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Google Releases Speech Recognition App Bolo To Help Kids Learn To Read in India; Intends To Bring It To Other Countries in Future (venturebeat.com)

Google today released a learning app for primary school children in India as part of an effort to cement its grip on the world's fastest-growing internet market. From a report: The Android app, called Bolo, aims to help young kids improve their reading comprehension and vocabulary skills in Hindi and English. Bolo (the Hindi word for "speak") features a range of games, and tasks, and it rewards kids as they progress.

Bolo, which is powered by Google's speech recognition and text-to-speech technology, first asks kids to read sentences. The app then listens to the efforts and reviews them, and an animated voice assistant -- called Diya -- suggests pronunciation and vocabulary corrections wherever applicable. The app comes preloaded with several stories -- Google says 90 stories in Hindi and English are available at launch. Children can engage with the app at a pace they are comfortable with, and their progress can be shared with their parents. [...] Google is releasing Bolo in India first, with plans to bring it to other countries in the future. The company said it will also add support for more languages soon.

2 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. I wish it was available on other countries by Mike+Zilva · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This should also be very useful for kids learning English as 2nd language. Can' wait to try it.

  2. Re:In SF, "Bolo" has another meaning... by zoid.com · · Score: 2

    And a multiplayer tank battle game.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...