IPA.