As the website states, "this site contains animated libraries of the phonetic sounds of English, German, and Spanish. Available for each consonant and vowel (monopthongs and dipthongs) with each category is an animated articulatory diagram containing graphics of the three main areas of phonetics: manner, place and voice, a step-by-step description of each position, and video-audio of each sound spoken in context. Examples of words for each sound are also provided. Visual animated articulatory anatomy is very useful for language learners to learn about the place of articulation of certain sound in our mouth.
This website is intended for students of phonetics, linguistics, and foreign language but can be helpful to anyone who has an interest in learning about spoken languages. Background knowledge of phonetics or linguistics would be ideal for users, as it would make sense of the variety of diagrams and interactive videos that the website provides.
Type of Material:
Resource
Recommended Uses:
Individual or group assignments
Technical Requirements:
Flash7
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Practice in pronunciation
Target Student Population:
Learners of English, German, and Spanish.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
None
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The purpose of this website is to provide users with a visual explanation of the three main categories of phonetics in any language: manner, place and voice. This website is clearly organized into those categories within the three languages and I really like how they provide not only a video description of each, but an audio sample as well. This helps to connect the ideas of what the mouth is doing with each individual sound.
Concerns:
This website is not meant to teach so much as it is designed to assist language acquisition and pronunciation.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
This website is an excellent source for independent English, Spanish or German language study. It clearly demonstrates the visual and audio aspects of each spoken language and may be used as a virtual classroom or reference when language learners have phonetical questions regarding the manner, place or voice of each language. Because the information and teaching-learning goals are clearly organized, students of all ages will not have a difficult time navigating this site.
I feel that this website is a good resource for students in addition to their notes and textbooks to assist in the completion of phonetical equations.
Concerns:
None
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
This website is organized with many colorful labels and images. The consonants and vowels of each language are clearly presented at the top of the window and definitions and examples of each group are labeled below. It is very easy to navigate using the tabs that divide the consonant categories (manner, place, voice) from the vowels (monophthongs and diphthongs) and into subcategories.
The interactive articulatory anatomy model provides a video of each place in the mouth and how it functions during pronunciation. This would be very useful for language learners when new sounds are being introduced in the second language that do not exist in the first language
Concerns:
None
Other Issues and Comments:
None
Creative Commons:
Search by ISBN?
It looks like you have entered an ISBN number. Would you like to search using what you have
entered as an ISBN number?
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
