A system for learning the pronunciation of Japanese pitch accent

We propose a technique that associates the F0 of Japa-nese words with native-speaker perceptions of pitch accents. Up till now, computer-aided prosody learning systems that measure fundamental frequency (F0) have not mapped F0 values to perceptual thresholds of native speakers. Existing learning systems often instruct their students to fit F0 contours within a band designated by the system, but the band's boundaries do not to correspond to measures of acceptance by native speakers. Our method estimates intelligibility of pitch accent patterns based on perception experiments. Intelligibility scores motivate learners by guiding them towards meaningful goals.