Skill Review: Pronunciations

Alexa turns teacher with this tutoring skill titled Pronunciations developed by Mahesh. Crafted with an educational goal, this specialized voice skill aims to help young and mature English language learners imitate, learn, and master the pronunciation. To make most of this voice skill the learner should ensure to pronounce the letters of the given word and provide its spelling correctly. To assist the learner even further, the voice app has an added feature to guide the learners to the Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary where they are free to read as much as they would like about the pronounced word and expand their knowledge.

This educational skill start-off with leading the learner on how to give words to be pronounced with an example of the word BITS to be spelled as B, I, T, S. All the learner has to do is spell the letters to their perfection to learn and get going. After the voice app delivers the pronunciation, the user will be requested to state the choice of whether or not to be directed to the dictionary. If the user allows permission, the skill will route to the dictionary, provided it is opened from an Android, iOS device, or display supported device. Another positive is that it offers suggestions on correct spelling if the learner happens to misspell the word. Well, that being said, there seem to be a few downsides that could let down the learner at times. If the voice app fails to receive the pronounced letters because they are not clearly articulated or for some other reason, the skill will make a random guess and vocalize the string of letters which may or may not make sense to the inquisitive learner. Another let-down is the fact that the skill makes an abrupt stop to the conversation after offering the pronunciation and suggestions. If given a string of letters to a word that does not exist, the skill goes ahead and pronounces that as well. Moreover, not all of the voice commands displayed are available to the user. The absence of the “Repeat” option depresses the beneficial aspect of the skill.

The VOGO Voice team scores this skill 3.8 out of 5 stars based on our rating system. Yet, you’ll have to try for yourself and see if it is a truly user-friendly learning voice app that will help you master the art of English pronunciation. Bear in mind to pace your enunciation as slow and clear as possible to benefit the most from “Pronunciations”. So why not try out the skill and see if it offers the enriching experience you had anticipated.