Google Translate launches its pronunciation practice mode

Language learning tools are great. Who doesn’t want to be able to communicate with more people? Apps like Duolingo have made language learning more accessible than ever, while also gamifying it just enough to keep us really engaged. Even Google’s gotten in on the action with Practice mode for Translate. But it’s one thing to just know the right words to use — do you also know how to say them correctly? Once again, Translate’s got you covered, as it rolls out a new pronunciation practice tool.

We first spotted Google working on pronunciation practice in Translate about a month ago, and now it’s already going official. As part of celebrating its 20th birthday, Google Translate is introducing this new practice mode.

After getting a translation, you’ll be able to hit a new “Pronounce” button that will invite you to speak the translated text aloud, prompting you with a phonetic representation to help. After making your attempt, Google will analyze your pronunciation and offer feedback, highlighting the specific parts of words that need improvement. Then you’re invited to try again, refining your efforts.

In addition to that detailed feedback, you’ll also see a more general “score” bar indicating how close to the mark your pronunciation came.

Sure, practicing with a native speaker is probably the ideal way to refine your pronunciation, but for an automated solution, this tool looks like it has plenty of promise. We look forward to putting it through its paces and see just how successful it really is at making us sound less like a clueless foreigner when traveling.

Pronunciation practice in Translate is getting started with support for English, Spanish, and Hindi, and is available in the US and India. Hopefully we’ll see it expand to a lot more languages down the road, but that’s all Google’s sharing for now.