Forvo Helps You Speak Like A Native

Learning a foreign language on your own can be frustrating, but it's much easier if you've got a good coach to help you out. Forvo aims to help out by providing a database of words pronounced in various languages by native speakers.

Forvo is still growing, and currently boasts a user base of about 2,700 contributors and 22 editors. Anyone can register and submit new words they'd like to hear pronounced or add their own pronunciations to existing words. The site makes it easy to learn topical words by tagging submissions in groups like fruit, sport, or bad words (for example).

There are currently 186 different languages supported: everything from English, French, Spanish, and Italian to Gaelic, Hawaiian, and Maori. Obviously, some languages are more active than others (read: we want to learn more Maori words!).
Learning a particular language? Subscribe to its RSS feed and get new words to pronounce delivered to your news reader - you can even subscribe to a specific category or speaker if you prefer.

Though it's still in it's early stages, Forvo has the potential to grow into an incredibly useful resource for anyone wanting to learn a language. On the downside, word pages don't include definitions; adding them would increase its usefulness immensely. Still, it's a great project and worth checking out. Sign up, contribute, and help make someone a better speaker!

Tags: language, learning, speaking, translation