I learned English from the President!

Obama EnglishI came across a post on English Cafe (check/link) which talked about iPractice Obama English, an English learning service based entirely around Barack Obama’s presidential and senatorial speeches.  The post on English Cafe was a little bit incredulous, for the valid reason that the kind of language used in formal speeches like this is probably not what your average English learner will ever need to use in real life.

I thought I’d check it out, though, just to see what it was about.  They have a fairly good interface (in a downloadable program) which helps with reading and listening comprehension, as well as speaking practice.  They have a speech recognition engine that judges the learner’s speech and gives them a score.  Even though the language used might not be that helpful (unless maybe you are really really keen on American history and politics), President Obama has great enunciation and this program is sure to help English students with their listening comprehension.  Besides the speaking practice, there are also reading and listening comprehension questions to answer.  They seem to have a range of speech excerpts for free subscribers, and also premium services.

Check it out if you’re interested in English learning, politics, or are just an Obama fan.  The homepage may inspire you with just the low-angle headshot!

Note: I have tried to publish this and other posts several times, and they keep disappearing. I hope this time the post sticks to the blog!