Regional Audio Pronunciations
The SpanishDictionary.com website and app for iPhone/iPad offer regional pronunciations (not currently available on the Android app). For Spanish you can choose between Latin America and Spain, and for English you can choose from the U.S. and the U.K. This article will focus on the Spanish options, but the same process applies if you click on an audio icon next to an English word in the dictionary.
When you click on an audio icon next to a Spanish word on a dictionary page, a box will appear with a variety of information. The first dropdown menu on the left in this box gives you the option to switch between listening to a Latin American accent (LATAM) or an accent from Spain. You can click the arrow next to the region name to open the menu if you'd like to select the other option.
When available, you will also see a video player in this box. Switching the region for the pronunciation will also change the region for the video, when both versions are available.
When you change the regional accent for the pronunciations, SpanishDictionary.com will remember that setting and show it automatically on all future dictionary entries until you change the region again.
The next dropdown menu allows you to change the type of written phonetic pronunciation that you see. Click on the arrow in the menu to select a different option.
ABC shows the word as it is actually spelled, broken out into syllables. It also indicates the stressed syllable in a word. [Example: ca- zue-la]
SPA is the SpanishDictionary.com Phonetic Alphabet, a simplified phonetic alphabet created by the SpanishDictionary.com team. It utilizes letters that are naturally found in Spanish and English to represent sounds in both languages. [Example: kah- thweh-lah]
IPA is the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is a system of symbols that represent different sounds. You may recognize this style of written pronunciations from other dictionaries. [Example: ka- θwe-la]
You can find a quick breakdown of these three options by hovering your mouse over the little circle with a question mark.
If you'd like to read more about these options, as well as see some examples of these alphabets in use, click the "Learn more" button.
Clicking the icon at the far right of this box (a square with an arrow) will open the pronunciation box in a new tab, allowing you to see the two regional options side by side.
