From our international experience, we have observed the study habits and capability of English as a second language (ESL) learners worldwide. We have seen that for almost 2 Billion ESL learners around the globe, the most common area of language inadequacy is pronunciation [speaking ability]. American English fluency with correct pronunciation is now a base-level requirement for opening up significant international career opportunities. This is why we developed SAUNDZ.
SAUNDZ is an innovative curriculum based educational software program that helps non-native speakers of American English (1) learn in a step-by-step manner each of the 40 sounds of American English, (2) practice their pronunciation at anytime via the Internet , and (3) quickly improve their pronunciation skills and reduce their accent.
Most ESL teachers do not emphasize the importance of pronunciation practice and usually focus on vocabulary, spelling and grammar. However, correct pronunciation is an equally important aspect of language learning and SAUNDZ helps ESL students build their skills quickly and effectively in an easy-to-use interactive environment.
ESL students have sufficient opportunity to use their reading and writing skills. However, speaking skills are rarely practiced due to the cost and difficulty of accessing native American English instructors. Therefore, many ESL students have a strong accent, which can make it challenging for them to be clearly understood. This accent is primarily the result of ineffectively taught pronunciation and the inability to practice.
SAUNDZ includes pronunciation exercises and animated visual representations of sound articulation that allow students, regardless of their language proficiency, to learn American English pronunciation quickly.
In as little as 5 hours, from more than 40 available hours of instruction, ESL students using SAUNDZ will improve their spoken American English with an overall reduction in accent.