Say What?... Website Pronounces Words

In my never-ending quest to lick my linguistic challenges while traveling in other countries, I spend a lot of time studying language. Sometimes that means actually hauling out a language primer or attending intercambio; sometimes it devolves to just watching El Mariachi, dubbed, for the 149th time. I also own a bunch o' well-thumbed travel phrasebooks, which I can't live without once I'm on the ground elsewhere -- I have no problem whatsoever losing all shreds of dignity and resorting to pantomime and a sort of international pictionary when trying to make myself understood (to the vast amusement of all involved), either.

Hope springs eternal; I'm always on the lookout for new ways to improve my language "skills" while prepping for travel, and I just found another tool for my kit -- ATT's website that pronounces foreign words: type 'em in and choose a speaker's voice for text-to-speech. Since languages frequently tie my tongue once I'm outside my own living room (where I can play with a toy like this and where I'm also usually amazingly fluent), I'm not sure how much actual good it will do me on foreign soil, but it's a lotta fun for comprehension practice.

• ATT Pronunciation Website

Language Tools:

• Travel Phrasebooks
• Free Language E-courses

Related: Learning the Lingo | Costa Rican Spanish | Yo Suis Perdu

"Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages."
--Humorist Dave Barry

Via Budget Travel