English Ear Training

Hear the English sounds your brain keeps mixing up

You know the words. The hard part is hearing which sound you heard. Soundwise trains your ear with focused listening practice, so similar English sounds stop blurring together.

Try a listening exercise → Explore sound contrasts

$4.99 one-time purchase No microphone required Works on iPhone and iPad

Can you hear the difference?

Your first language:

Round 1 of 2

Preview your hardest contrast

/ɪ/ vs /iː/

Hear the difference.

Now listen carefully. Which word did you hear?

This is 1 of 40+ English sound contrasts in Soundwise.

Great. You just practiced the skill English learners often need most: hearing the difference.

40+ English sound contrasts

Practice more sound contrasts with Soundwise →

Your ears come before your mouth

Many pronunciation problems begin as listening problems. When you cannot reliably hear a difference, producing it is harder. Soundwise trains recognition first.

Common listening contrasts — starting points, not limits

🇯🇵

Japanese Speakers

/r/ vs /l/

"right" vs "light"

🇨🇳

Mandarin Speakers

/θ/ vs /s/

"thin" vs "sin"

🇹🇭

Thai Speakers

/θ/ vs /t/

"thin" vs "tin"

🇪🇸

Spanish Speakers

/ɪ/ vs /iː/

"ship" vs "sheep"

Train recognition first

Start with a contrast, listen closely, get feedback, and repeat. The goal is to recognize the difference before you try to produce it.

How Soundwise works

Listen → Choose → Get feedback → Repeat.

Listen

Pick a pair like ship/sheep, rice/lice, or fan/van. Hear a word spoken in clear English audio.

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Choose

Pick the word you heard. No speaking, no microphone — just focused listening.

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Get feedback

See whether you were right and replay the contrast. Practice until the difference becomes clear.

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Repeat

Build stronger sound recognition through focused practice.

Why learners use Soundwise

Understand sounds you used to confuse

Practice the contrasts that keep blurring together in fast English.

Focus on the contrasts that matter for your language

Focus on the sound differences that are challenging for your first language.

Know exactly what you heard

Get immediate feedback and replay the contrast when you need it.

Move from guessing to recognition

Move from guessing to understanding.

Trusted by English learners improving their listening

★★★★★

im FLABBERGASTED by how POWERFUL this method is! as a brazilian i struggle with a few words and this app literally helps me gain my confidence back!

rafaismyname App Store reviewer

Frequently Asked Questions

The core problem isn't your speaking - it's your perception. You can't pronounce sounds you can't hear. By training your ear first through listening exercises, speaking improvement follows naturally. No recording or speech analysis needed.

Regular practice with minimal pairs builds listening perception over time. Your brain needs repeated exposure to unfamiliar contrasts to start treating them as distinct — how quickly that happens varies by person and contrast.

Yes! The app includes targeted minimal pairs for speakers of Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, Thai, Korean, Arabic, Vietnamese, and many other languages. The exercises adapt to the specific phonemic challenges of your L1 background.

Absolutely! Soundwise complements any English learning program. Think of it as specialized ear training that makes all your other practice more effective. Once you can hear the differences, speaking practice becomes much more productive.

Even advanced speakers often have perception blind spots from their L1. The app's adaptive algorithm will quickly identify your specific challenges and focus on those, making it valuable at any level.