Forvo

{{Infobox website

| logo = File:Forvo logo.svg

| screenshot =

| caption = Screenshot of Forvo as of April 4th, 2010.

| name = Forvo

| commercial = Yes[http://www.forvo.com/about/ Forvo's About page] says "Headed by Félix Vela ... I love working at a startup". That implies Forvo is a startup commercial company. Currently they appear to be making money off the iPhone app and website advertising. The site nowhere says it's non-profit, just that the content is CC-licensed.

| url = [http://forvo.com forvo.com]

| type = Linguistics

| registration = Optional, but required to download MP3s and to add pronunciations

| owner = Forvo Media SL

| author =

| launch_date = January 2008

| content_license = Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0

| footnotes = License was Creative Commons from January 2008 until August 2019. See note below.

}}

Forvo.com ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|ɔːr|v|oʊ|audio=en-us-Forvo.oga}} {{respell|FOR|voh}}) is a website that allows access to, and playback of, pronunciation sound clips in many different languages in an attempt to facilitate the learning of languages. Forvo.com was first envisioned in 2007 by co-founder Israel Rondón,{{cite web|url=http://www.diariovasco.com/v/20101112/al-dia-sociedad/como-dice-eyjafjalla-20101112.html|title=Bombilla = Light bulb| date=12 November 2010 }} and came to fruition in 2008. Forvo.com is owned by Forvo Media SL, based in San Sebastián, Spain. Forvo's 'About'-page states Forvo to be the largest pronunciation guide website on the Internet.{{cite web

|url=http://www.forvo.com/about/

|title=About Forvo

|access-date=2010-09-26

}} It has been listed in the 50 best websites of 2013 by Time.{{cite news |url=https://techland.time.com/2013/05/06/50-best-websites-2013/slide/forvo/ |title=Time Best Websites of 2013 |date=2013-05-06 |access-date=2013-05-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602032330/http://techland.time.com/2013/05/06/50-best-websites-2013/slide/forvo/ |archive-date=2013-06-02 }}

All sound clips on Forvo.com are created by its users, who also have the power to vote on each clip, positively or negatively, in an effort to ensure that the highest quality sound clips have priority in the site's listings. The pronunciations are also reviewed and edited by a volunteer team of editors.{{cite web|url=http://www.forvo.com/users/ |title=pronunciation guide. Recent collaborators |publisher=Forvo |date= |access-date=2012-03-13}}

Forvo has an API{{cite web|url=http://api.forvo.com/ |title=Forvo Pronunciation API, let's show the world how to pronounce! |publisher=Api.forvo.com |date= |access-date=2012-03-13}} to share its pronunciation with other websites. The API service is paid ($2/year for non-commercial use).{{cite web |title=Forvo.com API Pricing |url=https://api.forvo.com/ |website=Forvo.com}}

Recommendations for adding words

Forvo just encourages adding simple words but there are some exceptions that can be clearly found in their recommendations and policy.{{cite web|url=http://www.forvo.com/recommendations/ |title=Forvo rules}}

Forvo License and User's Rights

Since the beginning of Forvo in 2008 the Company adopted a License called "Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0". By the end of 2019 the Company removed the "Creative Commons" Terms and Conditions from their website.{{Cite web |title=2015 Forvo License|url=http://forvo.com/license/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905055100/http://forvo.com/license/ |archive-date=2015-09-05 |language=en}} It was replaced with an "ad hoc" License that severely restricts user's rights to copy, modify and redistribute the audio files.{{Cite web |title=License |url=https://forvo.com/license/|access-date=2021-11-20|website=Forvo |language=en}}

Since 2008 until 2019 Forvo requested volunteers to record their voices and approximately 5 million audios were recorded under the "Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0".{{Cite web |title=2015 Forvo License|url=http://forvo.com/license/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905055100/http://forvo.com/license/ |archive-date=2015-09-05 |language=en}} Afterwards, Forvo suddenly changed the License to make all recordings their exclusive property.{{Cite web|last=Team|first=Forvo|title=Forvo, the pronunciation guide, license of use|url=https://forvo.com/license/|access-date=2021-11-20|website=Forvo.com|language=en}} Many users have complained of restrictions to download audio.{{Cite web|title=A Free and Open Source alternative to Forvo.com (Pronunciation) - A language learners' forum|url=https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=17460|access-date=2021-11-20|website=forum.language-learners.org}}{{Cite web|title=data request - Where to download the Forvo database?|url=https://opendata.stackexchange.com/questions/3928/where-to-download-the-forvo-database|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Open Data Stack Exchange}} Forvo tried to revoke the rights of users and impede them from downloading their own voices.

More than 5 million audios were recorded under a Creative Commons License that grants irrevocable rights to users to obtain a copy, modify and redistribute the data.{{Cite web|title=Creative Commons — Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-NC-SA 3.0|url=https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/|access-date=2021-11-21|website=creativecommons.org}} However, Forvo violated the Creative Commons License to restrict the freedom of users. In contrast, the Free and Open Source Alternative Lingua Libre does allow users to copy, modify and share their audios.{{Cite web|title=Lingua Libre|url=https://lingualibre.org/wiki/LinguaLibre:Main_Page|access-date=2021-11-21|website=lingualibre.org}}

References

External links

[http://www.forvo.com Forvo Website]
[http://lingvoresurso.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/second-review-forvo-the-pronunciation-guide/ Deusto Reviewer on Language Resources]
[http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/11/25/lifefocus/4996467&sec=lifefocus "Open Channel" – Malaysia Star]
{{cite web|url=http://www.laflecha.net/canales/blackhats/noticias/forvocom-para-saber-como-se-pronuncia-una-palabra|trans-title=Forvo.com, to know how to pronounce a word

|work=La Flecha

|title=Forvo.com, para saber como se pronuncia una palabra

|language=Spanish

|date=23 Jun 2008

|access-date=11 Aug 2012

}} Google Translate: [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.laflecha.net%2Fcanales%2Fblackhats%2Fnoticias%2Fforvocom-para-saber-como-se-pronuncia-una-palabra]

{{cite web

|title=¿Cómo se dice…? Búscalo en Forvo.com

|trans-title=How do you say…? Look it up in Forvo.com

|url=http://www.baquia.com/posts/como-se-dice-buscalo-en-forvocom

|work=Baquía

|date=28 May 2008

|access-date=11 Aug 2012

|language=Spanish

}} Google Translate: [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.baquia.com%2Fposts%2Fcomo-se-dice-buscalo-en-forvocom]

{{cite web

|url=http://www.publico.es/71793/como-se-dice-gwyneth-paltrow

|trans-title=How do you say Gwyneth Paltrow?

|title=¿Cómo se dice Gwyneth Paltrow?

|language=Spanish

|work=Público

|date=17 Apr 2012

|access-date=11 Aug 2012

}} Google Translate: [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.publico.es%2F71793%2Fcomo-se-dice-gwyneth-paltrow]

{{cite web|trans-title=How do you pronounce Eyjafjalla?

|url=http://www.diariovasco.com/v/20101112/al-dia-sociedad/como-dice-eyjafjalla-20101112.html

|title=¿Cómo se dice Eyjafjalla?

|work=Diario Vasco

|date=12 Nov 2010

|access-date=11 Aug 2012

|language=Spanish

}} Google Translate: [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diariovasco.com%2Fv%2F20101112%2Fal-dia-sociedad%2Fcomo-dice-eyjafjalla-20101112.html]