[LyndsySimon]

That's a good point, and I don't disagree.

For some background, I grew up in northern Arkansas. I have a very pronounced Southern accent if I allow myself to, and I've always made it a point to carefully enunciate and use "correct" (read: "Standard American English") grammar because my native accent is one that's generally associated with lower education or even lower intelligence.

I credit my vocabulary with my reading everything I could early in life. I'm in my early thirties and there are still times when I have to ask others how to pronounce a word because I've never heard it spoken. I would much rather take the embarrassment of asking over the implicit judgement that people make if I badly mispronounce a word.

[geoka9]

I find this site very helpful for many languages, including English:

https://forvo.com/languages/en/