Amazon’s AI English Lessons for Spanish Speakers: ¡Hola Alexa, Let’s Talk English!

Amazon has expanded its Alexa-based English learning program for Spanish speakers in Spain to include the US and Mexico. The program utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) technology to provide feedback on pronunciation and accents, aiming to help Spanish speakers learn English in a natural and comfortable manner from their own homes. Instead of traditional workbook lessons, Alexa takes a conversational approach to language learning. The popular voice assistant employs natural language processing, machine learning, and speech recognition to interact with users. It also utilizes a phonetic recurrent-neural-network-transducer model to predict phonemes, the smallest units of speech. This technology allows Alexa to distinguish between similar-sounding phonemes from different languages and identify common mispronunciation patterns. Spanish speakers using the program will have access to structured lessons and a unique pronunciation feature with real-time feedback. If Alexa detects mispronunciations, it will slow down its pace to make it easier for users to listen and correct their pronunciation. On Echo Show devices, correctly pronounced words or phrases are highlighted in blue, while mispronunciations are highlighted in red. The feature is currently available only for Spanish speakers learning English and can be accessed on all generations of Echo and Echo Show devices, as well as through the Alexa mobile app.