How To Use Google Search’s New Pronunciation Tools

Google Search is adding two experimental features to its service to help everyone around the world pronounce things correctly. Here’s how to use it.

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Google’s Search Product Manager, Tal Snir, posted many people around the world use Google Search for language-related queries. This means the meanings of words, how to pronounce as well as translate them to another language. Because of this, Google is introducing new features when you search for results and it’s using machine learning to make it happen.

The first feature allows you to search for the pronunciation of a word and then provides you with the chance to practise it. Images and definitions of the words will also appear.

While you could previously get Google to tell you the pronunciation of a word, the new feature lets you practise saying it and a machine learning algorithm gives you feedback on it. It provides tips on how to make the sounds used to in the word from mouth and tongue position to similar-sound words.

“Using machine learning, it then cross references your pronunciation with the pronunciation it expects,” the post read.

“If you’re practicing how to say ‘asterisk,’ the speech recognition technology analyses how you said the word and then, it recognises that the last soundbite was pronounced ‘rict’ instead of ‘uhsk’.”

Right now, the feature only offers with American English pronunciation but it’ll soon become available for Spanish speakers, though it’s not clear which regions or accents it would come in.

It seems to only be available on mobile devices for now but with Google hoping to expand regions and language support, it’s certainly possible it will be expanded to browsers one day soon.

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