Vocalace — American English pronunciation practice for Chinese speakers

I built Vocalace for Chinese speakers who want American English words to come out clearer. Listen to a US model, record a take, Azure scores by phoneme, and 小 V marks which sound drifted. The word comes back later on a spaced schedule.

Who it's for

You can already read the word. You want it cleaner at work or in class. English teachers, trade and cross-border work, remote eng and product, support and phone sales, study abroad and classroom talks, research and medical meetings, hotel front desk and guides, English voice-over. If the scene depends on someone hearing the word, use this as a practice field.

The lexicon covers common words and a lot of everyday ones. Very rare proper names or client names that aren't in yet can be submitted as add-word requests.

How practice works

Full lexicon: 68,454 words. 15,359 of those are reviewed and in daily practice.

On a trial or membership you:

• Hear the model and see IPA (multi-syllable words split). Open Chinese gloss and example sentences when you need them.
• Record. See phoneme scores and mouth shape. 小 V points at the piece that most needs work.
• Due reviews for the day go first. New words only after those are done, common ones first.
• Or search a word for self-select practice.
• Finish the daily goal you set, and you get a day report.

There's also a dictionary (EN↔ZH IPA and gloss), a US phoneme chart, short notes on th, /æ/, American r, plus a US vs UK comparison. Free courses on high-frequency misses and American flow: course.vocalace.com.

Pass and mastery

PronScore ≥ 90 is one pass. Two passes in a row means mastered. After that, reviews land at 21 / 90 / 365 days. Miss 90 and it shows up tomorrow.

Trial and membership prices are on the pricing page. Product, account, or partnership: [email protected] (weekday replies). Vocalace is run by Neziva (两江新区涅智维网络科技工作室).

FAQ

Which score is the 90?

Pass uses the overall PronScore for that take. Three parts go into it:

• Accuracy: how close the phonemes are to the model
• Fluency: whether there were extra pauses
• Completeness: whether the whole word got said

Sort those three low to high. Lowest gets 60%. The other two get 20% each. Phoneme scores do not decide pass. They mark which sound drifted so you can work the mouth shape.

Example: accuracy 70, fluency 100, completeness 100. Sorted: 70, 100, 100.

PronScore = 70 × 0.6 + 100 × 0.2 + 100 × 0.2 = 82

Equal weight would have been 90. The 70 taking sixty percent pulls the total to 82.

How do two passes in a row work?

Hit 90 once, and the word comes back the next day. Hit 90 again and it is mastered. Once that settles, that word will not return earlier than the next day. If the confirm take misses 90, it is booked for tomorrow again. The next time you hit 90 still counts as mastered.

What if I miss 90 after mastering?

Confirm again the next day. Pass that, and review resets from the 21-day slot, then 90, then 365.

How do reviews show up?

Open daily practice. Due words come first, oldest due first.

When does 小 V give tips? Can I ask about the report?

After each word, 小 V marks the piece that most needs work. After you finish the daily goal you set, you get a day report. You can keep asking on that report.

Where does the model audio come from?

Generated from the reviewed American IPA. Stress and phonemes match the entry. IPA is checked by AI first; fails go to humans and get re-reviewed. After audio is generated it is listened to again; AI mismatches go to humans. POS, gloss, and example sentences go through the same review pass. Only then does the word enter daily practice.

Can example sentences be scored?

Scoring is per word. You can open an example to hear how the word sits in a sentence.

Self-select vs daily practice?

Daily practice orders by due date and commonness, counts toward mastery and review, and is included in trial and membership. Self-select: search a reviewed word and record. Each assessment costs 1 credit and does not advance mastery. Trial and membership come with credits; you can also top up on the points page.

How many words a day?

Trial: 30 a day. Membership: up to 300. Daily goal can be 30, 50, 100, or 300. Finish the day's goal and you get the report.

How long is the trial? Does membership auto-renew?

New accounts get 7 days. Membership days stack from what you buy. No auto-charge when it ends. Prices on the pricing page.

Can I practice unreviewed words? How long do add-word requests take?

Daily and self-select use reviewed words. The dictionary can look up the full lexicon. Words not in yet can be submitted; track them under My requests. Once processed, you can practice them.

What if an entry is wrong?

Submit a correction for IPA, gloss, example, or model audio. Track it under My corrections.

Are the courses the same system as practice?

Courses on course.vocalace.com are free. Course progress and on-site mastery / review are tracked separately.

How long is practice data kept?

Scores and progress stay on the account. After trial or membership ends, progress remains. After you request account deletion there are 7 days to cancel; then practice data is deleted.