Intuitive Language Contruction – Part II Pronunciation
We are excited to continue sharing our language learning methodology–we call it the linguistic science behind the Mango Languages Online Language Learning Software.
Intuitive Language Construction was developed after looking at current products on the market and listening to users and what they wanted. The one thing we heard over and over is they wanted a program that was fun, easy, and completely integrated.
We listened. Mango Languages includes the following components:
1. Vocabulary (Click to see previous post)
2. Pronunciation
3. Grammar
4. Culture
5. Comprehension
6. Retention
In this post, let’s look at pronunciation. Mango gives you a better, more accurate sense of pronunciation. I bet you never knew a fruit could do that!
In each course, our audio is recorded by a professional, native-speaking voice talent, using a standard “accent free” dialect. Why is this important? Native speakers using a standard accent give you the best possible baseline to model your own pronunciation after.
We also provide additional pronunciation tools to help users:
1. They can see a phonetic spelling at any time, by simply rolling over the word with their mouse cursor. Users LOVE this feature…
2. We also provide the option to hear 2 different audio speeds: fluent and articulate. These are two separate recordings by a professional, native voiceover. This is totally unique to Mango…
Our competition often provides a “slowdown” button, which plays the same standard audio clip, but mechanically slowed down, creating distortion in the voice, and making it difficult to effectively mimic. How do we do that?
3. We offer voice comparison technology in our online language learning system! This feature allows you to speak into a microphone and compare your pronunciation with that of the instructor’s, until you really get it right. This system allows you to compare your voice with both fluent and articulate speeds.
Most language learning systems incorporate some form of pronunciation instruction, but Mango takes it to a much more interactive and accurate level.
Which pronunciation tool do you use the most? Why?
6 Responses to Intuitive Language Contruction – Part II Pronunciation
July 28th, 2010 at 11:50am
As a linguistics student, I find it hard to learn a language without the technical details. For pronunciation, I love having IPA transcriptions instead of “phonetic spelling” which I find confusing (English orthography and phonology in general is horrendous).
I just recently learned of the voice recording and comparison option in the Basic courses, and though I haven’t used it yet, it sounds like a great idea!
July 28th, 2010 at 3:45pm
We are a big fan of the IPA style as well.