The need to speak several languages is becoming more and more critical, whether for students, to afford the best schools, for workers, to get more opportunities, or for entrepreneurs who want to reach new markets. New technologies revamped foreign language learning, in this article we highlight out what to expect in the upcoming years.
Chatting with robots
What if the teachers from the future are robots! When we talk about the future, we often think of robots, and in the case of foreign language learning, this may well become a reality.
The company Aldebaran Robotics already presented its NAO robot a few years ago, and it has been used as the basis for many projects, such as L2tor, a European project that seeks to use this robot to teach English or German.
This robot can learn languages and teach them but does not have sufficient social intelligence to be able to transmit its knowledge as humans do.
Speech recognition to improve pronunciation
The technology to learn a foreign language is at your fingertips! With your smartphone, you can practice pronouncing words or phrases in English, via your phone’s voice recognition. Your voice will then be compared using voice recognition technology, and you’ll see just how proper your English pronunciation is. Your voice will then be analyzed using voice recognition technology, and you’ll see how precise your English pronunciation is.
Before you go too far and judge yourself too harshly, make sure you get a good quality voice recognition on your phone. To do this, take a test in your native language to make sure your phone understands what you’re saying.
You can also use a computer to work this way, as more and more applications now offer speech recognition. Even simple free apps like Google Doc can be enough to work on your way of pronouncing words in a foreign language.
Teaching languages with a tutor
Technologies can develop rapidly. Some methods will remain essential for developing language skills, such as MOOCs or tutoring.
You can learn the language of your choice, not with a person who speaks the language you are targeting, but with a native and pedagogical person! It could allow you to make progress, both in grammar and pronunciation.
Whether you are at home, in a hotel, at school, or work, you can receive tutoring. There are no limits, as long as you have an Internet connection and good working conditions (a bright and quiet space).
Language learning via virtual reality
Immersion a good way to learn a living language. But when you don’t have the opportunity to travel. Stroll in a foreign city, on a train, and converse in other languages, as if you were abroad, but from your couch! Convenient to get away from it all after a long day.
You won’t talk directly to real people, but with chatbots, which will allow you to practice the language educationally. That can help people who don’t dare to practice a foreign language in public to get started.