New 3D Animated App Teaches Pronunciation
Oakland, CA, September 25, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Revolutionary app uses 3D animation to help teach pronunciation
A new iPhone/iPad app has been released that features 3D animations looking at the inside of the mouth when speaking. The iOS app ‘Speak As You See’ will help learners of English and people with communication difficulties to pronounce sounds more clearly. The app will be useful for ESL teachers, ESL students, speech therapists and patients.
Speak As You See allows English language learners and people with speech problems to see what is happening inside the mouth and how the movements of the tongue work in conjunction with the teeth and palate to produce sounds. This is something that has always been difficult to visualize but now learners have a realistic 3D model to imitate.
App developer Neill deHaan said: ‘Many learners of English face difficulties when trying to pronounce certain sounds. For some learners of English, the difference between ‘ch’ and ‘sh’ sounds is inaudible because they don’t have two distinct sounds in their own language. Another well-known problem formany Asian learners is the difficulty faced when pronouncing ‘l’ and ‘r’ sounds. Speak As You See can help learners see exactly what is happening to the tongue when making these sounds and because the animations are realistic, they can be easily imitated.’
British expat Neill deHaan and his US-based business partner, former university lecturer, Scott Gannon have over 40 years’ teaching experience between them and have worked in several countries. The app was developed after seeing the problems involved in teaching pronunciation to learners of English as a second language. They searched in vain for good materials but found a gap in trying to explain what is really happening inside the mouth during pronunciation and were always disappointed with difficult-to-understand diagrams or written explanations.
The app is also useful for those people with hearing and communication difficulties in helping to visualize how they should try to produce sound.
‘We wanted people to try to imitate the models to get better and more natural pronunciation on those problematic sounds and so that’s why the app is called Speak As You See,’ added Neill.
The app is currently available on the App Store as a universal app for Apple iPhone and iPad, priced at $4.99. An Android version is currently undergoing development.
App available at: http://appstore.com/speakasyousee
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/speakasyousee
High-resolution photos: http://goo.gl/DEJjd0
More details are available from: neilld@learningtechnologiesinternational.com