New Recording Website from Japan Could Give a Lift to Fluency

EnglishCentral.com is an innovative website started in Japan a little over a year ago. It allows users to view a short video clip with close-captioning and shadow (i.e. repeat or imitate) the line heard by recording it in their own voice. The flash-based interface provides a clickable feature to drill own on any new word on the close-captioned line for its definition and its pronunciation as well. Users will need a USB headset with a microphone in order to record their imitation of the close-captioned line. As soon as a user records his or her line, an instant speech analysis mechanism of the website makes the native-sounding words glow and turns the worst-pronounced words red. Instant points are also assigned to let the user know how well they are doing as well as how many points they still need to earn until reaching the end of the video clip. There is even a competition-like scoreboard to compare users' accumulated points, if they so choose while setting up their free account. The instant visual feedback looks very motivating and useful for anyone who wishes to increase their oral fluency.

The site looks like a perfect tool to be used in a computer lab.