Speechling discussion

Ask specific questions about your target languages. Beginner questions welcome!
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lingua
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Re: Speechling discussion

Postby lingua » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:23 pm

I see nothing on their site that makes them seem a charity. They provide limited free feedback each month for anyone/everyone and they have a limited number of scholarships available with specific requirements. Their mission is to make this service available but it's not possible to provide unlimited feedback to the entire world so it's logical they'd have some limitations on the free part. They still need funds. At least they pay people unlike some sites that rely on volunteers.

No worries pinkyslippers. This discussion is still relevant to Speechling in general.
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Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

jeffers
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Re: Speechling discussion

Postby jeffers » Wed Jun 30, 2021 8:04 am

I just heard about Speechling yesterday afternoon, from a thread on the Duolingo forums about Kwiziq (go figure! :lol:). I've created an account and will give it a go. I'll probably work on the Core Curriculum for my first attempts, and see if it works for me.

The section I found very interesting is Speechling Conversations, and the options there besides free speech. There is one in which they give you a question, E.g. "If you could go to any period in history which one would it be?", "What does your family argue about?", etc, and you record your answer. Another section you are given a picture and record yourself describing it. I could see myself using these options when I've built up a bit more confidence. What I like about them is they remove the obstacle of not knowing what to talk about in the first place.

The free version is basically useless as far as I can tell (although some of the exercises could be useful). You get 10 free corrections per month, but as the main course is made up of very short phrases you could use this up in less than 5 minutes. I don't think it's even enough to evaluate the service. I realize that since they have to pay people to give the feedback, they can't be too generous, but I would want a slightly larger trial to find out if it's useful to me.

I've tried a few of the other exercises from the Toolbox, and they're not bad. I especially like the fact that they are integrated into the main purpose of Speeching; any phrase which occurs in the other exercises can be recorded for feedback.
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Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien (roughly, the perfect is the enemy of the good)

French SC Books: 0 / 5000 (0/5000 pp)
French SC Films: 0 / 9000 (0/9000 mins)

s_allard
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Re: Speechling discussion

Postby s_allard » Fri Jul 09, 2021 11:11 am

jeffers wrote:I just heard about Speechling yesterday afternoon, from a thread on the Duolingo forums about Kwiziq (go figure! :lol:). I've created an account and will give it a go. I'll probably work on the Core Curriculum for my first attempts, and see if it works for me.

The section I found very interesting is Speechling Conversations, and the options there besides free speech. There is one in which they give you a question, E.g. "If you could go to any period in history which one would it be?", "What does your family argue about?", etc, and you record your answer. Another section you are given a picture and record yourself describing it. I could see myself using these options when I've built up a bit more confidence. What I like about them is they remove the obstacle of not knowing what to talk about in the first place.

The free version is basically useless as far as I can tell (although some of the exercises could be useful). You get 10 free corrections per month, but as the main course is made up of very short phrases you could use this up in less than 5 minutes. I don't think it's even enough to evaluate the service. I realize that since they have to pay people to give the feedback, they can't be too generous, but I would want a slightly larger trial to find out if it's useful to me.

I've tried a few of the other exercises from the Toolbox, and they're not bad. I especially like the fact that they are integrated into the main purpose of Speeching; any phrase which occurs in the other exercises can be recorded for feedback.


Like jeffers, I had a look at the free version and I have to say that I came away reasonably impressed. I liked the interface, the flexibility, the variety of voices and the various resources. My basic impression is that it is something to put in one's language learning toolbox. Here I'll like to briefly look at three issues that come to mind.

I might be wrong but I get the impression that all the sample phrases are the same but translated into the various languages. This might be fine for beginners but at the more advanced levels there is no feel for any cultural or language-specific content. The phrases do the job but I found them rather boring.

Something that I find lacking - and maybe I just haven't found it - is the option to have sets of phrases for points of grammar or vocabulary . Let's say I wanted to work on my Spanish imperfect subjunctive verb conjugation. It would be nice to see some phrases just on that. Or maybe I want to work on how to talk about time in my target language. Again, it would be nice to see a set of phrases just on that.

Finally, I dislike this whole concept of asynchronous feedback. I don't call this coaching. There is no interaction. I totally understand that one should not expect real coaching for $20 a month but I find the whole thing kind of useless. I pity the poor people who have to listen to all the recordings and make quick comments.

All in all, I think it's interesting and I will explore it further.
Last edited by s_allard on Sat Jul 10, 2021 5:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Cavesa
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Re: Speechling discussion

Postby Cavesa » Fri Jul 09, 2021 8:49 pm

s_allard wrote:I might be wrong but I get the impression that all the sample phrases are the same but translated into the various languages. This might be fine for beginners but at the more advanced levels there is no feel for any cultural or language-specific content. The phrases do the job but I found them rather boring.

Something that I find lacking - and maybe I just haven't found it - is the option to have sets of phrases for points of grammar of vocabulary . Let's say I wanted to work on my Spanish imperfect subjunctive verb conjugation. It would be nice to see some phrases just on that. Or maybe I want to work on how to talk about time in my target language. Again, it would be nice to see a set of phrases just on that.


Some forum members, like Lingua, use Speechling free speaking function to practice their Assimil lessons. You can add anything you want to the curriculum. For example I will probably use this tool for some medical vocab too.

However, I don't think the grammar phrases are so lacking. The priority of Speechling is pronunciation, conjugation drilling is better done elsewhere, and the conjugations are not a major pronunciation issue.

I agree the curriculum is kind of boring. But it serves the purpose.

Finally, I dislike this whole concept of asynchronous feedback. I don't call this coaching. There is no interaction. I totally understand that one should not expect real coaching for $20 a month but I find the whole thing kind of useless. I pity the poor people who have to listen to all the recordings and make quick comments.

All in all, I think it's interesting and I will explore it further.


The asynchronous feedback is the best part. No time wasted at all, no opportunity for the tutor to redirect the time to something less valuable (which is usually a constant struggle), clear focus on pronunciation.

And I think the people correcting the recordings might actually love this sort of freedom. They pick the moment for correcting, no need to plan something well in advance. It can be great for people with also another job or for example parents.

Yes, the price is very friendly, perhaps they'll raise it, who knows. But I cannot agree that this is not "real coaching". These short comments have been the most useful pronunciation feedback I ever got. No other teacher ever got close to this sort of precision, in identification of even "minor" problems.
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munyag
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Re: Speechling discussion

Postby munyag » Fri Jul 08, 2022 8:49 pm

Cavesa wrote:
s_allard wrote:I might be wrong but I get the impression that all the sample phrases are the same but translated into the various languages. This might be fine for beginners but at the more advanced levels there is no feel for any cultural or language-specific content. The phrases do the job but I found them rather boring.

Something that I find lacking - and maybe I just haven't found it - is the option to have sets of phrases for points of grammar of vocabulary . Let's say I wanted to work on my Spanish imperfect subjunctive verb conjugation. It would be nice to see some phrases just on that. Or maybe I want to work on how to talk about time in my target language. Again, it would be nice to see a set of phrases just on that.


Some forum members, like Lingua, use Speechling free speaking function to practice their Assimil lessons. You can add anything you want to the curriculum. For example I will probably use this tool for some medical vocab too.

However, I don't think the grammar phrases are so lacking. The priority of Speechling is pronunciation, conjugation drilling is better done elsewhere, and the conjugations are not a major pronunciation issue.

I agree the curriculum is kind of boring. But it serves the purpose.

Finally, I dislike this whole concept of asynchronous feedback. I don't call this coaching. There is no interaction. I totally understand that one should not expect real coaching for $20 a month but I find the whole thing kind of useless. I pity the poor people who have to listen to all the recordings and make quick comments.

All in all, I think it's interesting and I will explore it further.


The asynchronous feedback is the best part. No time wasted at all, no opportunity for the tutor to redirect the time to something less valuable (which is usually a constant struggle), clear focus on pronunciation.

And I think the people correcting the recordings might actually love this sort of freedom. They pick the moment for correcting, no need to plan something well in advance. It can be great for people with also another job or for example parents.

Yes, the price is very friendly, perhaps they'll raise it, who knows. But I cannot agree that this is not "real coaching". These short comments have been the most useful pronunciation feedback I ever got. No other teacher ever got close to this sort of precision, in identification of even "minor" problems.


@Cavesa-Hows your experience of Speechling now compared to 12 months ago?Do you see any major differences/improvements in your languages?
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