Students build Chrome extension to simplify pronunciation searches | Silicon Valley

Aisha Abdur Rahim and Yi Zhang built PronunciAid, a Chrome extension that streamlines pronunciation searches on YouGlish

Many language learners look up words on YouGlish to hear how they are spoken in real-world videos. Two graduate students, Aisha Abdur Rahim (MSCS ‘26) and Yi Zhang (MSIS ‘27), have built a Chrome extension that makes those searches faster.

The extension, called PronunciAid, turns a multi-step process — selecting a word, copying it, opening a new tab, navigating to the site, pasting it, and hitting Enter — into a right-click search.

Users highlight a word, right-click, and select “Search pronunciation on YouGlish” from a context menu. Results appear in a new tab — or in a pop-up window on the same page. The extension supports 24 languages and is available for free on the Chrome Web Store.

A screenshot of a computer screen. In the background, a word is highlighted. In the foreground, the right-click menu is open and visible is the option "Search pronunciation on YouGlish"

Users can easily search pronunciation from any word in the browser after installing PronunciAid

The idea for PronunciAid grew out of Yi Zhang’s frustration with switching tabs to check pronunciations. At first, she wasn’t sure the problem was worth solving. A late-night call with fellow graduate student Aisha Abdur Rahim changed her mind.

“It’s not just you,” Rahim told her. “A lot of people need this. We should build it.”

They briefly considered developing the idea at a hackathon. But after brainstorming with a small group of potential teammates, they realized they wanted something different.

“We didn’t want to build something just to put on our résumés,” Zhang said. “We wanted to solve an actual problem.”

Zhang told the group they were free to use any of the ideas she had shared — except for PronunciAid.

“We’re going to build that one,” she said.

A photo of a reflective copper light fixture hanging from the ceiling in a cafe. Reflected are Yi and Aisha, who are posing for a photo

Yi and Aisha take a break for a photo at their temporary café HQ

They built and shipped the first version in a single week over winter break, completing it at a Joe & The Juice café in San Francisco.

Feedback from classmates — many of them international students — led to a second week of refinements. The update added a pop-up display option and support for languages beyond English.

In total, the project took two weeks — long enough to move from idea to launch, but short enough to feel within reach, Zhang said.

Zhang, whose background is in hotel management, is enrolled in the Master of Science in Information Systems Bridge program, which prepares students from non-technical backgrounds to solve problems through software design. Aside from a photography website she published on GitHub, PronunciAid is the first product she has launched for a broad audience.

“This was my first official baby,” she said.

For Rahim, who studied information technology and worked as an Android engineer before enrolling in the Master of Science in Computer Science, the project meant taking on roles beyond coding. “She did a perfect job with marketing,” Zhang said, noting that it was Rahim who came up with the name PronunciAid and wrote the LinkedIn post that drew their first wave of feedback.

Since its launch in December, PronunciAid has been downloaded in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Vietnam, and the United States. It has also received several five-star reviews.

The experience gave Zhang and Rahim confidence to keep building. “A small project isn’t actually small if it solves a genuine problem,” Rahim said.