AI Meets Oral Skills: Comparing Speaking Practice Apps ELSA and Praktika

The Final Chapter! We're diving back into cutting-edge tech combined with English learning. 

In previous sections, we discussed the integration of AI with education and mobile learning. Today, let's talk about AI and English oral skills.

We'll briefly introduce and compare two AI speaking practice apps, ELSA AI (Link) and Praktika (Link). I came across Praktika while reading reviews about ELSA, recommended by other users as another AI-based speaking practice app. After trying out both apps, I noticed they have many similarities and unique aspects, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Hence, I've decided to present both apps to you together.

Before we dive deeper, let's check out some YouTube videos to get a quick lowdown on these two apps! 

Oh, and just so you know, it's not because I'm too lazy to type it all out. I'm thinking about layout, how things look, and how you learn best😎. After watching these videos, you'll have a very clear understanding of both apps.

• Quick Intro of ELSA AI (2mins)

• Speak English with ELSA AI (7mins)

• Speak English with Praktika (13mins)

Here's a summary based on my personal experience with both apps:

Common Features of ELSA AI and Praktika:

1. AI Interaction: Both apps use AI bot that can fully understand what learners are describing and respond with specific feedback, not just pre-edited, canned responses.
2. Useful AI Communication: Both are truly helpful for learning various expressions and vocabulary. But! You gotta shell out some cash for a subscription, and let's just say, it's not exactly wallet-friendly.😢
3. Diverse Courses: They offer a plethora of courses tailored for different communication situations, learning needs, and exam content. However, ELSA AI throws a wider net when it comes to exam prep, like PTE, EIKEN, Business Result, etc.
4. Support Tools: While you're chatting away, both apps offer hints and translations. But don't expect flawless native-like fluency—sometimes the AI sounds a bit choppy, missing that smooth, natural native speaker vibe.
5. Free English Proficiency Tests: Both apps offer free tests to assess your English level.
6. Language Correction: Mistakes? No problem. Both apps will point them out. But here's the catch: they won't nudge you mid-chat. You'll have to check out the corrections yourself either during or after your convo—think of it as a kind of 'after-action' report (Check out the pics below; ELSA on the left, Praktika on the right).

Let's dig into some differences I've noticed between the two:

• ELSA's "Dictionary" Feature. This tool is perfect for digging into phrases that native speakers toss around like "cool as a cucumber" or "soak up some sun" – stuff that might completely baffle non-native speakers. Plus, the search results link up with YouGlish(Link), so you can see how these terms fit into various contexts. Super handy, right? 
• But, Praktika's dictionary or glossary function could use a bit of complainting. There, you can't actively search for words. You've only got the option to tap on new words in conversations to add them to your vocab list. The dictionary just gives translations into your native language without much further elaboration. (Check out the image below, ELSA on the left, Praktika on the right)

• Praktika's "Auto-Save Conversation" Feature. Now, this is a game-changer. Think about how in everyday life, we can't record every single word of our conversations for later review. We have to rely on memory, which can be pretty flaky. That's one of the perks of choosing an AI teacher over a real person (plus, it's way cheaper, haha). 
• Praktika logs the specific time, topic, content, and immediate feedback of conversations, and you can even export these details from the interface's top right corner. This feature is crucial and definitely scores major points.

There's still so much more to explore with these apps! Personally, I might lean a bit more towards Praktika. I really value the ability to track conversations, a feature I haven't spotted on ELSA AI (maybe because I haven't subscribed yet). Plus, I think that if a learning app is packed with too many extra features, it could easily distract students. Sometimes, less is more.

Learning a language is all about gradual accumulation. Whether you choose ELSA AI or Praktika, as long as you stick with it, you're bound to improve. For those who want to use snippets of time for learning, who aim to build up a rich vocabulary, and who are curious about using language in different contexts, these two apps can definitely lend a hand. 

With technological advancements making AI more accessible, why not make the most of these tools to help us learn more conveniently, efficiently, and systematically? However, we also need to stay alert and not let the dazzling array of learning apps disrupt our focus!

(Source: medium.com)

That's a wrap!

I hope you find this post helpful too. If you've also tried out these two AI Speaking Practice Apps, I'd love to hear about your experiences.

Looking forward to your comments!

(All screenshots from ELSA AI and Praktika)