Learning a new language is a journey filled with excitement and challenges. Immersing oneself in the language’s cultural context through books, movies, TV shows, and music can be an adventure in itself. Yet, the true essence of language learning lies in the interaction with native speakers.

However, it’s not always easy to travel to the country where the language is spoken. And consuming media in a foreign language can be tough when you’re still learning. To help with this, Google has introduced a new feature in Google Search to assist people learning English.

Speaking practice —new AI experiment on Google's Search Labs! pic.twitter.com/ZqzyvgXNUZ

— ㆅ (@howfxr) April 25, 2024

The feature is available to Android users in certain countries like Argentina, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Users can translate to or from English in Google Search, and it will provide them with prompts, short practice sessions, and personalized feedback.

Google Search offers feedback on how to improve sentences and gives examples of correct answers. Users can also understand how an English word translates in their own language within a sentence.

Google uses technology like deep learning models and machine learning to help improve users’ grammar and language skills. English can be difficult to learn, especially if it’s not related to your native language. It has irregular verbs, exceptions, and complex grammar. But learning English can open up many opportunities around the world, which is why Google created this feature.

Google Translate, Google’s free translation service, was released in 2006. While it’s useful for basic translations, it may struggle with more complex conversations that require a deep understanding of language.

Some things Google Translate may find difficult to convey are context, vocabulary, grammar, and how words combine to form sentences. For now, Google’s language learning feature is only available for English in select countries. But Google plans to expand it to more countries and languages soon.

Google’s goal is to help language learners practice speaking and improve their skills. While Google doesn’t have a structured curriculum like some language learning apps, it aims to provide tools to help learners practice in real conversations.