We know that it is difficult to learn English. We understand that you really want to learn this international language. You want to be understood by everyone in the world!  We also know that you may not have many English speakers near you, or you aren’t able to talk in English very often. You simply may not have a lot of opportunities. We understand your problem.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just walk out of your door and meet someone and converse with them in English? Wouldn’t it be nice if they could gently tell you what words they don’t understand, and repeat your sentence so that you could learn how to say it properly? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could always be near an English speaker or teacher so that they could give you feedback whenever you speak in English?

Well, we know that this is not really possible. So, maybe it is possible to speak with others around the world on the phone or through your computer by internet? Well, yes, it is, but how can you find someone to speak with when you want to? And maybe this is too costly?

We want you to succeed and be able to practice English anytime and anywhere you want to. We know that the more you practice, the better you will be able to speak. This is why we have designed SpeakingPal as if it were a tutor on your phone – because we realize that you need one.

Yes, we want you to succeed!

So, you want to know how to speak in English and be understood by others. You look up a word in the dictionary and see funny symbols for the pronunciation (phonetic symbols) that you don’t understand, or better yet, you click on a sound file to hear a recording of the word as it is spoken by a native speaker. You try to pronounce it, but you aren’t sure if what you have said comes close to what you heard, or if others could really understand what you have said.

And that’s not the end of the story. You try to say the word in a sentence, in context. After all, we don’t speak each word separately. This poses other problems. How should the sentence actually be said?

Here are some tips.

1. If you are trying to say a long word, try to break up the word into syllables – or parts of a word. For example, try breaking up the word “pronunciation” like this: pro-nun-ci-a-tion. Then try saying the whole word without breaking it up.
2. Pay attention to what part of the word is stressed. For example, in the word “pronunciation”, the ‘a’ is stressed, so that we say something like “pro-nun-see-AY-shun”. How do you stress a part of the word?  Try making your voice ‘sing’ this stressed part a bit higher, and then go down to normal.
3. When you hear a whole sentence, try to see what part of the sentence has more information, and stress this part. For example, if you were asked “Who is sitting at the table?”, you could answer “BOB is sitting at the table”. You would stress BOB, because this is the information that is important for the person who is asking you this question. But if you were asked “Where is Bob sitting?”, You could answer “Bob is sitting at the TABLE.”, because ‘at the table’ is the information that is missing. We usually stress the noun parts only, so that is why only TABLE is stressed, and not the whole phrase “at the table”.
4. Notice that all words in a sentence are said one right after the other, with no empty delay time or space between words. We – do – not – talk – like – this. This is what is meant by being ‘fluent’ – you don’t separate words, and don’t say ‘uh’, or ‘uhm’ a lot.
5. Some words in sentences are hardly pronounced. These words usually have very little information, like function words. Words that are hardly pronounced are words like: ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘for’, ‘and’, ‘at’. Notice that they are very short words and if they were missing, you could still understand the sentence. In regular, connected speech, it would sound something like this: “Notice (tht) they (er) very short words (n) if they were missing, you could still understand (th) sentence.”

So, how does connected, regular speech really look like? Try reading this sentence: “Noticethttheyerveryshortwordsniftheyweremissing, youcouldstillunerstandthsentence.”

Now do you see why it is so difficult for you to be able to pronounce English?

Latin. That is what you would have learned if you were learning a second language before the 18^th century. In particular, Latin grammar. That’s why they were called “grammar schools”.  Not very helpful if you actually wanted to talk to someone in a language other than your own  – considering that there were no longer any native Latin speakers to speak with.

In the 18^th century, more languages were added. Living languages, like English or French or German and were actually spoken somewhere in the world. But the method was still heavily founded on translation and grammatical analysis. Memorization was key. Language drills, mostly written, were the norm.  And to be honest, simply boring!

But something happened in the 20^th century. Suddenly linguistics and pedagogy and developmental psychology coalesced to produce a multitude of language learning methods. Suddenly all languages were fair game – even made-up languages (like Esperanto), or minority languages (those spoken by only a few people in the entire world). Methods used in “grammar schools” were replaced with a plethora of educational theories that spawned a multitude of learning and teaching techniques. Methods like the audio-visual approach, or the direct method (talking only in the new language), or language immersion (talking only in the new language in every possible school subject), or the communicative approach (learn by interacting with others in task based situations). Certainly a more active and creative way to learn than before, but you still needed a school, a teacher, books, a way to get there – in short, money and opportunity.

And now we are into the 21^st century. Books are being replaced by the internet and mobile revolutions. We don’t need to be in a physical classroom. We can use the cloud. We don’t need to try to decipher strange phonetic symbols in a printed dictionary in order to understand how a word is pronounced – we can hear a recording or a synthetic sample of the desired word right at our finger tips. We don’t need to read dialogs – we can simply play a cool video with optional subtitles. We may even get the translation of it in our own language at the exact moment we want it. We can play language games by ourselves or with the world community. We can interact, globally, with any student or teacher or native speaker in the world – if we know where to find them! In short, we can learn by ourselves, for ourselves, with ourselves (or others), if only we want to, and if only we know how to. So what is the problem now? It is finding what motivates us and what will ‘work’ – but this is for another blog. Remind me for next time, OK?

SpeakingPal is proud to be at the forefront of 21^st century language training!

SpeakingPal was at the recent BETT Show in London, showing our co-produced product with ETS (Educational Testing Service), SpeakingPal Plus! ETS is the world’s leading brand in educational testing services and is the creator of the well-known TOEFL and TOEIC tests. The Princeton-based institution administers over 50 million tests annually worldwide.

So, what is it like co-producing a product with a giant? In a word, satisfying. From the beginning of the product development, we felt a sense of pride and a realization that we were entering an interesting relationship. They respected our innovation, quick reaction, creativity and mobile expertise. We respected their quality content, high standards, impeccable experience and sheer enormity.

At first, we needed to explore each other’s strong points, ideas, ways of implementation, and decision making processes. ETS provided an array of content that we checked for compatibility to mobile. After a selection process, we agreed on types of content that were best suitable for a co-produced effort. The process dovetailed nicely, culminating in SpeakingPal Plus! – a product that allows users to practice both general English speaking and listening skills along with TOEIC practice exercises with genuine content provided by the test makers themselves.

The working relationship was professional, friendly, and very pleasant. The people that we worked with were always helpful, approachable and available. By the end of the process, we felt as though we were working as a real team.  After all, it is how much you are able to accomplish together that really counts and this co-production process showed us the importance of every individual’s contribution to the overall effort.

So, what is it like to co-produce a product with a giant? I think things add up like this:

SpeakingPal + ETS = SpeakingPal Plus!

SpeakingPal is at the Bett Show in Olympia, London, from January 11-14, where we are showing a co-produced product, SpeakingPal Plus! We can be found with ETS, Educational Testing Services, at booth number N67 located at Olympia 2 Level 1 (near the Innovation Avenue). ETS is the global leader in English testing services worldwide and is the creator of the well-known brands TOEIC and TOEFL.

SpeakingPal Plus! is a mobile education solution for iOS and Android platforms with a special focus on speaking. It has ETS approved multimedia rich educational content along with premium TOEIC speaking and listening exercises made from authentic ETS material. SpeakingPal Plus! allows students to speak into their mobile devices and get instant feedback on their speaking and listening performance in mini-lessons that last less than a few minutes!

Please drop by our booth where we will be happy to show you SpeakingPal Plus!

Season’s Greetings from SpeakingPal – Taking Stock of 2011

Season’s Greetings!

Yes, 2011 was a very good year. We produced products. We launched them. We won prizes. ETS is now a shareholder. SpeakingPal is gaining momentum, and people are watching. We are poised to move up in 2012.

But that is not the only measure of our success. We smiled with our colleagues at the new additions to their families – two brand new SpeakingPal babies were born in 2011! We laughed together, a lot, and helped one another, just like a true family. And now we hope for a great New Year in 2012.

SpeakingPal wishes you a very Happy Holiday, with good health, happiness and growth in the coming year!

It’s Nice to Be Chosen

This year has been a flurry of activity for SpeakingPal. From product development to initial launch, we have been hard at work and are just now reaping the benefits. It’s nice to be chosen.

“Chosen for what?” you ask. Well, we have been given awards for all aspects of the development of our educational solution. Being such a multi-disciplinary team, it was nice that every member of the team has been represented with a ‘win’. The awards covered the entire gamut of what comprises SpeakingPal – education, smart content, sound business development, good design and user interface, and high level of technology.

Check out our award links below:

Education – Winner of the 2011 International E-Learning Award for Mobile Education, Business Division: http://www.ielassoc.org/awards-2011buswinners.htm

Content – SmartContent 2011 Winner for Education: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/smart-content-2011-awards-conference-held-prize-winning-works-smart-content-awards-2011-1581724.htm

Design – W3 Award Gold Winner, judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts http://www.w3award.com/winners/list/?l=S&pageNum_winners=1&totalRows_winners=42&event=6&category=&award=G

Technology – Techie Award, Silver Winner: http://techieawards.com/past-winners/2011-winners/

Business – Start-up Awards Finalists:

G-Startup (Global Mobile Internet Conference):  http://gmic.greatwallclub.com/startup-competition

Red Herring: http://www.wiredprnews.com/2011/05/17/speakingpal-is-a-finalist-for-2011-red-herring-top-100-europe-award_2011051719332.html

Action Coach: http://actioncoach.com/businessforum2011-finalists

Yes, it’s nice to be chosen!!

Well, now it is official. SpeakingPal has won first prize in the Education Category at the recent SmartContent 2011 Conference, held Nov 2-3 in Seoul, Korea. Hosted by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency, SmartContent 2011 had over 150 entries from 15 countries in seven categories. See the Press Release here: http://www.wiredprnews.com/2011/11/09/speakingpal-wins-first-in-smartcontent-2011-education-category_2011110923723.html
What can I say? It’s a great feeling to have your efforts and hard work appreciated. The award was for “Smart Content”, aimed at discovering and awarding unique content solutions worldwide. SpeakingPal has especially tried to make our content unique, highly interactive, engaging, and entertaining, replacing the usually boring and repetitive types of pronunciation and speaking drills that are so commonplace.
Designing speaking skill practice anew, specially geared for the mobile, allowed us to tear down traditional ways of thinking and prepare educational content with a totally fresh start. We decided from the outset that we would pretend that no such practice existed yet, so as not to get bogged down in the rut of simply porting existing, un-engaging material to the mobile. No, we opted for a much better win-win scenario – let’s design the whole thing from scratch! In this way, we could leverage the easiest and most intuitive use of the mobile – taking to another person on the phone – to an educational tool.
We win a prestigious prize, the user wins a unique educational user experience – I’d say that’s a perfect win-win situation, wouldn’t you?

Belki de daha iyi bir işe sahip olmak için ihtiyacınız olan daha iyi İngilizce yetenekleridir. Belki de İngilizce konuşulan bir ülkede yaşamak ya da çalışmak istiyorsunuz. Belki de uluslararası iş yapmak için İngilizce konuşmanız gerekli.
Diğerlerinin sizi anlayabilmesi için İngilizce konuşabilmeniz gerekli. Çoğu durumda bir işe girebilmek, akademik programlara katılabilmek ya da kendi işinizi kurabilmek amacıyla uzun süreli giriş yapabilmeniz için TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS gibi sınavlarda başarılı olmanız gerekecektir. Bu sınavların tümünün bir konuşma testi bileşeni mevcuttur. Fakat bu testleri geçebilmek amacıyla konuşma yeteneğinizi arttırmak için gerçek İngilizce pratik yapmanız gereklidir. Biliyoruz ki bu konuda size yardımcı olabilecek yeterli sayıda İngilizce öğretmeni bulunmamakta bu nedenle ihtiyaç duyduğunuz İngilizce pratiğini telefonunuzdan yapabilmenize olanak sağlayan esnek bir mobil eğitim çözümü geliştirdik!
SpeakingPal, cep telefonunuzdaki bir video karakter ile konuşmanıza olanak tanıyarak kelime ve cümleleri ne kadar iyi bir şekilde söylediğinize dair anında geri bildirim almanıza olanak tanır. Puanlamanın yorumlanması kolaydır: yeşil = iyi, sarı = ortalama ve kırmızı = geliştirilebilir. Bir inceleme ekranı ana dili İngilizce olan bir kişi tarafından ilgili cümlenin söylenişini ve ardından sizin söyleyişinizi dinleterek aradaki farkı karşılaştırabilmenizi ve ardından kendinizi yeniden kaydederek sınırsız sayıda pratik yapabilmenizi ve geri bildirim alabilmenizi sağlar. Diyaloglar, kendisine bağlayan ve alışkanlık yaratan eşsiz bir eğitim deneyimi sunacak şekilde esprili ve eğlencelidir. İngilizce konuşma pratiği yapmak hiç daha kolay olmamıştı!
Lütfen ürünümüze app store’da göz atın: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speakingpal-english-tutor/id437219346?ls=1&mt=8

Ve de Android Market’te: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.speakingpal.speechtrainer.sp

Tanıtım videosu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLUhxkMsdWE

Basın bildirisi: http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/speakingpal-announces-recent-launch-to-the-iphone-227957.php

Uluslararası E-Eğitim Ödülleri Mobil Eğitim Kategorisi ödülü sahibi!
http://www.ielassoc.org/awards-2011buswinners.htm

SpeakingPal: www.speakingpal.com

Well, we did it! We actually made it through another glorious film shoot and produced our usual high quality content. Everything was in place – actors, actresses, scripts, director, producer, pronunciation coach, props, costumes, teleprompter, lighting, studio, green screen – every detail attended to, up to the fetching of early morning coffee and the well needed hot lunch!

But you want to know more, don’t you? How about the fact that the studio double-booked and so we had to make a last minute change to an even better studio? Or the last minute decision to actually drive a car inside the studio building so that the filming could take place ‘inside of a car’? And what about the pronunciation coach, who has worked on creating a pronunciation course on how to pronounce all of the sounds of English using a pantomime artist and became partially frozen by Bell’s Palsy, with her half-face paralyzed, unable to really make any of her famous ‘faces’ to show the pantomime exactly what face to use? How’s that for bad timing? But we all came through, learning with a smile, or at least half of one!

Tired, at the end of the day, someone remarked, “This was a lot of fun!” And you know what? It was! One day, I’ll even tell my grandkids about it…