Google Search is testing a 'Speaking practice' AI feature to help teach you English
Google is testing a Google Search feature designed to help users improve their conversational English skills. First discovered by X user howfxr, the AI-powered "Speaking practice" feature encourages non-English speakers to say English sentences out loud that include specific words.
In one of the screenshots shared on X, the conversation starter is: "I'm sad because I lost my favorite sweater at the park yesterday." The user must respond verbally to that statement with a sentence that includes the words "love," "sad," and "sorry." Another prompt, which has to do with wanting to get into shape, requires an answer using "exercise," "heart," and "tired."
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"Interactive exercises powered by generative AI," a description of the feature reads, "help you use new words in everyday scenarios with examples." Instead of just learning words and phrases like from a language training app, users learn how to use the words in a conversation.
The feature is currently available to Google Labs users in Argentina, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Venezuela. If you're not already enrolled, you can join Google Labs by going to labs.google, scrolling until you see the feature you want to test, and clicking "Try it now."
Google introduced a similar interactive AI-powered feature in October 2023 to users in those same countries. That feature presents users with a prompt, asks for a spoken answer in English, and then rates the response, offering feedback on how to improve the response. In 2019, Google introduced a tool that lets users practice saying individual words from another language and rates their responses.
The new "Speaking practice" feature focuses more on having a back and forth conversation rather than just rating individual responses. Google hasn't announced a date for when "Speaking practice" may roll out more broadly or if other languages will eventually be added.