For definitions and other word-related queries, most people are turning to Google Search these days. Google is now adding an experimental pronunciation feature, while when contextually relevant, definitions and translations are gaining images.
By searching for “how to pronounce[ X],” you can already play audio and hear words aloud. The latest feature of Google Search allows you to practice pronunciation with your phone’s microphone and receive feedback on “what, if anything, can be adjusted.”
Google Search pronunciation card features a new “Practice” key in the corner at the bottom right. You’re going to be prompted to “Speak Now” and Google will return phonetic respelling “Sounds like you said” It will provide suggestions on what specific sounds you mispronounced, and “how to improve.”
“Try to bring the back of your tongue to the roof of your mouth to block the air, then release it.”
Google generated individual soundbites from your sample and leveraged machine learning behind the scenes to “cross-references your pronunciation to the pronunciation it expects.” Google Search pronunciation is available in American English on mobile today and will soon be available in Spanish.
For example, if you’re practicing how to say “asterisk,” the speech recognition technology analyzes how you said the word and then, it recognizes that the last soundbite was pronounced “rict” instead of “uhsk.” Based on this, you will receive feedback on how you can improve next time.
Google, meanwhile, provides visuals for meanings and translations. For words that have multiple meanings or are not common in all languages, this additional context is useful.
Since not all words are easily described with an image, we’re starting with nouns and plan to expand from there. Images in the dictionary features will be available in English today and across all language translations.
