A Japanese Virtual World For Voice Chat in English!

Kobe, Hyogo-ken -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/02/2012 -- The next generation digital English conversation site, and developer of the world's first Artificial Intelligence chat robots with speech recognition for English language learning, is pleased to announce the launch of its SG World chat site—the gateway to a Japanese virtual world for live voice chat in English.

The site is geared toward native English speakers around the world who have an interest in Japan and its culture. The site is an entry point for members to enter SG World. Membership is FREE.

English is today's global language. Millions of people in countries around the world learn English as a second or foreign language. Japan is one such nation. English is compulsory for six years in the Japanese education system. Most are strong in grammar, reading and writing more than in conversational skills of speaking and listening. One reason for this is that there are few opportunities to practice "speaking" English with native English speakers*.

SG World makes English conversation practice possible—natural, everyday English. At the same time, it provides an opportunity for those in other countries to speak with Japanese learners of English, make new friends, and learn about another culture.

SG World is the only virtual world created to connect Japanese learners of English with native English speakers around the world via live voice or text chat. It's fun and easy to use—simply register for free, dress your avatar, and enter a chat room. It is completely anonymous as members use avatars and nicknames. With a PC, microphone, and internet connection, members can enjoy live, one-on-one voice chat 24/7.

SG World features 30 distinct chat rooms with different scenery and purposes. Each room allows for either voice chat, text chat, or a combination of both. To aid members in conversation, the chat rooms feature a suggested topics list with 10 common topics and various questions listed for each topic, displayed in both English and Japanese. 

SG World chat site brings the world to Japan through English.

SpeakGlobal, Ltd.
Kobe, JAPAN
Email: info@speakglobal.co.jp
speakglobal.co.jp/chat

Source: Fukuda, T., 2010. Elementary schools to get English, [online] 29 June. Available at: japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20100629i1.html [Accessed 1 April 2012].

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Kobe, Hyogo-ken -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/20/2011 -- The next generation in English language learning, introduces SGPRO--a complete, user-friendly, and effective pronunciation program for Japanese speakers of English.

Japanese have a minimum of six years of mandatory English education, though English speaking skills still lag behind other developed parts of the world such as Scandinavia*. Many feel there are simply too few native English speakers to teach and practice with. Moreover, training for English pronunciation is often challenging for Japanese as there are few places to practice and no method of receiving "objective" feedback.

Now there is a method to assess a non-native speaker's English pronunciation to that of a native speaker, objectively. SGPRO provides an objective assessment rating of one's pronunciation through Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11, speech recognition known for its amazing accuracy**. The program can be used in education, by instructors as a teaching tool, by learners to practice and improve pronunciation at school or at home, or by anyone who is learning English as a second or foreign language.  Some English conversation schools now are offering this to learners as a lesson supplement.

While the position of the mouth, lips and tongue are an important part of correct pronunciation, oftentimes learners do not know with certainty if their sounds are correct. Dragon's output with SGPRO's scoring system tells speakers how close their sounds are to that of native English speakers. The power of Dragon NS allows users to not only practice with scripted text, but to speak freely and openly for dictation and speaking practice.

SGPRO features a fun, game-like interface with 7 keys areas for practice: Vowels, Consonants, Passages (based on STEP Eiken and TOEIC English proficiency exams), Daily Expressions, Similar Sounds, Reduced English and Katakana English.

With nearly 3,000 sentences and useful phrases in SGPRO, learners can hear the audio for each, read the written text on their screen, and speak into their microphone using Dragon NS. Their spoken words are automatically converted to text (called speech-to-text) and with the press of a button a percentage score is given by SGPRO based on the pronunciation accuracy. Any words not properly recognized, automatically change to red so users can know exactly where the challenge in pronunciation occurs. This is the first of its kind and the only pronunciation software with these capabilities and effectiveness. It's like having a native English speaker's ear with immediate feedback.

See this training program in action at the SGPRO.jp pronunciation site and view the YouTube demonstration videos: sgpro.jp/demo.

*Source: R.L.G. "Who speaks English?" Economist.com. n.p. 2011. Oct. 18, 2011. economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/04/english

**Source: Pogue, David. "Like Having a Secretary in Your PC". NYTimes.com. July 20, 2006. Oct. 18, 2011. nytimes.com/2006/07/20/technology/20pogue.html

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