How to record yourself speaking English and compare it with a native speaker

To record yourself speaking English and compare it with a native speaker, choose one short line from a captioned video, record yourself saying it, then play your recording and the original one after the other and listen for a single difference. Sada does this free in the browser with no account: it plays both takes side by side and shows which words it recognised and how your timing compares. It does not grade individual sounds, so the final judgement is made by your ear.

Try one line nowListen to one short line, record your take, then play it beside the original. Free, with no account.

Record and compare a line, step by step

Choose a line. Open the starter line (“You don't need to speak fast.” at 02:20.0), or paste any YouTube video with captions and pick a short line you understand. For a particular accent, choose a speaker who has it.
Listen to the original two or three times while you read the caption. Slow the playback down if it is fast.
Press Record, allow microphone access, say the line once and stop. Wear headphones so the microphone does not pick up the video.
Open Compare and play your recording and the original one after the other. Listen for one difference only: a word ending you dropped, a stressed word, a pause.
Record the same line again, changing only that one thing. When it is closer, move to the next line.

Comparing beats listening to yourself alone because your own recording has nothing to be measured against; the same sentence from a real speaker, played straight after it, gives you a target.

What to compare

Listen for	Ask yourself
Word endings	Did I say the last sound of each word, as in “worked” or “asked”?
Stress	Which word, and which syllable inside a long word, is louder and longer in the original?
Pace and pauses	Where does the speaker pause, and do I run ahead, fall behind or run out of breath?
Melody	Does the voice rise or fall at the end of the line? Sada does not measure pitch; you judge it by ear.
Single vowels and consonants	Hard to hear in your own voice. Ask a teacher, or use a tool that grades sounds.

What Sada can and cannot tell you

It can: play your take beside the speaker’s, show which words of the line were recognised, missed or added, and show how your timing lines up with the original.

It cannot: tell you which speech sound you got wrong, rate your accent, or replace a teacher. A red word is a reason to listen again, not a verdict: noise, a distant microphone or a caption mistake can miss a word that you said well.

Three real lines to try

“Anybody go shopping and put on a pair of pants this week?”
Ivan Joseph · 4:37 · Practise this line →
A question with P and B in it. Compare the puff of air on the P of “put” and “pair”.

“I worked and worked, and I got lucky, and worked, and got lucky, and worked.”
Amy Cuddy · 17:02 · Practise this line →
A line about word endings: the T at the end of “worked” and “got” running into the next word.

“My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy,”
Sir Ken Robinson · 3:14 · Practise this line →
A longer line from a British speaker. Compare which syllable of each long word is strongest.

What Sada does and does not do (checked 30 September 2026)

Price: free, with no account, sign-up or paid plan.
Where it runs: in a web browser on a computer or a phone; nothing to install and no extension. Recording needs microphone access.
What it plays: any YouTube video with usable captions (not every video has them), or a pasted transcript or an SRT or WebVTT file when captions cannot be read.
What it shows: which words of a line were recognised, missed or added, and how your timing compares with the speaker.
What it does not do: grade individual sounds, rate an accent, give a test score or an IELTS band, or hold a conversation.
Where your voice goes: speech recognition runs in your browser and recordings stay on your device. The first recording downloads a speech model once (about 75 MB on a phone).

Other ways to record and compare

Any voice recorder on your phone works if you also have the audio you want to copy, but it gives no feedback on words or timing. For one word, a dictionary with audio is enough. For feedback on individual sounds, see free pronunciation checkers compared.

Questions people ask

Can I record myself and compare with a native speaker for free?

Yes. Sada is free, with no account: pick a line from a captioned video, record yourself, then open Compare to play your take beside the original. The speaker is whoever is in the video you choose.

Do I need to download an app or sign up?

No. It runs in the browser on a computer or a phone, with nothing to install and no account.

Will it tell me which sound I said wrong?

No. Sada shows which words were recognised and how your timing compares. It does not grade individual sounds, so listen to your take beside the original and, for specific sounds, ask a teacher.

Where does my recording go?

Recordings stay on your device, and speech recognition runs in your browser.

Can I compare myself with any speaker?

With any speaker in a YouTube video that has usable captions, or in a transcript or SRT or WebVTT file you provide. Not every YouTube video has captions Sada can read.

Start practising