Professional American English Teacher Reviews the "Elsa Speak" Pronunciation Trainer | English Hacks

[@laracroftvideos]

Thank you for taking the time to review this! I hadn’t heard about this app and I think I’ll pass. I have tried similar apps before (not nearly as overpriced) and I always ended up removing them for the same reasons you mentioned... the A.I. places far too much emphasis on sounding like Siri or a broadcaster, none of which are the ideal models of pronunciation imo. And I love the fact you acknowledge the *fact* that overly clear speech can actually hinder one’s accent. I’ve certainly had that experience, that’s why I’m always happy that you’re sharing real life English hacks and even how to speak in a lazy and very relaxed way (especially during the live Q&As). I have yet to meet an actual living & breathing American that enunciates 100% and has the precision of Siri when articulating words. EDIT: regarding the cot x caught merger, it’s funny to me how the unmerged AW vowel is still universally taught to ESL and EFL students even though it is very rarely heard nowadays. Younger people these days have the merger almost universally, and Hollywood movies (the major source of exposure to American English most people overseas come in contact with) are full of actors who were either born and raised in California, or who are Canadians (who also have the cot x caught merger), or Australian/English actors who include the merger in their American accents unless the character calls for an East coast accent. So to me, using the unmerged AW doesn’t exactly sound neutral, I think it actually makes the person sound like they either live around the NY area, or they use a really conservative form of the language... but those are just my impressions

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Great comment! Nice and lengthy haha ☺ You can thank Elmi for asking if I'd heard about it (I hadn't either). If you think my views from this lesson are interesting and useful, you're going to adore the big lesson I have coming up. It's essentially the exact opposite of this and provides a sort of schematic for understanding why real speech is so messy. But yeah, that's an interesting note about the merger. Since I don't reallh care about the unmerged sound but it's taught in Gen Am, I just assumed it was a standard part of that accent, even for young people. Good to know, and all the more reason for my approach 😁 Of course, I'm biased here, but if there's any American accent that should be considered "neutral" (which I still wouldn't quite call it that), it would be Western American bc of all the influence of TV and movies as you mentioned, not to mention it's generally the least complicated (while being almost the same) and is easier to learn (imo), which sounds like a good candidate for neutrality to me haha

[@533MrHappy]

No one from the UK sounds like that, no one. There will always be a vowel or consonant dropped somewhere. Speaking as they do in these recordings will make you sound like a robot and result in confused frowns from most native speakers

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Exactly!

[@Citnos]

I think if you don't have the opportunity to practice with someone who speaks English, or if you can't pay for an academy, at least this is a step up from apps like Duolingo, at least worth it as a complement if you're learning by yourself, I really value to have a feedback word by word even if is not teaching you the best way to pronounce it's better than the pronunciation you got without practice

[@iamanderson]

Yes, specially taking into account that the courses with recognized English certifications are way too expensive, and after watching many elsaspeak app reviews I think the app is a must have

[@BerryOng]

Just bought elsa speak premium for 1 year. And I found myself practicing more speaking by using elsa. It is hard for me to shadowing the native speaker and get improvement. IDK why, at intermediate level, aiming for native speaking. Wish me luck. Thanks for reviewing.

[@earthur715]

This is actually pretty good to learn how to pronounce each word individually. When it comes to sentences this is not good. It ask you to speak like a robot. But to learn how to say each word this is a good app.

[@John2corner]

Great review. Some KZbinrs recommend this app because they are sponsored. Honest and transparent I like it! Thanks a lot! Subscribed!

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

They do sponsorships? Well, guess I lost my chance haha jk. Transparency and brutal honesty is my policy. I know what it's like to look for good material and apps only to be disappointed, so if I don't recommend something, I would never take money to say that I do recommend it. And if I do recommend something, not everybody will like that thing, of course, but you know that I genuinely think it's worth it. I'll never sell out my audience 🙂

[@John2corner]

@@NativeEnglishHacks haha don't think they are highly compensated for it tho. Maybe small commission. Many, including myself, have unsubscribed from their channels because of that btw. So, you are the winner :) Please keep punching! Awesome videos!

[@christianorsos]

I think the app is good because let's face it, speaking English well especially nailing the American accent. I've met very few people who are non-native speakers and have fully mastered the art of speaking English. So the app Needs to be extremely challenging and demanding, because American English speakers are also very demanding with non-native, it needs to reflect the actual demands of English in the real world.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Who cares? A ton if people. Just because you don't doesn't mean others don't. It's a personal preference. As for Google, sure, if you want to limit yourself to external tools forever instead of developing the necessary skills

[@christianorsos]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Agree on this. The better your accent, many doors are opened.

[@NecessaryTangent]

As language teachers we can sometimes forget the benefits muscular/mechanical exercises. Doing “Some” is much better than none, even if the grading standard is frustrating, challenging and idiosyncratic. I say this, knowing that I can’t find a second place app that compares anywhere close to ELSA in terms of value and functionally. If you know one, please recommend. If ELSA would allow teacher/entrepreneurs to self-brand or affiliate benefits, a teacher could embed this app within their own course, and even self brand it. Win win win. If you want to share info let me know. It’s a powerful tool and can be used in tandem with classic lessons.

[@PrinceDolos]

There's a feature in the app that allows you to click on any word in a sentence. That gives you access to a full evaluation of how every letter is supposed to sound and a sound record of how you pronounced it. It saves a lot of time to do that rather than replaying the whole sentence and makes it much easier to detect your mistakes. The grading is done by an AI, so getting a 100% score means that you match their recorded voice example perfectly (which is hardly feasible), so you shouldn't be aiming for 100%. The program evaluates +80% as "Native" level, which I think is very accurate. Anything below that point, and you most certainly sound a bit off from a native, or your recording quality is not good. The app also has practices tailored for specific sounds and links to video tutorials of the sounds. The app also evaluates fluency, word stress, and intonation. You might pronounce everything correctly and still score low because you didn't speak the sentence as fluently as a native. I believe this is the most advanced speech evaluation AI there is. But then again, it's an AI. You shouldn't aim for 100%. You should consider anything above 80% native-level. I'm a non-native speaker who has been using this app for 3 months now. I aim for +80% in all the practice sentences. The app turned my speaking from complete gibberish (was around the 55~60% mark when I first started using it.) to native-level (92%) in just 3 months of daily practice.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

All that's perfectly fine. It's fantastic that you can click on individual words and get better feedback, and that definitely makes me think a little more favorably of the app. However, my point still stands. First of all, 80% (though very good for someone just wanting to sound more clear and understandable) cannot be considered native-like in my opinion. 95%, maybe, but not 80%. Second, as I said at the end, this app can likely take you very far and it can definitely help to improve your pronunciation, but the AI (and/or intent behind the program) is simply not sufficient enough to give you a completely natural sounding accent. If nothing else, there's way too much put into enunciation, which can actually hinder your accent, and as far as I know it does nothing to address the messy nature of real, natural speech - and I don't mean slang or informal speech, I mean the way most people actually talk, which isn't often super clearly enunciated. In fact, enunciation is a tool that we use when needed, not the standard, normal mode of actual speech. My goal with my audience is to take them to whatever level of clearness and/or naturalness they want, all the way up to 100% native-sounding in all aspects. This app can't do that, at least not in its present form. Lastly, regardless of how good a particular tool is, it's always up to the learner to put in the time and effort. Some tools make things easier, but skills can't be given, they must be earned. Most people are looking for the "best tool" or "best way" to do things that require them to put in as little effort as possible. I'm not saying that a lot of effort is always needed (and sometimes you can try too hard), but when it comes to the physical/mechanical level of skill development (mouth and ears in spoken language), you simply have to put in the work and the amount of work you put in - as long as you're doing the right kind of work - will determine how far you go. Of course, a good teacher and direct feedback can help make this process a lot easier, but it's still on the learner, not a teacher or app. I think this app does make things easier in many ways, it's just not good enough to match actual, messy speech. If you're okay with that, then there's no problem whatsoever, but I think it fools a lot of people into thinking they'll sound as natural as a native when it's simply not the case - close, but not quite. That distinction is important to many learners in my experience.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

In addition, think about it this way: because there's so much emphasis on clear, enunciated speech, that score of 80% isn't 80% like a native, it's 80% like a native if a native were to clearly enunciate most or every word - which, again, is not natural and not how most people speak. So the actual score on a scale of complete naturalness would be lower than 80%. In essence, it's a somewhat simplified version (which of course is something an AI can handle better)

[@PrinceDolos]

@@NativeEnglishHacks _"First of all, 80% (though very good for someone just wanting to sound more clear and understandable) cannot be considered native-like in my opinion. 95%, maybe, but not 80%."_ That argument falls flat considering that you, a person who speaks at a native-level, struggled to get a score of +95% with simple short sentences in this very video. Unless you believe that your spoken English is not native-level? _"If nothing else, there's way too much put into enunciation, which can actually hinder your accent, and as far as I know it does nothing to address the messy nature of real, natural speech"_ _" I think it fools a lot of people into thinking they'll sound as natural as a native when it's simply not the case"_ The program doesn't solely grade your pronunciation. It also grades your fluency, intonation, and word stress. You can complete a sentence without mispronouncing any word yet fail to score over 80% because you spoke like a robot and didn't consider those three elements, which make all the difference between natural speech and non-natural speech. The program also allows you to hear yourself and know where you sound off. You should be very capable of telling whether you sounded natural or not, which brings us to the next point: you shouldn't be outputting in the first place if your listening capabilities aren't fluent yet. That gives birth to bad habits. (Unless you have access to a personal tutor during your early output months.) _"regardless of how good a particular tool is, it's always up to the learner to put in the time and effort."_ Definitely! I completely agree with that.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

The argument doesn't fall flat. I'm saying a score of 80% in reality cannot be considered native-like, not what's given by the app. Supposing the app were perfect, then we would be on the same page and 80% according to the app would be 80% in reality. But given that the app isn't perfect and the score it gives is actually lower than in reality, it's not even 80%. I'm aware that it also takes into consideration the intonation and all that, and that's great, but that doesn't solve the problems I mentioned and I doubt those are perfect in the app, either. Regardless, I can't give it my seal of approval because it fails my standards, if for no other reason than what I've previously mentioned. As for the point about not outputting before gettiing sufficient input, that's one way to do it, but it's not required and saying that it is required is more dogma than fact. There are plenty of language learners and even polyglots who start from more of an output basis and they do perfectly well. Check out my video about input vs output and the best way to learn a language. That will introduce you to it, but there's a lot more that can be said on the topic. Everything works, but not everything works for everybody. Additonally, in terms of pronunciation and ear training, this isn't like regular input/output. This deals with the physical/mechanical level that underpins the actual skills of speaking and listening. If I ever explore or try to learn a new language, I start from day one with the pronunciation in all aspects, training both my mouth and my ears. There are a number of polyglots who do this, as well, particularly Idahosa Ness. Why? Because it makes everything else in the language - even learning vocab and grammar - so much easier. Not starting here, though possible and fine, is like trying to run when you don't quite know how to use your legs yet. Get that down and master walking (the basic physical/mechanical level), then running becomes a lot easier.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

One more point I forgot: you would think that a language learner would be perfectly capable of telling whether they sound natural or not,, but 9 times out of 10, that's not the case. In fact, even the advanced level students I've taught who had pretty great pronunciation skills already were shocked to find that their ears were deceiving them - because they never properly trained their ears and their brain was compensating. Playbacks from recordings are an excellent way to help combat this problem, but it's not foolproof and other things are often needed, like minimal pair training.

[@Melvin420x12]

I'm a native Dutch speaker from the Netherlands - the best English speaking country in Europe. Non-English foreigners often don't believe I'm from the Netherlands thanks to my pronunciation. However, as you can guess, native English speakers do. So I downloaded the Elsa Speak app and gave it a try. Even though the app almost teaches an exorbitant American accent, it did teach me to focus on specific sounds. Like the difference between bed and bad; the differences between Tree, Free and Three and intonation. Also the uh sound in a lot of English words. I think it's so overdone to really stress the details in English for a non-native speaker who might not notice these teeny tiny details otherwise.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Good points, but two problems. 1) As far as I know, they don't say that they're giving you that overdone version, so the learner is under the false impression that that's how natives speak and they end up aiming to sound overdone without realizing it. 2) The fact that I, as a native speaker, either can't seem to pass certain details or sometimes need to try multiple times and speak so clearly as to sound unnatural in order to pass certain details tells me that the AI is simply not good enough. Can you get benefit from it? Yes. Is it a source of feedback? Yes. Is it better than nothing? Debatable. But if your goal is to sound as native and natural as possible, my opinion is that it fails miserably. And I would love for it to succeed, not only for the benefit of English learners, but also because I would actually be able to accept a sponsorship or promote it as an affiliate, but my conscience currently won't allow that.

[@Melvin420x12]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Very good points!

[@andresfreites1383]

The app has improved many things, added new features besides is quite cheaper now, instead of 70bucks for a year it's 22 bucks so I think it's more affordable.

[@gregg0725]

Thanks for sharing that, bro!

[@thevichar]

I speak with broad Scottish accent and she places at the beginner level.

[@adibe3902]

Well...the AI probably didn't understand anything if you speak with scottish accent, sorry to say 😂

[@cadfarm9427]

Maybe, because we're the best "AI" for understanding everything about accents, even our brains detect the Little patterns in a conversation, in other words, the context or the interpretetion of issues in a real communication.

[@adrianmusic2830]

I'm sorry but I have to tell you that this review is a bit biased, since you simply showed us the trial version from the website instead of from the real app. I've been using Elsa for 11 months now and this app is actually pretty good, not perfect, but I'd say it is better than some other learning apps I have tried. In the application, the grading score is not based only on pronunciation but also word stress, intonation, and fluency. So the goal is not to get all green in order to get a high score, but you also need to mind the rising/falling intonation, stressing/enunciating certain important words in a sentence, etc. Some people commented that this app wants you to sound like a robot, however it is not true at all. In fact, I tried enunciating every word in this app, I only got 86% score. Yes, pronunciation score is 100% no red, but the intonation and fluency were very low, hence I only got 86% in overall score. I am a learner of British English, an accent that elsa is not designed for. Of course, sometimes elsa doesnt recognise some part of my speech (especially the word 'sure' 'call' 'poor', I almost never get it right because of the accent differences). But it's not a problem at all, since I still managed to get at least 93% overall score from the accuracy of word stress and intonation. Also, when elsa recognises a "mispronounced" word, you can click on the red word and see what elsa hears and how it's supposed to be pronounced. In this too, elsa can analyse the correctness of every word you ve said (you can check by clicking the word) so if the word is marked as an error but the correctness is above 80% you should not worry about it. To be fair, this video is one year old and maybe some features hadn't been introduced yet. I like the fact that the developers really listen to community's feedbacks and they keep improving the app. I've seen they added consonants dropping, words linking, etc into the AI's recognition system for more natural speech. A couple weeks ago, they added /dʒ/ linking, so the word like "would you" can now be recognised when it's pronounced as /wʊdʒu/ or /wedʒu/. And I believe they will add more things like this for more natural sounding to match how native speakers speak.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

I played around a bit with the actual app before I posted the review and I wasn't any more impressed. I'm not going to rehash everything here, but I stand by the review. Yes, I'm sure there have been some improvements, and if it does actually help, great. But I personally wouldn't trust it enough if I were learning English and I can't give it my endorsement. If I'm going to put my name behind something, it has to pass a really high bar.

[@joelciojunior6575]

@@NativeEnglishHacks exactly. I use Elsa and there are some errors, spelling and pronunciation.

[@leaczinkota1979]

First attempt at using it being a Hungarian speaker and there were some sentences where I scored 97%, my lowest score being 56%, because I was mostly slurring my words together.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Slurring or linking with a good flow?

[@leaczinkota1979]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Both

[@wesamreda6519]

Thanks for the review. Could you suggest a British speaking app ?

[@SebastianPolakk]

English Hacks - Feel English Like A Native What program can you recommend for learning how to speak English. Of course, I go from A1 to C1. I am currently at level A1 and I'm afraid that it's too early to talk to a native speaker.

[@pilucapiluca9735]

🤣 I noticed your spanish accent at the beginning!! Hahah! Qué bueno! Pensé "¿de verdad es nativo americano?" Tienes algo de acento español!! Hahaha!! Lol... I will fail completely with this app!

[@thremstrak1559]

Thank you for this rightous review! While watching a video about pronunciation, I saw this app beacuse the teacher sponsored to the app, and then I delved into app. I found too many recommendations of the people using it. Hovewer, I didn't comprehend the logic of the app because while learning English (I learnnt British English), I started learning some pronunciation rule of spoken English to understand the speeches completely, but although all the things I've been learning, this app just focuses on the certain pronunciations of the words. Even native speakers make the mistakes in pronunciation of something, therefore it is not neccessary to learn deeply beacuse there are lots of dialets spoken by the different people. It's important to understand the dialects. I think using this app doesn't improve your english skills accurately. In real life, a language is more dissimilar than you think. That's like learning English in school for the foreigners. You can speak English, but comprehensing the dialect is not the same with it. If you just use this app, you will not speak to a scottish, canadian, british etc. beacuse you learnt to go on only one way.

[@luishenriquealmeidarocha7007]

It is helping me with pronunciation ❤️

[@aga_3776]

LOL 😂 I just came across that app and challenged it a little. I tried to speak with super strong Polish and Japanese accents and then tried to apply pronunciation rules I had learned in a course. So funny, because often the ruined pronunciation was graded higher than the good one. I was like, "what's wrong with my English," but it turns out that the app is dumb. Thanks for the video. 🤗

[@procenglish4792]

Yes, the app is dumb for you. Not everyone.

[@Terrortotal79]

Thank you for the review teacher, I loved the video

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Thanks! Glad to help ☺

[@yanisperret1171]

I'm french and use this app. I think it's pretty good but it's forcing too much on the letter abd sound... And it sounds Sometimes very unnatural.... I try to mimic thé voice with its speed and I got to 99% lol... I Wonder if it's a really good app because in fluent language, we're not robot and Emotions or some exterior events can have effects on voice 😅 May I Ask you if you know some american app to progress on this language ?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Not really. I do have a free ear trainer that you can download from my website (jdanielauthor.com/downloads/), though that's still only version 1 and currently only available for Windows

[@myZlife29]

Completely agree! The app won’t understand you if you speak to it like a human lol

[@1717-t7k]

I tried several times but My total score didn't go higher than 87% and i was kinda losing my confidence so think you for the video. 柔道！！🥋❤

[@shafeeqahmed9661]

Can I get certification from Elsa, if yes can you please tell me where and how can it be?

[@jeflm18]

That was a great video! I was a little worried about how I was doing with this app. I have no intension to loose my accent, that doesn't bother me (and shouldn't bother anyone, except you're an actor or have other professions that demand to sound like a native). It was because I want to communicate with the lowest errors as possible, to avoid misunderstoods... littles misunderstoods are completely normal, even on our native language...but avoid them is a good way instead explaining yourself all the time... So your video have put calm me down now because if even you, native, didn't get 100%, I don't need to force myself to get 100% too...80, 90% is pretty great. Then the conclusion is: the app have an accuracy of 95, 97%, wich is very impressive! It's great to improve the speaking for non-natives that don't have money enough to take lessons with a good teacher (or native teacher). It really helps you minimize your communication errors.

[@glendysso8864]

Do you speak Spanish ?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Claro. Not perfectly, though

[@jeflm18]

@@glendysso8864 no. I'm Brazilian, I speak PortugueseBr

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Woops. Didn't realize this was in response to your comment :p

[@mhmdahmed2149]

Please tell me if what I understood from you right or wrong, targeting speak clearly is easy mission, but gaining accent is hard and seems to be impossible

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Not quite. What I'm saying is that Elsa can help you speak more clearly, but it won't make you sound completely natural. If you want to sound like a native, this isn't the best tool. If you don't want to sound like a native and just want people to more clearly understand you, then it will help.

[@jasined2922]

Please where can I find the episode that’s supposed to talk about this “new concept of pronunciation” ?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

? Are you referring to mouth posture?

[@jasined2922]

@@NativeEnglishHacks thank you for your reply. Well I’m not sure what it was. You talked about this new concept at the start of the Elsa review episode.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

I don't remember lol. It was probably the lesson about how American English has more than one neutral accent. It doesn't matter. Mouth posture is the secret key 🙂

[@josemontoya24]

Hello. Is this English on this app American or British? I appreciate your feedback.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

American

[@omenlee]

The evaluation standard of this app is native speaker, not an understandable standard. It is not suitable for beginners, but it has a beginner's grade. The only function of this app is the initial pronunciation lessons.

[@englishyouknow]

POV: you're Drew Badger watching this guy for the first time

[@heshamsaleh7446]

Could you review it's intonation and can you tell me how I know my is my intonation is good or not

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Unfortunately, it looks like intonation is a pro feature and I'm not going to pay for it. It probably has the same problems, but even if it doesn't, it's best to get feedback from a real human. You can find cheap native speaking tutors on italki. That's what I would do.

[@dannyvillalta5672]

did you use the application from your PC? as I just find it downloable for phones not for PCs

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

There's a free test that you can do on the PC. I used that to test the ability of the AI and the speaker's pronunciation. I played around with the actual app on my phone a bit, but I didn't record it because it didn't affect my recommendation.

[@alisson868]

Hi! Can you make a video or explain right here, about the exact, correct and easiest way to pronounce the words "e-mail" and "while"? Can the latter (while), even if you can, explain how it is pronounced in the song "After The Love Has Gone" by Earth, Wind & Fire"? Thank you very much and may the success with the channel continue!

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Make sure to watch the lessons about the half-L vowel ("dark L"). E-mail is ee-meil, with an L-colored ei. Alternatively, you can link a normal ei and the half-L with a small Y. All that is also true for "while", except instead of ei it uses ai. In the song, they're slightly manipulating the word to fit the music and this is not the normal way to say the word

[@alisson868]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Thanks again for the quick response.

[@Miracle-uc6es]

Do you guys know an app for british accent (Standart RP accent). I know the IPA symbols, and I try to speaking according to them. Some of them is very hard sounds and I'm not sure that, I'm speaking correct or not. So, If you guys now an app that can say to me that your v sound is wrong .etc It would be very helpful to me. Because if someone or an app doesnt correct you, you may be never notice that you are making mistakes.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

I don't know of any apps for RP, but my advice would be to not rely on apps like that. If you find one, it can be useful, but it will only help you to a certain extent, meaning that it likely won't solve all of your problems. Instead, it's much better to get feedback from an actual person and know the techniques to be able to adjust your sound. As long as your speaking to a native, if you know the techniques, they don't have to be a teacher. A good option is to find a language exchange partner on a site like italki for free. In addition, regardless of what you do or use, the biggest tip I can give is to focus on your ears, not your eyes (even if your goal is producing the sounds). This is one of the paradoxical traps with IPA. The IPA is a crutch, at best. What you want to do is train your ears. You can do that using things like minimal pairs. This helps you hear when you're making mistakes, but you still won't hear some things. That's part of why getting feedback from a person is ideal (AI feedback, though useful, has limitations). Also, recording yourself helps a lot because it frees your brain's resources and you'll be able to hear yourself more accurately in the recording. It's a process that will take some time, but you want to develop the skill of hearing sounds properly in addition to trying to produce them. Then you can better tell when you're making the correct sound or not and the IPA becomes irrelevant so you don't need it anymore. The IPA is just an alphabet with more symbols to represent more sounds. It still relies on your eyes instead of developing the actual ability to hear those sounds, which is why I call it a crutch. Always focus on your ears, not your eyes. That's the source of all pronunciation development ☺

[@Miracle-uc6es]

@@NativeEnglishHacks I know the ears are important but the thing is if the th sound hard for me (which it is) I cannot understand whather I'm pronuncing correctly or not. Because of that, I said rather a tutor would good for me (which is expensive) or an app could be good.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

The th is a good example of the possible limitation of current AI. The voiceless th and the f (a common problem pair) can sound so similar even when natives do them that the AI might say you're right when you're not. In my opinion, you need a real person, whether paid or as an exchange partner, and not necessarily all the time - once a week is a good minimum while you play with the sound between sessions (more is ideal, but money constraints need to be adapted to if you can't find or don't want an exchange partner). Once you find a sound (through micro-adjustments and feedback), you build it into muscle memory. Once it's there, you don't need anymore feedback for that sound (but keep brushing up on it for a while to make sure the neural pathways get super strong). Skill-building can be hard, but I don't trust current AI as feedback for this task. Maybe in another 20-30 years, but what I've seen (from Elsa, as well as other AI that some of my students have tried), it just doesn't cut it. At least not if you want to sound natural and native-like. If your goal is just to be more understood and you don't care about mastery of all the sounds (which is perfectly fine, too), then an AI can certainly help you, but know that it won't always give you perfect feedback.

[@angelicasanchez8932]

BBC learning english or learn english, I can't remember the exact name, sorry hahahaha but you can shadow their videos about pronunciation.

[@gregg0725]

Thanks for the review. Unfortunately, you did not let us know any other good option. That would be the most valuable piece of information for English learners

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

You don't need any fancy products or tools, you just need to train your ears, pay attention to how natives actually speak, and shadow them. My channel's a good place to get started and all for free (especially after I finish the mouth posture course, which is the ultimate hack). You just have to put in the work (which is what a lot of people are (subconsciously) trying to avoid when looking for some fancy tool).

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

I scored 85% too on my first attempt. LOL ...

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Lol. Well, at least your pronunciation is pretty clear ☺

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

@@NativeEnglishHacks waiting for the live stream

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

4 more hours. Almost time ☺

[@peteriyida4485]

I love this

[@misantropo2835]

how do you use that app in pc?

[@johnfrustrante9943]

Its your microphone bruh

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Even if that were true (I don't think that's the problem), not everyone has access to podcast-quality microphones, especially English learners from poorer countries around the world, which would mean that I still wouldn't recommend it for pronunciation unless you have a really good mic. That automatically disqualifies a lot of people who might otherwise put money into it.

[@johnfrustrante9943]

@@NativeEnglishHacks true

[@rickyricardo8556]

I'm really deaf i will try to voice English 😅😅

[@ismaelfrancisco7223]

The app is quite helpful. However, It's not a magical solution, you still need to engage in real-world practice with other people. Plus it's affordable. It only cost me 40 dollars for an entire year

[@ragnatom19]

Free or not?

[@Monstergaming-qm2tm]

What color is your bugatti

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

That's a car, right? I don't have one. I assume you're insinuating that I'm a shill of some sort due to my negative review. I wish I had that kind of money, but honestly I'm lower middle class, if that. I know you're likely a troll and I shouldn't even bother, but I find it entertaining when people come to such conclusions. My opinion is not for sale

[@Monstergaming-qm2tm]

@@NativeEnglishHacks No no it’s no hate 😂 Don’t worry it’s all good I said it because you kind of look like a guy named Andrew Tate and that’s one of his most famous quotes I didn’t mean it offensive in any way ✌️

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

OH! Lol, my bad. Sorry. I have no idea who that is, so it came straight outta left field for me 😆 No worries 🙂

[@Monstergaming-qm2tm]

@@NativeEnglishHacks LOL okay!

[@mauricemurng6935]

This app will make you super exhausted unless you are a native speaker cause it will make you think you are not right even you're not. Im so done with this app.

[@omenlee]

The evaluation standard of this app is native speaker, not an understandable standard. It is not suitable for beginners, but it has a beginner's grade. The only function of this app is the initial pronunciation lessons.

[@ursuladomingos9657]

The app is good at the same time not good. You pronounce things correctly but it's never enough for the app, nobody talks like... They only recognize things that are 100% clear.

[@jorgegutierrez4430]

Dude, I feel like you need to use a better microphone or is it just me? Ideally not a headphones mic

[@nicknguyen1613]

Thank God I didn't pay for it.

[@Qprovessional]

This app will teach you to sound like a robot:))

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Well, to be fair, it's not *that* bad lol

[@minh_tran02]

Put yourself in the shoes of non-native English speakers with whom being able to speak English spot on would bring them a ton of opportunities, then being able to speak like a robot is actually not that bad.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Of course. I never say you have to sound like a native or be perfect. But there are those who want to sound more natural and/or have a perfect or near perfect accent. For those learners, I don't recommend this tool. In addition, learning from the bottom up by focusing on sound and learning not to sound like a robot in the first place makes everything else way easier (and can make you easier to understand). It's not either or ☺

[@Liftercode]

Wait...Are u a native?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

Yes

[@joseluizth]

None of the English teachers incluiding you are going to admit this app is a better optioon than paying for an English class

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

You're barking up the wrong tree

[@aurifi3721]

shouldn't a review include something more interesting than the obvious and totally normal discrepancy of your personal prononuciation?

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

It does if you watch the whole video. But even if it didn't, the fact that the AI failed to give a native speaker with a neutral accent a perfect score after multiple attempts is all you really need to know. Best case, it can't be fully trusted, but worst case, it will mislead you. Ultimately, it depends on your goals. This app will likely be able to get you to good enough, but not native.