Recently, I came across an AI tool called Boldvoice that helps people improve their pronunciation using AI.
I personally find this app interesting because, as a former English-as-a-Second-Language student, I have always struggled with annunciation and thought this would be a great tool to improve my English accent.
However, when I used the app, it also made me wonder what it really means to have a “correct” English accent or to “improve” an accent.
Boldpage has this feature that allows to anylze the origin of my accent. I tried several times while consciously changing how I spoke. The first time, I spoke normally and Boldvoice recognized me as having a Chinese accent. The second time, I exaggerated a Japanese accent and it recognized it as Japanese. The third time, I tried with a Singaporean accent, but the app still recognized it as Chinese.
As I continued these trial runs, I started to wonder what kind of data the app is using to analyze accents.
I have question to peers:
- When you interacted with the AI tool, what are your thoughts on it?
- Do you see yourself using this tool in the classroom? Why or why not?
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed here are my own. I used ChatGPT-5 to improve the grammar and clarity of the sentences.
