AI tools have appeared that will help you practice pronunciation in English

When learning a foreign language, there is often a fear of communication. What if the words were pronounced incorrectly? What if thoughts freeze? Of course, gaining self-confidence when communicating in a non-native language takes time, but the first step to this is very simple: practice. Babbel is launching two speech tools to help users practice speaking skills, overcome fear, and feel comfortable while communicating. Which ones exactly, the publication said The Next Web.

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The first new feature uses an AI-powered speech recognition system to support users during vocabulary-based lessons and pronunciation assistance.

To evaluate the speaker's pronunciation, an artificial intelligence model Babbel was trained on millions of data points from the company's audio bank, using correct and incorrect pronunciations, different voice ranges, and all sorts of accents and dialects, such as the Spanish of Argentina, Colombia and Spain.

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When activated, the feature prompts the user to speak directly into the device in response to a prompt. The AI ​​tool analyzes the recording and compares it with thousands of samples of phonemes (the individual sounds that make up a language) to evaluate the accuracy of pronunciation. It then provides users with personalized visual feedback.

“The system works on the principle of comparing one attempt with several possible positive results, and the accuracy of the assessment can be adjusted depending on the level of the learner (for example, we can be more strict with more advanced students),” explained Amin Guerroui, Babbel product marketing manager.

The second new speech tool in the application is Everyday Conversations, designed for self-practice of dialogues in order to reduce speech anxiety.

“Part of the challenge in learning a language comes down to confidence when speaking,” explained Molly Thompson Zeugner, vice president of product at Babbel. — The problem is that everyone wants to understand and be understood by the interlocutor, but in order to feel comfortable enough, practice is required. That's why we launched Everyday Conversations."

Everyday Conversations simulates short conversations between people in a variety of real-life scenarios, such as “introducing yourself,” “ordering food,” or “talking to friends after work.”

Users listen to the conversation first to become familiar with it, and then can simulate it themselves. According to the company, this creates a safe practice space in which students can feel comfortable speaking and improving their speech skills.

Both features can be used individually or as additional support for those taking Babbel live classes, in keeping with the company's holistic approach to language learning.

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AI speech recognition is currently available in the web application in five languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish (Castilian and Latin American). In the coming months, it is planned to reach a wider audience, in particular the application will be released for iOS.

Meanwhile, Everyday Conversations is available on Android and iOS for English and Spanish (Castilian and Latin American) language learners. French will be added later, in case you've always dreamed of ordering a croissant like a pro.

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