Google has just released its latest feature within Google Search to help people all over the world improve spoken English. Speaking practice is currently being tested in Google Labs by users in a few countries. Powered by artificial intelligence, an interactive tool asks users to speak in English and supports them in learning languages in a dynamic and applied way.
AI-based interactive e-learning
An interesting feature of the app is Speaking practice, where users are asked to build up a response to prompts by including given words. For example, a user may get a prompt to imagine that they have lost a sweater and need to react with the words love, sad, and sorry. This goes beyond the rote memorization of words and phrases emphasized by other language-learning apps. Google AI allows for instant conversation; hence, the application of new vocabulary in regular life experience is fast and easy.
Illustrations of how this is done are shared through the user how far on the X platform. The users engage the AI with answers to many prompts, either on the topic of most scenarios in a person’s life, like personal emotions, or on fitness goals, and the AI helps one to grow into a conversational capacity.
Exclusively on Google labs
As of now, the Speaking practice feature is rolled out for Google Labs users in Argentina, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Those interested in trying it can join Google Labs by visiting the lab’s website and clicking on the ‘Try it now’ link beside the feature.
Google has launched a couple of other such AI-powered tools for learning a new language. In October 2023, it introduced a feature that prompted spoken responses to a series of prompts, providing feedback to help users improve their language skills. Earlier, in 2019, Google released a tool that allowed users to practice pronouncing single words while they were rated on their pronunciation.
Expanding conversational capabilities
A key innovation of the Speaking practice feature is that it focuses on back-and-forth interactions rather than on the evaluation of single-spoken responses. To this. For now, Google has no other plans to share on the timeline for when the feature will become broadly available, nor whether other languages will be included. It is in this current testing phase, though, that the company must understand just how such tools could be valuable for non-native speakers looking to hone their English skills conversationally. Yet another major touchstone that would indicate just how much Google is investing in developing the technological sophistication of educational tools is its development of Speaking practice. It is conceived here to make it easier for users around the world to perfect their English in a natural way that other languages are conventionally learned and used.
This article originally appeared in ZDNET
