Forvo: Language Word Recordings to Hear Words Pronounced

Learning the lingo, or at least key words, is a key component of troublefree travel abroad, but always one of the highest hurdles for us: despite seemingly endless academic endeavor, we never master any foreign language and, in fact, tend to mixmaster the few of which we do know bits. Thus we're always on the hunt for foreign language learning tools, and we're thrilled to discover a new winner in that perennial prowl: Forvo.com, a way useful website where you can hear languages and hear words pronounced by native speakers of the language, and in different parts of the world. Wow!

You can find hundreds of thousands (doubtless soon to be millions) of language word recordings that'll allow you to hear words pronounced at Forvo; add your own if you've got the talent for tongues. We know from knee-slappingly pathetic experience that speaking gibberish more loudly and slowly does not help one be understood in another language. And we know that being able to correctly speak at least one or two other words in a polite, if not downright beseeching, manner while displaying correct change can make all the difference ("Cerveza?") in enjoyable travel.

Hearing those words spoken, and getting to hear words pronounced in different accents, as you can by using the pronunciation guide at Forvo.com, can make all the difference in getting understood by getting it right on foreign soil... which is when your tongue tends to tie and you start in with the loud and slow thing.

Check it out:

• Forvo.com

More language and travel resources:

• Mixmaster deluxe: Yo Suis Perdu
• Learning the Lingo via Intercambio
• Studying Spanish in Guanajuato
• Language and Travel

BONUS: Reader Feedback -- What's Your Favorite Language Tool?

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"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." -- Dave Barry