Goodbye Duolingo? Google announces free tool to learn English

Google has just launched a new completely free tool that will help users learn English, similar to the popular language app Duolingo.

In a statement, the company said that this will be “a new feature of Google Search that helps people practice speaking and improve their language skills.”

In the letter, signed by Christian Plagemann and Katya Cox, director and product manager at Google Research, respectively; argued that “proficiency in a new language is difficult to achieve, and many students cite the lack of opportunity to actively practice speaking and receive actionable feedback as a barrier to learning.”

Because of this, they noted, “in the coming days, Android users in Argentina, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Venezuela will be able to get even more language support from Google through the practice of interactive speaking in English, expanding to more countries and languages ​​in the future.”

According to Google, they required the help of linguists, teachers and pedagogical experts in ESL (English as a second language / English as a second language) and EFL (English as a foreign language / English as a second language). Some exercises are repeated at dynamic intervals with the goal of increasing retention.

How does it work?

The new tool in Google Search presents real-life prompts, and then students structure their own spoken responses using vocabulary words provided by the system.

The sessions are divided into three to five minute practices and, in them, ‘virtual students’ can receive personalized feedback regarding their answers. The system also encourages users to continue practicing the language to improve.

Google hopes that with just a smartphone and quality time, students can learn at their own pace and at any time of the day. The feature will be available in the coming days.

For more information about the tool, visit the following link.