However, it may surprise you to know that there are 160 recognized English accents and dialects around the world ?

And that doesn’t include the millions of people who speak English as a second language and whose native language will creep into their spoken English.

Why Listen to different English accents and dialects?

If you just listen to the same person all the time, for example if you only hear English spoken by your teacher, you may find that when you hear English spoken with a different English accent that it’s difficult to understand them.

In a real life situation this is part of the fun of learning and communicating, however if you are learning English for an exam, it is essential you understand different English accents, particularly for the listening part of your exam.

How to Practice Listening to Different English Accents

Happily, there are many different ways to listen to different English accents so you can be confident you can understand someone speaking English regardless of where they are from.

One of the easiest ways to familiarize yourself with different English accents is right here at Ringo Lingo!

Head over to our dictations pages and take a look at the ‘change speaker’ option.

Admittedly, we don’t have all 160 different accents here, however you will find five different English accents so you can practice and familiarize yourself with some of the key differences.

This is a really good way to practice as the speakers are speaking exactly the same words, making it easy to compare and contrast.

Listen To News from a Variety of English Speaking Sources

Another great way to familiarize yourself with different English accents is to listen to news broadcasts. Why? Well, one of the key reasons is because if you listen to the news in your native language you are likely to be familiar with recent world events. Therefore when you listen to the news in English, you will already be aware of the key stories so you will have context and you will find it easier to understand and comprehend.

Here are three to get you started, however jump onto a your preferred search engine and see what other English language news services you can find:

• BBC – The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has a variety of channels which you can listen to. One of the most useful for listening to international news is the World Service. While the BBC is British based, and many of the presenters speak with a British accent, you will hear other accents, particularly on the World Service
• CNN – another good place to go for news themed audio is CNN Audio. Here you will find a range of options, typically with American accents.
• ABC Radio – ABC Radio Australia covers a range of different news stories. Hear news stories in Australian accents. ABC also provide a range of free online resources to help you learn English. Again, these will largely be Australia focused and will help you familiarize yourself with Australian words and dialect.

Videos

Not only are all the different English accents and dialects a challenge to English language learners – they can also be a challenge to native English speakers (as well as a source of great amusement).

If you search ‘English Accents’ in YouTube, you will find many videos ranging from educational to humorous demonstrating the many different English accents and dialects. Here are a few we have particularly enjoyed:

Tips for Familiarizing Yourself With Different English Accents and Dialects

Here are some tips to help you get started familiarizing yourself with the different English accents and dialects:

• Watching videos is a great way to practice your English. When you are watching from a streaming service make a note of where a series is based so you know what accent they will typically be speaking with.
• If you hear someone speaking with an accent you are not familiar with, ask them if they can tell you what accent they have. Obviously tread carefully and be polite, however most people are more than happy to tell you a bit about their accent and why it is special and how it is different to others.
• Try to put yourself into a situation where you are listening to a variety of people with different accents and dialects. If you have a regular speaking partner, change things up occasionally.
• Take advantage of free services like the ones we have here to expose yourself to different accents.

Hopefully this will have got you thinking about different English accents and how you can become familiar with them to better prepare yourself for both English in the real world and for your English exams.

If you haven’t played ‘Name That Thing’ before, you will find instructions below! These apply to each of the exercises in this series.

These exercises will help you learn and revise key vocabulary in English. You will type in the names of words, so it will also help you practice your spelling.

Practice Key Vocabulary in English

Here’s how to play!

Tip: if this is new vocabulary for you, you will find a free PDF with the word list of words included that you can download at the bottom of the page.

First, choose whether you want to use American or British English (the key difference will be some spellings).

When you have chosen either American or British English, choose the mode.

You have the choice of two different modes.

Marker Mode

The ‘Marker’ mode will display markers on the image to indicate what the item is you are looking to name. This is handy if you are not too sure about this vocabulary and can’t identify a lot of words without visual prompts.

This is how the page will look in ‘marker’ mode:

You will see that each thing to be named is marked with a blue dot.

Blank Mode

As the name suggests, blank mode contains no indicators, so you must guess which things you need to name.

Type the Word

Type the name into the box below the image and enter. If the word is correct you will see it added to the word list, if it is not correct, you will get a warning message.

If you need help, just click where it says ‘show me the answers’!

Download Free PDF Word List

If you need help revising, download the free PDF word list at the bottom of the page.

So, head over to our ‘Name That Thing‘ category and practice your English vocabulary and have fun

This would allow them to talk in English and get instant feedback.

Of course, for most learners, that won’t be the case. Perhaps you talk online with English speakers whenever you can, but what about the rest of the time.

That’s where Ringo Lingo can help you to assess your own pronunciation.

We’ve added a feature that lets you listen to a word or verb conjugation and then record yourself repeating the word or phrase.

You can listen to the original and your attempt to assess how accurate your pronunciation was.

Choose the accent

As with other features on Ringo Lingo, you can choose the accent that you want to listen to and emulate.

Additionally, we visualize the original speech and your copy by displaying a waveform of both. You may find this helpful as another way to assess how closely your pronunciation matches.

How to use our pronunciation tool

You will find the pronunciation tool in a few places on the Ringo Lingo website. It works much the same wherever you use it.

The original word or phrase is displayed at the top of the pronunciation tool. The name of your selected speaker is displayed at the bottom of the top box. Click the play button to hear the word or phrase spoken.

Click the record button in the bottom box and speak into the microphone to record your voice. The tool will only record for the same time the original audio lasted and will then load your recording.

You can now click the play button and compare your pronunciation to the original.

If you want to try again, click the Reset button and you can record yourself speaking again.

You’ll find the pronunciation tool on the verb conjugation and individual words pages. You’ll also see a button to open the pronunciation tool from each flashcard exercise. This will open a new page with all the words from the flashcards loaded. Just click your way through the list to practice each word.

You can save a copy on multiple devices to ensure you always have this invaluable English language learning tool.

It will work wherever you are with no internet connection required.

Please note, however, that there are some important points that you need to remember. I’ll cover those and how to use the Magic PDF below.

Firstly, though, if you haven’t already got a copy of Ringo Lingo’s Magic PDF Irregular Verb Conjugator, you can get a copy here.

What apps can you use with the Magic PDF?

This is very important.

Not all PDF reader apps offer the same features. The Magic PDF is a dynamic PDF, meaning that the information it displays changes depending on the verb that you select. Many free PDF reader apps do not work with dynamic PDFs.

It will work in the following apps.

Mobile

On a mobile device running Android or iOS/iPadOS, I recommend that you use PDF Reader & Annotator by Xodo. You can visit the Xodo website by clicking here or click the links below to open the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

• Get PDF Reader & Annotator by Xodo for Android
• Get PDF Reader & Annotator by Xodo for iOS/iPadOS

If you use other PDF reader apps, you may have issues with the PDF not working correctly or at all.

Desktops computers and laptops

On a laptop or desktop computer, you have a couple of options. If you have Adobe Reader installed, you can use that.

Alternatively, most modern web browsers, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox will handle the Magic PDF with no problems.

To open the PDF in a browser, right click the PDF and there should be an option like Open with. Click that and you should then be able to select your web browser.

Note, you can’t use a web browser on a mobile device to open and use the Magic PDF.

How to use the Magic PDF

Using Ringo Lingo’s Magic PDF Irregular Verb Conjugator is super simple.

Open your free Magic PDF, click or tap the verb selector and choose the verb you want to conjugate.

Now just click the Conjugate button to load your selected verb conjugation. If necessary, be sure to scroll down to see all the results.

That’s all there is to it.

Any improvements or ideas?

If you think we’ve missed an important irregular verb, please let us know. I don’t promise to add every suggestion though, as there are many archaic verbs that just aren’t used now in modern English. Adding these would make the PDF harder to use and a larger file for downloading and storing.

If you’ve got an idea for a tool that you think would be useful for English language learners, again, please send a message to describe it to us. Maybe we’ll be able to create it.

Dictations work on many levels. To start, they are a highly effective way to help build your listening skills. As you progress through your ESL journey, you will find listening becomes increasingly important and you will need good listening skills if you want to do well in your exams, whether an official exam, such as the Cambridge B1 exam or whether it’s a school test. However, more importantly, you will need good listening skills when you start using your English in real-life situations.

Dictations help you connect the sound of words to the way a word looks when written down, and this has the knock-on effect of helping with your speaking too!

Here are some ways to use online dictations in your home studies:

Build Up Your Confidence!

Start with simple dictations and build from there, as you complete more simple dictations your confidence will grow, giving you the super-powers you need to tackle more advanced exercises.

When you are using an online dictation platform for the first time there’s more to it than just writing down the text. You need to get familiar with the controls available to you (for example, here at Ringo Lingo, you can set the speed of the dictation, wind back to re-listen to passages, take a look at hints and more!), therefore familiarize yourself with how the site works first using simple dictations before moving onto more advanced dictations.

Re-Visit Dictations Already Completed

…and talking of confidence, another great way to build your confidence in English is to see your progression leap forward over time. Do this by revisiting dictations you have already done and see how you have progressed. If you are still getting stuck on certain words or phrases, don’t worry! Just make a note of them and add these to your next English study session.

Looks for Patterns

When you are doing dictations, start to look for and identify patterns in English. Get familiar with how different words often appear together or how you will see familiar sentence structures. This will help throughout your English studies, however it will particularly help build your writing and reading skills as you start seeing the patterns in English.

Make Well Informed Guesses

Regardless at what level of English you have, if you are moving forward and improving, you will always find yourself with challenging exercises to do. Therefore, it is totally normal that there will be words or expressions you are not familiar with.

The great news is when you start doing dictations and get stuck, you can start to make well informed guesses as to what a word should be by looking at the text around it. For example, if you can hear the following sentence, but not understand the missing two words, you can make an informed guess as to what it should be by looking at the text you do know.

I love Italian food! My _______ Italian food is pizza.

In the example above, by looking at the context, you can make an informed guess that the missing word is ‘favorite’.

Repeat What You Hear!

While reading along out loud might be exceedingly annoying if you are working in a library or crowded area ;), if you can find a quiet spot then following along and saying the dictation out loud is a wonderful way to help build your speaking skills. Better still, if you record yourself using your phone or other device, you can play back your recording and compare it with the dictation and see how you can improve.

Choose Different Voices

Expose yourself to as many different voices and accents as you can, so you don’t just listen to a single voice. There is a rich variety of English accents, and as you use your English in the real-world, it’s important you are able to understand English spoken in different accents and with different voices.

We think online dictation is a great addition to your study plan! What do you think?

What Are Online Dictations for ESL Learners?

Online dictation exercises for ESL learners are just as the name suggests. They are pre-recorded passages of text which students can listen to online. All they need is a computer or device connected to the Internet and they are good to go!

However, modern online dictation websites, such as Ringo Lingo, offer so much more than the single robotic or badly recorded voice of old! Updates in technology means that students have a much more exciting experience when working with online dictations.

Advanced Listening and Play-Back Controls

One massive benefit of online ESL dictations is that students have control over how they listen to the texts. Many online dictation services such as Ringo Lingo provide controls which allow students to vary the speed of the dictation passages, rewind to different points to relisten to the text and even look up words they are not familiar with. This level of control means that students are likely to be more engaged in the exercise as they are empowered to play the dictation in a way that ensures they are likely to succeed with the passage, rather than give up because they have fallen behind.

Choose From Different Voices

ESL students can choose from a range of different voices. Listening to different accents and voices is so important for English language learners, however if they just have the one ESL teacher, it can be particularly difficult for beginner learners to get exposed to different accents in a way that is suitable for their level. This is useful even for more advanced learners as hearing different accents better prepares them for English in the real world.

How To Use Online Dictations for ESL Learners

Online dictations are a great resource when setting homework or home study exercises for students.

One way you might use the dictations are to simply give some URLs to the students to work through. As many online dictation platforms such as Ringo Lingo allow self checking, this is a handy complete exercise for students. However, there are some interesting variations of this.

Translate Into Their Own Language

One simple way to extend the benefit of the online dictation exercises is to ask students to translate the text into their own language, they may need to look up words they are not familiar with. This is useful as it helps students build their vocabulary and grammar. However, importantly, being relatively short texts, these are quite quick for students to translate and this helps to build their confidence.

Make Notes

Encourage students to do dictations with a notebook in front of them so they can make a note of things they are not familiar with, for example words they don’t know. Depending on the level, students can then independently research and answer to their questions or bring them to you for an explanation at the next class. This is useful as it encourages students to think about the text in front of them and not just simply write down the words.

Show Listen and Tell

With dictation texts covering so many topics, from Pyramids to Idioms, there are plenty to interest your students and plenty of variation for your class. Why not invite your students to do a dictation at home and then tell you about the topic they covered in your next class? This is also a great way to check on a student’s comprehension and also gives them a reason to research more about a topic or look up additional vocabulary related to the topic.

Dictation Challenges

We’re all familiar with challenges of different types, so how about running a dictation challenge?

Challenge students to complete a dictation a day for a month (or start off simple with a 5 day challenge). You can choose whether a student does a different dictation a day or whether they replay dictations they have previously completed to improve their score.

Do you use online dictations with your students? If so, how do you use them?

Here are just 8 reasons why we think that online dictation exercises are great!

1: Students Can Work At Their Own Pace

Online dictations, particularly ones with controls that offer listening options, allows students to work at their own pace. Unlike in a class, where if a student loses his place or falls behind, they not only don’t complete the exercise, they also don’t reap the learning benefits, when a student is working with an online dictation exercise they can work at their own pace. This gives students confidence as they build their listening and writing skills.

2: Multi Faceted Learning

Online dictations also give students the option to really maximize the benefits from the exercises. Students who are struggling with the dictations can also replay words until they are familiar with the sounds and build up their confidence and knowledge. They can look up the spellings and meanings of words which helps build their vocabulary. When working on a site like Ringo Lingo, you will see that all dictations come with an accompanying illustration which is relevant to the topic, and this helps give students a clue to the context of the dictation.

3: Differentiated and Progressive Dictation Exercises

Online dictations are often graded by reading level or progressive in difficulty meaning that you can give different levels of dictation to students according to their ability. ESL students can also progress on their own moving to more difficult dictations as their confidence in English grows. Students can start with some short dictations to get familiar with how dictations work and then build to more lengthy dictations over time.

4: Different Voices and Accents

This is a biggie! Another benefit of online dictations for ESL learners is that they can listen to a range of different voices and accents. Services such as ours at Ringo Lingo, allow students to choose from a range of voices and accents from around the world, ensuring they don’t get ‘programmed’ to just understanding English when spoken by you! This allows them to get exposed to the rich diversity of accents they will hear from English speakers everywhere.

5: No Special Equipment or Material Required

Online dictation exercises for ESL learners are great because students don’t need any special equipment or material to access the dictations. As long as they have internet access, they are good to go! This is handy as students can access the dictations on any device which helps remove any barriers they may have to doing dictations at home.

6: A Wide Variety of Different Topics

The variety of topics available on many online dictation services means that your students will find dictations that interest them. This is important, particularly with reluctant learners. We know from experience that a student is more likely to engage with dictation content and throw themselves into the experience more if it’s a topic that interests them, than they are with a topic they find deadly dull and boring.

7: Topical and Current Dictations

While reading dictations from books can be useful, it’s difficult to find books which publish current or topical dictation passages. Online sites such as Ringo Lingo, however, will add new and current topics to their dictation library frequently. This means that not only do students have new and fresh dictations to refer to, they can also read about topics which they are familiar with because they are current news stories or topical events.

8: Self Checking Exercises

And last, but certainly not least, online dictation platforms such as Ringo Lingo provide self checking exercises so students can check their work. They can also use the hint function to help them review the text and identify errors before checking the final text. This is a hugely useful function, particularly for students working at home.

These are just 8 reasons why we think that online dictations are a great resource for English language learners – what do you think…??