> something language learners have never had throughout all of human history
.. unless they had access to a native speaker and/or vocal coach? While an automated Henry Higgins is nifty, it's not something humans haven't been able to do themselves.
Native speakers are less helpful at this than you might think. Speech coaches are absolutely the way to go, but they're outside the price range for most people ($200+/hr for a good coach). BoldVoice gives coach-level feedback and instruction at a price point that everyone can access, on demand.
Not yet - this was our first technical blog post. You can check out the BoldVoice app and test out the sound-level feedback yourself. Or watch this app walkthrough video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sv5K4Z9P4c
You can take a language class rather than have a personal instructor. Although accents are a sensitive topic so I don't remember mine going into it much.
As someone who took English classes for years growing up, I wish that were the case. In fact, most teachers don't really know how to teach pronunciation. Also, in a typical group class setting, it's challenging to give each student one-on-one feedback. On BoldVoice, we solve that with 1) unlimited instant feedback from sound-level AI - your most patient coach. 2) in-depth video lessons from the best coaches in the world (Hollywood accent coaches). I'm a cofounder of BoldVoice, by the way. :)
Try learning a language where they won't understand you with a foreign accent. I assume tonal languages are like this but haven't tried learning any.
Japanese is sort of like this - you have to say foreign words the Japanese way very forcibly, to the point that Americans will think you're being racist if they hear you do it.
.. unless they had access to a native speaker and/or vocal coach? While an automated Henry Higgins is nifty, it's not something humans haven't been able to do themselves.