Tech

Google Read Along launches web interface

It is often said, with enough common sense, that as a general rule the most sensible thing is keep the little ones reasonably away from computers, tablets, smartphones, etc.. And there are more than enough reasons for this, because without going into dependency syndromes and other pathologies that science has not yet been able to fully confirm, what is certain is that these devices can be the gateway to content that, in no way, should be within their reach.

Now, at this point it is very important to make distinctions, because just as content unsuitable for children proliferates, a quick search is enough to find content and services that are not only adequately adapted to these audiences, but also that have been explicitly designed for the same. And although in these cases you always have to be measured, controlled access to them can be very positive for them.

The latest example of this can be found in Read Along, a service created by Google some time ago but which, until now, was only available through its Android app. And the good news for parents is that Google has created a web interface for Read Alongso now the service is accessible through the web browser, it is completely free and the only condition to use it is to have a Google account.

Google Read Along launches web interface

If you don’t know it, Read Along is a service designed to help in the process of learning to read. To this end, Google has made a selection of stories (the preferred type of reading for many children). These stories are organized by difficulty levels, so that the little one can start with the simplest ones and, depending on their evolution, progress with those of a higher level.

Read Along, once a story has been chosen, will show its text and, through the microphone, it will capture and analyze the reading that the child is doing, in order to determine if you pronounce all the words correctly. If she detects a mistake, she will show that word and ask the child to read it again, until he does it correctly, at which point he can resume the narration. To help, the Read Along narrator will read these words before asking the children to do so.

Read Along proposes ten minutes of daily reading and, in addition to positively reinforcing the child’s progress during it, it has a reward point system, which will translate into prizes, something that has been proven to be quite efficient in these cases.

Google Read Along launches web interface

Even more interesting is to know that, regardless of the language of the interface, Read Among can be configured to learn to read (or improve reading) in one or two languages. Basically we will always find English, but we can also add one more of the others available, including Spanish (Latin, yes). We will have to make this choice during the service registration process but, if we wish, we can modify this choice later.

I’ve been trying out Read Among for a few minutes and, apart from realizing that my English diction isn’t as rusty as I thought, I definitely I found it to be a tremendously useful tool.which can be a powerful and fun reinforcement in learning to read and, therefore, an enormous success on the part of Google, which shows that it has put a lot of care into the development of this service to support parents in the training process of the little ones

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