#38. How AI Voice Mode Simulations Can Turn English Lessons into Real-Time Language Challenges
Many EFL and ESL classrooms still practise speaking and listening in calm, predictable settings. A scaffolded pair-work speaking task here, a multiple-choice listening exercise about two people at a train station there—perfectly valid and useful. But real communication in the real world doesn’t always feel calm or predictable. When you’re using English as a second or foreign language, you might forget words, someone might speak too fast, and you have to react instantly. Real life can be very different from a multiple-choice listening activity or a highly scripted pair-work speaking task in class. So, can we help our students develop—through practice—more proactive, real-world speed listening and speaking skills? Answering that question with a YES is the logic behind some of the activities in our school’s enrichment program this year: the Adventures in AI Group for Grades 4–6 students. One type of activity we’ve been testing involves AI voice-mode simulations that drop upper-p...