StudyPocket AI English Conversation Launches New 'Dictation Practice' Feature to Develop Foundational Listening Skills

StudyPocket Co., Ltd. has announced that it will launch a new "Dictation Practice" feature in June 2026 for its "StudyPocket AI English Conversation" service, part of the education-focused generative AI service "StudyPocket."

Fostering the "Listening Skills" that Underpin the Ability to Speak

This learning feature cultivates the "listening skills" necessary for "speaking" English by having students listen to English audio and write down the sentences. In addition to AI-driven conversations, presentation practice, and reading/pronunciation exercises, the inclusion of basic listening practice within the same service allows each student to spend more time engaging with the sounds of English at their own pace.

With this feature, teachers can create and assign dictation tasks based on textbooks and class content. Students can listen to the English audio, type the text, and check for discrepancies with the correct sentences on a word-by-word basis.

Development Background: AI Conversation Alone Isn't Enough to Truly Enable Speaking

StudyPocket AI English Conversation was developed to increase the "amount of English speaking practice," which is often lacking in schools. Practicing with an AI allows not only proficient students but also those hesitant to speak for fear of making mistakes to engage in conversation practice at their own pace.

However, as AI conversation was utilized in classes and for homework, a new challenge emerged. It was difficult to ascertain from conversation logs alone how accurately students were comprehending the English they heard. Even if they could respond based on context, they might be missing articles, prepositions, 'be' verbs, weakly pronounced words, and sound linkages.

To improve English "speaking skills," it is essential to not only practice speaking but also to practice listening and accurately grasping what the other person is saying. Therefore, StudyPocket has added a dedicated dictation practice environment using generative AI technology as a new feature to cultivate "listening skills" while securing "speaking time" with AI conversation.

Instantly Identify Missed Words and Listening Weaknesses

After submitting an answer, students can see a word-by-word comparison with the correct sentence.

In "Dictation Practice," students listen to English audio and input the text. After submission, the differences from the correct text are displayed for each word, allowing immediate identification of unheard words or spelling mistakes. The goal is to provide a learning experience where students don't just "think they heard" the English, but can immediately check for themselves what they failed to catch.

Supports Textbook Content and AI-Powered Question Generation

Teachers can use any manuscript to create audio of spoken English sentences. They can specify the CEFR level, number of sentences, and length per sentence. They can also choose the tone of the voiceover from "Clear and Slow" for beginners, "Normal," and "Native-like" which includes sound linking and contractions, enabling the creation of dictation problems tailored to the lesson content and students' proficiency levels.

Furthermore, teachers can control the number of replays ("1," "2," "3," or "unlimited") for each question, set hint permissions (allowing display of Japanese translation), and decide whether students can change the playback speed.

Created assignments can be distributed to classes with detailed settings. Students' performance on dictation tasks can be submitted to their teacher. By creating, reviewing, and distributing tasks, and then analyzing the submitted data, teachers can provide individual guidance, identify common class weaknesses, and improve their teaching.

A Comprehensive AI English Learning Solution at a Price Accessible for Public School Budgets

Conventional AI conversation apps and English learning solutions often cost over 5,000 JPY per year, making them difficult to adopt in public schools or as parent-funded teaching materials. The company aims to leverage generative AI technology to offer its solution at an affordable price.