Who’s behind it
Built by a singer, for singers.
DictionAid was created by Solen Mainguené — French soprano, soloist at Oper Leipzig, and diction coach.
For years she recorded slow, clear voice memos for singer friends preparing roles. She knows that side of it herself: learning a part too fast, hunting for diction you can rely on, wishing you had a native speaker to call.
So she made that help available to everyone.
What we love about DictionAid
Whole roles, not just the arias
Aria collections are easy to find. What’s often missing is the recitative, the ensemble, the two lines in Act III — and, so often, the dialogue.
We record your complete part, scene by scene, so you’re not left guessing when you get beyond the famous aria.
Read by singers who have sung it
Every recording is made by a professional opera singer whose mother tongue is the language of the score, and who has prepared or performed the repertoire themselves.
Not a synthesized voice. Not someone simply reading a translation. A singer who knows where the phrase breathes, which consonant needs to cut through the orchestra, and how to use the text in a vocally informed way.
Made to your deadline
Started learning too late? Got a last-minute jump-in? Is the theater doing a different version from the one you already sang? If it’s not in our repertoire yet, we can record it for you.
You get a fixed price and delivery date within one business day, and you only pay once you confirm. Most complete roles are delivered within 7–14 days, but we can absolutely react to emergencies. Tell us what you need — we’ll do our best to make it work.
A practice room, not a download folder
Your recordings live in a library you can actually work with. Follow the text line by line, slow down a passage without changing the pitch, loop a single line until it sticks, and display IPA or a literal translation underneath.
It’s designed to make role study faster and simpler. Less time fussing over diction and translation means more time doing what you actually came here to do: sing.
Singers helping singers
This is what we love most.
DictionAid is a singer-to-singer community. The people making the recordings are singers. The people using them are singers. And when you book a recording or coaching session, your money helps support another working artist — giving them a little more room to keep performing, coaching, recording, and making their art.
We love that exchange. Singers helping singers, one role at a time.
Checked before it is published
Every recording is made by a working opera singer, and every one is checked before it goes online.
That pace is deliberate. It is slower than generating text, and it is the reason a recording can be trusted at a first rehearsal.
Questions
- Who is DictionAid for?
DictionAid is primarily for singers — students, young artists, professionals, and anyone preparing a role, aria, audition, or performance in a language they don’t speak natively.
But you don’t have to be the one singing the role. Coaches, conductors, stage directors, répétiteurs, and other opera professionals are very welcome to use DictionAid too.
Whether you’re learning a whole role or just trying to nail those three lines in Act III, we’re here to make the language easier to work with.
- Which languages are available?
For now, we have a strong focus on French, with growing libraries in German and Russian.
We’re already expanding our German and Russian repertoire, with standard Czech coming next — and Italian further down the road.
- What’s included in each recording?
The full text of the role, aria, scene, or song, spoken at diction speed: slow, articulate, and precisely phrased.
The goal is to make every word, vowel, consonant, liaison, and phrase easy to hear and imitate.
- Who reads the recordings?
Professional opera singers whose mother tongue is the language of the score, and who have prepared or performed the repertoire themselves.
Not a synthesized voice. Not someone simply reading a translation. A singer who understands what it means to put those words on stage.
- Can I request something that isn’t in the library?
Absolutely. If you don’t see what you need, send us a request. We’ll check the repertoire, give you a price and delivery date, and you decide whether you want to go ahead.
You can request a whole role, an aria, a scene, a recitative, an ensemble — or just a few lines.
- How quickly can I get a requested recording?
Usually within 7–14 days, and faster when a deadline demands it. We’ll confirm your price and delivery date within one business day, and you only pay once you approve them.
Got a last-minute jump-in or an audition around the corner? Tell us. We’ll do our best to make it work.
- Can I keep the recordings?
Yes. Your purchases stay in your DictionAid practice library, where the text follows the voice line by line.
You can slow passages down without changing the pitch, loop individual lines, and display IPA or a literal translation while you practice.
- How does coaching work?
Send us a request and we’ll match you with the right native-speaking coach. They’ll reply with available session options.
Sessions are online and one-to-one, €55 per hour, of which €45 goes directly to the coach.
- Can I use DictionAid for auditions?
Absolutely. It’s especially useful when you’re preparing under time pressure and need to get the language accurate, consistent, and secure quickly.
- Can I request an emergency recording?
Yes. Tell us your deadline. We can often accommodate last-minute requests, depending on the repertoire and the availability of the appropriate singer.
We’ve all been there.
- What if I’m not sure which coach I need?
That’s what we’re here for. Send us your repertoire and tell us what you’re working on or struggling with. We’ll point you toward the right coach.
- Is DictionAid a replacement for a language coach — or for doing my own IPA and notation work?
Nope. DictionAid is here to help, not to do your homework for you.
You should still work through your text, make your own IPA and notes, and ideally work with a coach when you can.
Think of DictionAid as your sneaky little helper — a reliable native-speaking singer in your pocket who gives you a model to listen to, check yourself against, and come back to whenever you need it. We make the work easier. You still have to do the work.
- Why not just use a translation app or an AI voice?
Because singing is not just speaking. You need pronunciation that works with the music, the breath, the character, the vocal line, and the style of the repertoire.
DictionAid recordings are made by singers who understand all of those things — and who know what it means to actually perform the text on stage.
- What if I hear something different from another recording — or from what I was taught?
That’s possible — and it doesn’t necessarily mean one version is wrong. Especially in French, there can be different legitimate approaches to pronunciation, liaisons, vowels, and prosody.
Our singers choose a version they would confidently sing themselves, based on native usage, musical context, and vocal practicality. If something really makes you wonder, ask us.
- How can I help DictionAid grow?
Honestly? Tell another singer. We’re building DictionAid largely through word of mouth, so if you find it useful, pass it on to a colleague, a friend, your studio, your coach — or someone preparing the same role.
Every singer who joins helps us build a bigger library, support more artists, and make better resources available to more people. We’re a small community, and word travels fast in opera.
The long answer
What if it sounds different from Nico Castel or another recording?
“Wait — this sounds different from the IPA in my Nico Castel, or from another recording I’ve heard.”
That’s completely possible — and it doesn’t necessarily mean one version is wrong.
French in particular is wonderfully complex, with exceptions, regional accents, traditional and modern approaches, and liaisons that may or may not be made depending on context. Even experts and native speakers often disagree. There are the absolute purists, the more modern approaches, and plenty of informed opinions in between.
And then you add prosody, musical notation, and what works naturally and comfortably when singing — it all becomes part of an even bigger equation.
Our recordings are made by professional, native French-speaking singers who are experienced performers themselves. They give you a version they would confidently sing themselves: clear to native listeners, musically and vocally logical, and in line with standard, accepted practice for singing.
So if our version differs from Nico Castel, another recording, or even something you’ve been taught, don’t panic! There can be more than one legitimate way to approach it.
But if you hear something you strongly question or disagree with — a liaison, for example, or a vowel you thought should be more open or closed — please let us know. Send us an email.We’ll take a careful second look, get back to you, and, if necessary, make a correction.
We’re singers too. We know that getting the details right matters.