APP
OF THE
DAY
ELSA Speak: English Learning
Speak & Learn English Language
Do you get confused when trying to distinguish these English words: “heal” and “heel”, “brake” and “break” or “principle” and “principal”? Have you ever been embarrassed by your mispronunciation of “sheet” or “crab”? Do you have trouble deciphering whether your foreign colleague is saying “bill” or “build”?
If your answer to any of these questions is a definite “yes”, don’t worry. English pronunciation can be really hard (not “heart”).
ELSA Speak’s founder Van Dinh Hong Vu experienced first-hand the problems that arise from thick accents and mispronunciations after she moved from Vietnam to the United States for study and work. Eventually, Vu overcame these difficulties and decided to draw from her own experiences to create ELSA Speak, which is designed to be a virtual speech assistant.
The app can instantly pinpoint which individual syllable needs to be corrected and how to correct it. The Advanced mode goes further and asks you to pronounce a whole phrase or sentence; you’ll get a grade depending on how close you get to sounding like a native speaker. Soon, you’ll know your /s/ from your /sh/, and even master all the dreaded /ʃ/, /tʃ/ and /k/ from “Cash a check”.
ELSA Speak has more than 1,000 lessons covering different skills and topics for both beginners and advanced learners. The Progress tab will help you track achievements and identify areas of improvement, alongside an assessment test with detailed feedback. The app’s dictionary links to plenty of YouTube video examples thanks to an A.I.-powered search engine, so you can get help for almost any word or phrase. (Yes, there are examples for “She sells seashells by the seashore”!)
Last but not least, you can set up a daily reminder and designate the amount of time you want to allocate to practise. Keep it up, and you’ll see an ascent in your accent!