An enunciation system (ES) and method according to the present disclosure enables users to gain acquaintance, understanding, and mastery of the relationship between letters and sounds in the context of an alphabetic writing system. An ES as disclosed herein enables the user to experience the action of sounding out a word, before their own phonics knowledge enables them to sound out the word independently; its continuous, unbroken speech output or input avoids the common confusions that ensue from analyzing words by breaking them up into discrete sounds; its user-controlled pacing allows the user to slow down enunciation at specific points of difficulty within the word; and its real-time touch control allows the written word to be “played” like a musical instrument, with expressive and aesthetic possibilities.