Python: how to get the pronunciation of a word

In this article we're going to see how tot get the pronunciation of an English word with Python.

We can write the following function:

import requests

def get_pronunciation_audio_file(word):
    url = f'https://ssl.gstatic.com/dictionary/static/sounds/oxford/{word}--_gb_1.mp3'
    try:
        r = requests.get(url, allow_redirects=True)
        if r.status_code == 200:
            with open(f'{word}.mp3', 'wb') as f:
                f.write(r.content)
        return True
    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        return False

get_pronunciation_audio_file, takes a word as input and attempts to download the corresponding pronunciation audio file for that word from a specific URL.

It starts by constructing the URL for the audio file using string formatting. The URL follows a specific pattern: 'https://ssl.gstatic.com/dictionary/static/sounds/oxford/{word}--_gb_1.mp3', where {word} is replaced with the actual word passed to the function.

The function then tries to make an HTTP GET request to the constructed URL using the requests.get() function. The allow_redirects=True parameter allows the request to follow redirects if necessary. This is the point where the function interacts with the web server to retrieve the audio file.

If the response status code is 200, which indicates a successful request, the function proceeds to save the audio file locally. It opens a file with the same name as the word and a .mp3 extension in write binary mode ('wb'). The response content, which contains the audio file data, is then written to the file using the f.write() method.

Finally, if the file was successfully downloaded and saved, the function returns True, indicating a successful operation. If any exceptions occur during the HTTP request or file operations, the function catches them using the try-except construct. In the case of an exception, it returns False to indicate a failure.