diff --git a/tools/addword.py b/tools/addword.py
index cd297e2..641575f 100755
--- a/tools/addword.py
+++ b/tools/addword.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3.8
 # -*- coding: UTF-8 -*-
 """
-Create description for a word to be added to the word list
+Create the description for a word to be added to the word list
 Usage: addword.py <word>
 """
 import sys
@@ -15,57 +15,50 @@ def main():
         print(__doc__)
         sys.exit(1)
     word = sys.argv[1]
-    prons = get_pronunciation_files(word)
-    phones = get_phonetic_transcriptions(word)
-    britsh_eng = '[🔊]('+prons[0]+')' + ' ' + phones[0]
-    american_eng = '[🔊]('+prons[1]+')' + ' ' + phones[1]
+    pronunciations = get_pronunciations(word)
+    britsh_eng = '[🔊](' + pronunciations[0][0] +')' + ' ' + pronunciations[0][1]
+    american_eng = '[🔊](' + pronunciations[1][0] +')' + ' ' + pronunciations[1][1]
     line = '| ' + word + ' | ' + britsh_eng + ' | ' + american_eng + ' | ' + ' ' + '|'
     print(line)
 
 def get_pronunciation_files(word):
-    """Return the word's prounciation files from youdao.com if available
+    """Return the word's pronunciation files from youdao.com if available
        (British English and American English) as a list"""
     word = word.strip()
-    prons = []
+    prons = [" ", " "]
     url = "http://dict.youdao.com/dictvoice?audio="+word+"&type=1"
     try:
-        urllib.request.urlopen(url).read()
-        prons.append(url)
-    except urllib.error.URLError:
+        urllib.request.urlopen(url)
+        prons[0] = url
+        urllib.request.urlopen(url)
+        prons[1] = url
+    except:
         return prons
 
-    url = re.sub("type=1", "type=2", url)
-    try:
-        urllib.request.urlopen(url).read()
-        prons.append(url)
-        return prons
-    except urllib.error.URLError:
-        return prons
+    return prons
 
-def get_phonetic_transcriptions(word):
-    """Return the word's phonetic transcriptions from youdao.com if available
-       British English and American English as a list"""
+def get_pronunciations(word):
+    """Return the word's pronouciation URLs and phonetic transcriptions 
+       from youdao.com if available"""
     word = word.strip()
-    url = "http://dict.youdao.com/w/eng/"+word
-    phones = []
+    word_url = "http://dict.youdao.com/w/eng/"+word
+    britsh_eng = [" ", "/ /"]
+    american_eng = [" ","/ /"]
     try:
-        response = urllib.request.urlopen(url).read()
-    except urllib.error.URLError:
-        return phones
-    soup = BeautifulSoup(response, "html.parser")
-    spans = soup.find_all('span', {'class' : 'pronounce'})
-    lines = [span.get_text() for span in spans]
-    match = re.findall(r'\[.+\]', lines[0])
-    if match:
-        phones.append(match[0].replace('[', '/').replace(']', '/'))
-    else:
-        phones.append(" ")
-    match = re.findall(r'\[.+\]', lines[1])
-    if match:
-        phones.append(match[0].replace('[', '/').replace(']', '/'))
-    else:
-        phones.append(" ")
-    return phones
+        response = urllib.request.urlopen(word_url).read()
+        soup = BeautifulSoup(response, "html.parser")
+        spans = soup.find_all('span', {'class' : 'pronounce'})
+        lines = [span.get_text() for span in spans]
+        match = re.findall(r'\[.+\]', lines[0])
+        britsh_eng[0] = "http://dict.youdao.com/dictvoice?audio="+word+"&type=1"
+        britsh_eng[1] = match[0].replace('[', '/').replace(']', '/')
+        match = re.findall(r'\[.+\]', lines[1])
+        american_eng[0] = "http://dict.youdao.com/dictvoice?audio="+word+"&type=2"
+        american_eng[1] = match[0].replace('[', '/').replace(']', '/')
+    except:
+        return britsh_eng, american_eng 
+
+    return britsh_eng, american_eng 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     main()