links
accent & dialect collections
IDEA, the International Dialects of English Archive
An outstanding collection of primary source recordings, in English, of speakers in both English-language dialects and accents of other languages. (I’m Associate Editor for NYC.)Speech Accent Archive
George Mason University’s highly useful collection of sound files of speakers from many backgrounds, each reading a short sample paragraph in English. Top tip: Use the Browse feature to search for target language speakers. (The Search feature is currently broken.)
warm-ups
Being in Voice Warm-up App
My friend and colleague Flloyd Kennedy has devised this excellent app that gives you access to a guided warm-up wherever you can take your iPhone. An Android version is in development.Voice Guy Warm-up Series
My friend and colleague Eric Armstrong, the Voice Guy, leads you through three series of warm-ups plus a speech warm-up.Diction Police Tongue Warm-Up
Thorough tongue-strengthening and flexibility exercises—do these daily and you'll be ready for any lingual articulation, no matter what the language.
phonetics & ipa transcription
International Phonetics Association
The official website of the IPA includes many useful pages of its own, plus a links page.Introduction to Phonetics
The University of Lausanne Institute of Linguistics presents this excellent internet primer on articulation of speech sounds, including IPA symbols with accompanying audio files. In English and French.Interactive Saggital Section
Daniel Currie Hall designed this interactive oral tract, allowing you to choose an articulation, see it in outline, and see its IPA transcription.
dynamic ipa web charts & apps
iPA Phonetics app (IOS)
Outstanding phonetics app for iPhone and iPad, from the University of Victoria Department of Linguistics. Explore the phonetic symbols and sounds, voice qualities, and articulations, with audio and video. Test your knowledge with interactive games. Adjust playback speed, view full-screen, more. Highly recommended.Interactive IPA Chart
From the International Phonetics Association, with audio recordings by four different linguists and phoneticists.Interactive IPA Chart
From the UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive.Interactive IPA Charts
By my friends and colleagues, Paul Meier and Eric Armstrong.IPA Handbook
Dynamic IPA Chart from the University of Victoria Department of Linguistics.IPA Vowels
An interactive vowel quadrilateral, created and voiced by my colleague Eric Armstrong.Multimedia IPA Chart
Click on the IPA or SAMPA (ASCII character version of IPA) symbols to open popup window with audio clips.Seeing Speech
Clickable IPA charts give access to animated, ultrasound, and MRI videos of IPA sounds spoken by phoneticians.
voice & speech anatomy
Laryngology 101
Dr. James Thomas shows you what happens during a laryngoscopy (examination of the pharynx (throat), larynx (voice box) and vocal folds (vocal cords). NOTE: I do not know Dr. Thomas, and this is not an endorsement of his medical practice.Glottal Opera
A laryngoscopic film by John Fink, of vocal group Kaya singing. The glottis is the space between the vocal folds when they are abducted (relaxed and apart).Cords (hear us and have mercy)
See and hear another a cappella quartet’s vocal folds (vocal cords) in action.Anatomy & Physiology of the Larynx
Get Body Smart presents this handsomely designed collection of online tutorials and quizzes.
sounds you can see
Articulatory IPA
YouTube channel chock full of video demonstrations of speech sounds.Glossika Phonics
YouTube channel dedicated to the IPA. All recordings made by Michael Campbell, polyglot founder of Glossika.UBC Visible Speech
YouTube channel with lots of visible speech-sound demonstrations.Seeing Speech
Clickable IPA charts give access to animated, ultrasound, and MRI videos of IPA sounds spoken by phoneticians.X-ray Film of Speech Organs in Action
This film by Ken Stevens was recorded in 1962.MRI of Speech Organs in Action
Speech Production and Articulation kNowledge Group at USC shows you rapping in action; excellent picture and sound.New Super-Fast MRI Technique
Beckmann Institute presents this astonishing video of speech organs in action while subject sings “If I Only Had a Brain” (and fades out “If I Only Had a Heart”).Dynamic real-time MRI Bruder Jakob/Frère Jacques
More wonderful imaging from the Freiburg Institute of Musicians’ Medicine.
blogs & podcasts
Glossonomia: Conversations on the Sounds of Speech
Glossonomia is a 44-episode podcast by my friends & colleagues Eric Armstrong and Phil Thompson. In each episode they focus on a specific speech sound or set of sounds. They have fun, and you will too!John Wells’s phonetic blog
Emeritus Professor of Phonetics, UCL, J.C. Wells is also the editor of the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (for English), and the author of Accents of English. The blog is no longer updated, but its many treasures remain to be enjoyed.Language Log
Founded by linguists Mark Liberman and Geoffrey Pullum, this blog features truly knowledgeable posts about language by many other linguists as well.Sentence First
An Irishman's blog about the English language. Smart and funny, just like its author.