Skip to the test
Slova
Start learning
Menu

English accent test: how clearly are you understood?

Read six short lines out loud. See which words your browser's speech recognition understood, which sounds got lost on the way, and tips for speakers of your first language.

  • 6 short lines
  • 3 minutes
  • 14 first languages
  • Nothing recorded

How the clarity test works

It does not grade your accent or guess where you are from, and there is no accent model behind it. It shows how much of what you say gets through to speech recognition, a rough stand-in for a listener who does not know you.

  1. Read six lines

    Three lists of single words, chosen in pairs that learners mix up (think and three, west and vest, ship and sheep), then three short sentences.

  2. Your browser writes down what it hears

    A single word has no sentence around it, so the speech recognition has to go by the sound. A TH that comes out as an S shows up as “sink”.

  3. Words compared, sounds found

    Each word on the card is lined up with what was heard. Every missed word points to the sounds it carries, and the sounds that miss most come first.

  4. Tips for your first language

    A tip and a line to practise for each sound, with a note for speakers of your first language. For a single word, the pronunciation checker goes deeper.

The six lines you read

The same six lines for everyone, so you can compare one try with the next. Each word list hides sounds that are easy to swap: TH and S, V and W, a long and a short I, a final D and T.

  1. Wordsthink · very · ship · west · bag · light
  2. Wordsthree · vest · sheep · wine · bed · right
  3. Wordsfan · pan · hat · cheap · jeans · zoo
  4. SentenceMy brother wanted fresh fish on Thursday.
  5. SentenceThe weather was better than we thought.
  6. SentenceAt the market stall, I asked for warm bread.

What your result looks like

An example for an imaginary Turkish speaker, not a real result. Yours shows how many words got through, each line with its green and red words, and up to three sounds to work on with a tip and a line to practise.

To work on a sound, say a line with a model voice in shadowing practice, or check whole answers in the speaking test.

Common English sounds by first language

Your first language shapes which English sounds feel hard. These come up most often. Not everyone has all of them, and many people have none.

  • Turkish

    W turns into V (west, vest). Bag sounds like beg. B, D and G at the end turn into P, T and K. TH becomes T or S.

  • Spanish

    B and V sound the same (very, berry). An E before S words (es-tall). Ship and sheep sound alike.

  • Arabic

    P becomes B (pan, ban). V becomes F. An extra vowel splits groups of consonants (be-read).

  • Hindi and Indian languages

    V and W merge (vest, west). A firm T and D for TH. More even stress on every syllable.

  • Chinese

    Last consonants drop. TH becomes S or F. R and L can mix at the start of a word.

  • Japanese

    R and L sound the same (right, light). An extra vowel after consonants (bag-u). V becomes B.

  • Korean

    F becomes P (fan, pan). Z becomes J (zoo, joo). R and L mix.

  • Portuguese

    An extra vowel after last consonants (bag-ee). H is silent. TH becomes F or T.

  • Russian

    W becomes V. Last B, D and G turn into P, T and K. Ship and sheep sound alike.

  • French

    H is dropped (hat, at). TH becomes S or Z. The last syllable gets the stress.

  • German

    W becomes V (wine, vine). Bed sounds like bet. TH becomes S or Z.

  • Italian

    H is dropped. A vowel at the end of words (bag-a). TH becomes T or D.

  • Persian

    W becomes V. An E before S words (es-tall). A vowel splits groups of consonants.

  • Vietnamese

    Last consonants drop (bed, be). TH becomes T. Groups of consonants get shorter.

What accent do I have?

This test does not name accents, because one short recording cannot do that reliably. If you want to listen for it yourself, a handful of sounds give most English accents away.

  • The R in market and earlySaid in American, Canadian, Irish and Scottish English. Dropped in most of England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
  • The A in half and pastLong and open in southern England. The same as in bag in North America and the north of England.
  • The T in betterA quick, soft D sound in North America and Australia. A clear T, or a stop in the throat, in Britain and Ireland.
  • The vowel in walked and coffeeOne of the clearest signs of region, both inside the US and between the US, Britain and Australia.
  • The O in goHow the vowel glides tells a Londoner from a Scot, and a Texan from a Canadian.

How to sound clearer in English

Clear beats native. Five habits that help any accent get through.

  1. Record and listen back. You hear your voice differently from inside your head. Read a line into your phone and play it the next day.
  2. Work on one sound at a time. Pick the sound that changes meaning most, like very and berry, and practice it for a week.
  3. Use pairs of words. Say ship, sheep, ship, sheep until the two feel different in your mouth, then put them in a sentence.
  4. Copy one speaker. Choose a voice you like, repeat a line right after it and match the rhythm, not just the words. Shadowing practice does exactly this.
  5. Slow down a little. Most unclear speech is fast speech. Finishing the last sound of each word does more than a perfect vowel.

Accent test FAQ

What the test can tell you, what it cannot, and what happens to your voice.

Is this accent test free?

Yes. There is no sign-up, no email and no limit. Take it as often as you like, for example once a week while you work on one sound.

Can this test tell which accent I have?

No. It does not name an accent or guess where you are from. It answers a more useful question: how much of what you say is understood. Every accent can be clear; the test shows which words got lost and which sounds they share.

How does the test know which words were understood?

Your browser's speech recognition writes down what it heard, and the page compares that with the line you read. Three of the lines are lists of single words, like think, very and ship: with no sentence around them, the recognizer has to go by the sound, so a TH that comes out as an S shows up as “sink”. A recognizer is not a person, so take the result as a rough guide.

Is my voice recorded?

Slova does not record or keep your voice. Your browser turns your speech into text: in Chrome and Edge that runs on the browser maker's speech service, and in Safari on Apple's. Your result stays in this browser tab.

Why does the test ask for my first language?

Your first language shapes which English sounds feel hard. A Turkish speaker's W often turns into a V; a Spanish speaker's V often turns into a B. With your first language, each sound in your result gets a note on why it happens to speakers of your language, and you see which of your usual trouble sounds came out clear.

Can native speakers take the accent test?

Yes. Choose English in the menu. Most native speakers get nearly every word understood; the words that are missed usually point to the microphone, the room or speaking very fast.

Should I try to lose my accent?

No. Almost everyone who speaks English has an accent, and a clear accent is fine. Work on the few sounds that make people mishear you. That is what the sounds in your result are for.

Does the accent test work on a phone?

Yes, in Chrome, Safari and Edge on phones and computers. Firefox has no speech recognition yet. Allow the microphone when your browser asks, hold the phone about a hand's width from your mouth and find a quiet room.

How is this different from the New York Times accent quiz?

The New York Times dialect quiz asks which words you use, like soda or pop, and maps you to a part of the United States. It does not listen to you. This test listens to you read and shows how much was understood, wherever your English comes from.

Practice the sounds that matter, a little every day

In Slova you speak out loud in short daily lessons, and Felix, an AI tutor, talks with you about the things you love.

Start learning free

More ways to practice speaking

Three more free tools that listen to you, each for a different part of speaking.

All free tools