Tata DOCOMO has announced the launch of a new VAS application called ‘English Seekho’ which is accessible through an Interactive Voice Portal (IVR). This service aims at teaching situational spoken English through IVR. A similar service is offered by TATA Indicom also.Subscribers who wish to learn English can dial 529221 from their Tata DOCOMO phone. Subscription charges for this service is just Rs. 10 for 15 days and subsequent browsing charges are 1paise/second. This service is available for both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers.
The application guides the user through audio clips that teach spoken English through learning sessions. English Seekho has 5 different levels namely Basic Course, Social Course, Professional Course, Advanced Course & Full Course. In total, there are 44 chapters spread across levels through which the users can learn different levels of English. The application also keeps a log of all the lessons that a user has already taken. At the end of each lesson, users will be asked to give a short test where they will have to select the correct answer for the question with multiple choices. Users can select the correct option through his or her cell phone’s key-pad and is guided towards the correct answer via suitable voice prompts, ensuring proper learning. Later, users will be asked to speak a particular phrase or sentence from the lesson which the system will capture and recognize through internal speech recognition engine. The correct or the incorrect answers are played back to the user.
“The launch of this application is indeed a proud moment for us as it marks the translation of our group’s vision to empower the nation through education. It is in our DNA to empower and enable customers to do more with their mobile, to do more with life! And hence launching services like English Seekho is not just a tool to monetize, but a facilitator for learning and education. Those who can’t speak English and converse, with English Seekho, situational spoken English can be learnt at elementary level. The service liberates from a classroom session to a complete mobile way of learning a language and we hope our subscribers will reap the benefits of the application in the days to come,” said Mr. Rishi Mohan Malhotra, Head VAS, Tata DOCOMO.