Comparison

NAWL Builder vs Accent Training

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NAWL Builder

This app helps English language learners master academic vocabulary using the New Academic Word List (NAWL). It provides tools for downloading, organizing, and studying words with definitions, pronunciation, and progress tracking.

Highlights
  • Study tools for NAWL words
  • Download and organize word lists
  • Progress tracking
  • Email progress reports
  • Native English pronunciation
  • Simple English definitions
Features
Read full description

NAWL Builder: This application is designed to help learners and teachers make use of one of the most important lists of academic vocabulary words for second language learners of English, the New Academic Word List (NAWL). The list is open source and is used with permission of the authors. The app contains simple tools to help you download, email and organize the NAWL, as well as science-based study tools to quickly and efficiently learn the words, keep detailed record of your progress and the ability to email your progress to yourself or a teacher. The original definitions are written in simple English and the app also give you pronunciation of each word by a professional voice talent who is a native speaker of English of North American English. About the NAWL: The first version of the New Academic Word List (NAWL 1.0), published by Dr. Charles Browne, Dr. Brent Culligan is finished and available at the following link (www.newgeneralservicelist.org). The list is available in alphabetical order, with inflected forms, and with Standard Frequency Indices (Carroll, Davies, & Richman, 1971; Carroll, 1971). How many words are in the NAWL? The NAWL is a list of 963 words derived from an academic corpus containing about 288 million words. What are the components used in building the corpus? The first major component of the corpus is the Cambridge English Corpus. This corpus is comprised of academic journals and non-fiction, student essays, and academic discourse. According to Cambridge English Corpus website, the corpus includes “text from academic books and journals from the UK and US covering a wide range of disciplines and topics.” This part of the Corpus contained about 249 million words and yielded a single word list with frequencies. The rest of the corpus was assembled from other sources. The oral part of the corpus used was compiled from two corpora of spoken English, the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE), and the British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus. These corpora were put together and re-sorted into four categories, namely Arts and Humanities, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, and Physical Sciences, giving four separated word lists and frequencies. The third and final part, Textbooks, was assembled from a corpus of published textbooks including many of the top 100 best-selling textbooks. The textbooks were also divided into the same four categories as the spoken English corpus and generated four word lists with frequencies. The steps to get the list were as follows. The final corpus was analyzed using procedures outlined in Carroll, Davies, and Richman (1971) and Carroll (1971) to obtain D, an index of dispersion over the nine word lists, U, an adjusted estimation of the occurrence of the word frequency per million, and the SFI, the Standard Frequency Index. The words from the New General Service List (NGSL) were accounted for and a list of candidates was selected based on frequency, dispersion, and appropriateness. About Intelligent Flashcards: The app also contains an Intelligent Wordlist Maker and Intelligent Flashcard system. The Intelligent Wordlist Maker helps you to quickly and efficiently pick only the words you don’t know for study in the flashcard system. Rather than force you to go through the entire list at once, Intelligent Wordlist Maker guides you through the list by frequency bands, allowing you to add words little by little, just as you need them or when you have time. Based on the well documented science of “spaced-repetition”, the Intelligent Flashcard system systematically and efficiently helps you to review the words several times over a period of a month, giving you extra time with the words that are giving you difficulty. References Carroll, J. B. (1971). Statistical analysis of the corpus. In The American Heritage Word Frequency Book (pp. xxi – xl). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

About

Accent Training

Improve your American English accent by focusing on speech music, rhythm, and intonation. Practice with an AI tutor, receive instant pronunciation feedback, and track your progress with gamified lessons. Ideal for professionals and students seeking clearer, more confident communication.

Highlights
  • Speech music, rhythm, and intonation focus
  • Instant color-coded pronunciation feedback
  • Real-time pitch visualization
  • AI tutor for conversation practice
  • Gamified daily lessons and streaks
  • Minimal pairs and listening exercises
Features
Read full description

Master the American Accent — Sound Like a Native Most accent apps start with sounds. We start with music. Accent Training teaches you the melody of American English first — the stress patterns, rhythm, and intonation that native speakers use without thinking. Master the music, and the sounds fall into place. Learn. Listen. Speak. Get scored. - Record yourself and receive instant, color-coded pronunciation feedback — word by word - Match intonation patterns with real-time pitch visualization - Train your ear with minimal pairs and listening discrimination exercises - Practice real conversations with an AI tutor that adapts to your level The curriculum that actually works - Section 1: Speech Music — the pitch patterns, stress, rhythm, and word connections - Section 2: Critical Sounds — vowels, the American T, L & R, TH sounds - Section 3: Natural Speech — schwa, reductions, contractions, casual forms - Section 4: Integration — reading passages, scenarios, and self-assessment Stay motivated, every day Daily streaks, XP, weekly leagues, and achievements keep you coming back. Bite-sized 3–5 minute lessons fit into any schedule. Celebrate every win. Who it's for Professionals preparing for interviews. Students entering English-speaking universities. Anyone who wants to be understood clearly and confidently — in meetings, on calls, in life. Sound less foreign. Sound more you. Download free and start your first lesson today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

NAWL Builder4 screens
Accent Training4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NAWL Builder at none against Accent Training's 3. NAWL Builder also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Accent Training's advantage is ratings volume (11K vs 5) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 8 months). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Accent Training sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. NAWL Builder asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

NAWL Builder holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Accent Training has 11K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NAWL Builder ships an update every 8 months, Accent Training every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on July 4, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
NAWL Builder versus Accent Training: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNAWL BuilderAccent Training
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings) — better4.6 (11K ratings)
Positive reviews—67.8% of reviews
Number of ratings511K — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEFL TechnologiesAndie Nguyen

Customer experience

NAWL Builder

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Accent Training

All ratings11,062 ratings
Positive90.8%
Neutral3.9%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews87 reviews
Positive67.8%
Neutral6.9%
Negative25.3%

Bugs and requests

NAWL Builder

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Accent Training

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Ads cannot be closed
  • Microphone functionality not working for some users
  • App crashes or freezes when trying to exit ads

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add feedback/correction on user recordings
  • Provide option to adjust audio playback speed
  • Include British English pronunciation examples
  • Implement a dark mode option
  • Add more diverse speaker voices and accents

In-app purchases

None

NAWL Builder

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Accent Training

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Plus Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Remove Ads$4.99

Questions

Is NAWL Builder free?
NAWL Builder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Accent Training free?
Accent Training is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NAWL Builder or Accent Training?
NAWL Builder is rated higher. NAWL Builder averages 5.0 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Accent Training averages 4.6 from 11K ratings.
Do NAWL Builder or Accent Training have ads?
Accent Training shows ads; NAWL Builder does not.
Which is updated more often, NAWL Builder or Accent Training?
NAWL Builder ships an update every 8 months, and Accent Training every 2 months. Most recently, NAWL Builder was updated on July 4, 2026 and Accent Training on September 29, 2026.

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