A new digital app to improve English pronunciation is now available for purchase in the iTunes App store. Speech Sounds Visualized is a web-based tool which shows the user how the mouth, tongue and throat make sounds for clear pronunciation.
Developer and Speech Language Pathologist Keri Jones, shares how the app works and how it was developed through the Center for Learning & Innovation at Pullman Regional Hospital.
Selected Podcast
Speech Sounds Visualized
Featuring:
Keri Jones, MA
Keri Jones, MA is a Speech Language Pathologist at Pullman Regional Hospital. Transcription:
Bill Klaproth (Host): Clear communication is the key to success, and a new digital app called the Speech Sounds Visualized App is designed for English pronunciation training. You can find out more about the app online at www.PullmanRegional.org/speech-sounds-visualized, or you can purchase it in the iTunes app store for $9.99. And here to talk about the app is the person who developed it. Our guest today, Keri Jones, a speech language pathologist at the Center for Learning and Innovation at Pullman Regional Hospital. Keri, thank you so much for your time today. So tell us, what is the Speech Sounds Visualized App, also known as SSV?
Keri Jones, MA, CCC-SLP (Guest): Yes, well this app is a really innovative app for speech. It's actually the only app in the world that uses x-ray technology to show how speech sounds in form. So it gives the user the feeling of being able to look inside the mouth to see how the English speech sounds are pronounced. And once we've seen it, it's just really incredible to watch.
In addition to watching the videos for all of the speech sounds, and mind you in the English language, there's twenty-six sounds in the alphabet, but there's actually forty-four different sounds in our language. So you study the sounds that perhaps you have difficulty pronouncing, and then you get all of the written instruction provided by myself, a speech language pathologist, and it's kind of like being in a session with me. It's all of the tips and instruction that you would receive in that one-on-one session. And finally you can record yourself so that you can listen to how you sound as that compares to the sound in the video.
Bill: That is so cool. So with the x-ray technology, a user can see the tongue and try to duplicate that exact movement.
Keri: That's exactly right, and what's really cool about it is one, it's just really neat to watch, and rather captivating. But there's other similar apps that they use computer generated images, and while those are very nice, this is really comprehensive and it kind of tells the story of speech pronunciation in a different way.
Bill: So Keri, who is this app designed for? Who would benefit the most from it?
Keri: Right, well our primary population that has benefited thus far has been English language learners. So we're really excited to see that the app has been downloaded actually in eleven countries and counting so far, and we released in the end of the December. And so yeah, we've got a lot of English language learners that are benefiting from it.
I've also heard from some folks that are using this with their children, especially older children. There are certain sounds that can be really tricky for kids to overcome. In fact, some people say that R, S, and L are the bread and butter of speech therapy because these are sounds that are just really challenging.
So I would say if you're looking for something different, a different visual, a different technique, and then also kids love to record themselves. So you know, I think it works for especially older children that are working on speech sounds.
Bill: So you mentioned children, I would imagine this app works for adults too, maybe someone looking to modify their speech a little bit? It sounds like adults would use this, too.
Keri: Yes, definitely. In fact, the primary market is adults. I think that there are a ton of speech therapy apps out there designed for children, there are not many out there for adults. And this app is very professional, very clinical looking, there's no- I'll say that there aren't any games or anything like that. It's for someone that really wants to sit down and focus on their speech, their pronunciation. You can certainly do this independently or you can work on this with someone else as well.
Bill: So you were talking about some of the features and benefits of this app. What is the big difference? What really makes this different than other speech apps on the market?
Keri: Right, this is so different because it's the only one that uses the x-ray technology, and so I had this idea quite some time ago, and then I worked very closely with actually an institutional review board to get permission to be able to capture these moving x-rays that show these sounds in action. And I even worked with a radiation health physicist to make sure that I was safe, there really is need, and getting these x-rays done to show inside the mouth. And you know, like I said that hasn't been done before. It's a new and very innovative way to look at how speech sounds are formed.
Bill: So Keri, why did Pullman Regional Hospital and the Center for Learning and Innovation develop this?
Keri: Well so you know, in 2017, I had the opportunity to pitch this idea to our hospital administration, and it kind of felt like my little Shark Tank moment. I love that show, Shark Tank, I never miss an episode. And it was just really fun for me to be able to present this as an idea, of course I didn't know if they going to go for this or not, but the hospital said, "Yes, we need to do this."
And I think the reason is the Center for Learning and Innovation at Pullman Regional Hospital is very interested in thinking about healthcare differently, thinking about how we can give people access to something that maybe they've struggled getting access to. Speech therapy is one of those things. It can be very hard for people to get access to this type of help, some people find themselves on a wait list for a long time, some people find that they don't have insurance that will cover it. There's a number of reasons, and so in getting this app out there for a very low cost, we can help people in a way that we wouldn't have been able to help them before.
Bill: So you were just talking about access. I imagine they can easily use this at home, and that's a benefit as well.
Keri: Yes, that's what's so nice about an app, is that once you've downloaded that app and it is on your iPhone, or your iPad, hopefully at some point we would have Android. But you know, once it's there, it's yours, you have it. You can use it anytime or anywhere that you feel comfortable, and that's really important for a lot of people. And I love the idea that this can be accessed all over the world. It's really exciting for me to think about that, and for my co-workers at the Center for Learning and Innovation.
We love to look every day, we log onto the Apple Developer's site, and we see where it's been downloaded. And you know, we're in Czech Republic, we're in Ecuador, we're in Thailand, we're in Russia. It's really neat, you know? We're just a small critical access hospital, and in a way we can reach all these corners of the world.
Bill: That is very exciting. So how does this work then? The person just looks up a word they are struggling with at the time and then work through the app that way word by word?
Keri: It's a sound, and so that's a great question, because what you really need to do, is first you need to focus on the sound in isolation. For some people it might be the vowels of the English language that are so tricky. For other people it might be that K sound, or it might be that R sound, or the L sound.
Whatever sound it is that you know that you struggle with, or if it's a parent knowing that their child struggles with this particular sound, then what you do, is you select that sound from all of our sounds. There's a list there for you very plainly in the app. You click on that sound and then it's immediately going to open up into the x-ray video for you to watch. You can make that large screen so you can see that really big, or you can keep it small, then you read all those instructions that are printed out beneath that video. And finally you can record yourself, even at the same time as the video, simultaneous so that you can have that immediate feedback of your sound compared to the video. And if you've gotten really good at that, then you can swipe right and it pulls up a list of words, and you can practice that sound at the word level.
We're presently building in more words, and we hope to build in sentences for practice, so that then you could graduate to that next level of sentence work. And so I think it's a very comprehensive approach, but we start with the building blocks, which are just the sounds in isolation.
Bill: That is amazing, and it totally makes sense. And from what you were describing there with the swipe right, and you get to record yourself, I could see for a younger learner this could almost be fun, almost like a game almost.
Keri: Yeah, I think so. And the kids, they like the image of the x-ray. I had one kiddo that said, "Look at that cool skeleton." But you have to- it's my x-ray image, and then my studio image, and they've been lined up together. So it's just kind of something that you have to see it to believe it. It's really cool. Yeah, we're proud of it.
Bill: So Keri, where can someone find this for purchase?
Keri: Yes so we are available for purchase in the app store, and it is for $9.99 or $10.00 basically in the app store. Like I said for iPad and iPhone at this time, and you can also look us up on our website and click to the app store through that link. Finally you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and I'm constantly posting new information about our app, and places that we're going to showcase the app, and so you can follow us. We'd welcome the feedback through those sites as well.
Bill: Well that's wonderful information and great job on this app. I know it's going to help many, many people. Keri, thank you so much for your time today. So once again, you can find out more about the app online at www.PullmanRegional.org/speech-sounds-visualized, or you can purchase it in the iTunes app store for $9.99. This is The Health Podcast from Pullman Regional. I'm Bill Klaproth, thanks for listening.
Bill Klaproth (Host): Clear communication is the key to success, and a new digital app called the Speech Sounds Visualized App is designed for English pronunciation training. You can find out more about the app online at www.PullmanRegional.org/speech-sounds-visualized, or you can purchase it in the iTunes app store for $9.99. And here to talk about the app is the person who developed it. Our guest today, Keri Jones, a speech language pathologist at the Center for Learning and Innovation at Pullman Regional Hospital. Keri, thank you so much for your time today. So tell us, what is the Speech Sounds Visualized App, also known as SSV?
Keri Jones, MA, CCC-SLP (Guest): Yes, well this app is a really innovative app for speech. It's actually the only app in the world that uses x-ray technology to show how speech sounds in form. So it gives the user the feeling of being able to look inside the mouth to see how the English speech sounds are pronounced. And once we've seen it, it's just really incredible to watch.
In addition to watching the videos for all of the speech sounds, and mind you in the English language, there's twenty-six sounds in the alphabet, but there's actually forty-four different sounds in our language. So you study the sounds that perhaps you have difficulty pronouncing, and then you get all of the written instruction provided by myself, a speech language pathologist, and it's kind of like being in a session with me. It's all of the tips and instruction that you would receive in that one-on-one session. And finally you can record yourself so that you can listen to how you sound as that compares to the sound in the video.
Bill: That is so cool. So with the x-ray technology, a user can see the tongue and try to duplicate that exact movement.
Keri: That's exactly right, and what's really cool about it is one, it's just really neat to watch, and rather captivating. But there's other similar apps that they use computer generated images, and while those are very nice, this is really comprehensive and it kind of tells the story of speech pronunciation in a different way.
Bill: So Keri, who is this app designed for? Who would benefit the most from it?
Keri: Right, well our primary population that has benefited thus far has been English language learners. So we're really excited to see that the app has been downloaded actually in eleven countries and counting so far, and we released in the end of the December. And so yeah, we've got a lot of English language learners that are benefiting from it.
I've also heard from some folks that are using this with their children, especially older children. There are certain sounds that can be really tricky for kids to overcome. In fact, some people say that R, S, and L are the bread and butter of speech therapy because these are sounds that are just really challenging.
So I would say if you're looking for something different, a different visual, a different technique, and then also kids love to record themselves. So you know, I think it works for especially older children that are working on speech sounds.
Bill: So you mentioned children, I would imagine this app works for adults too, maybe someone looking to modify their speech a little bit? It sounds like adults would use this, too.
Keri: Yes, definitely. In fact, the primary market is adults. I think that there are a ton of speech therapy apps out there designed for children, there are not many out there for adults. And this app is very professional, very clinical looking, there's no- I'll say that there aren't any games or anything like that. It's for someone that really wants to sit down and focus on their speech, their pronunciation. You can certainly do this independently or you can work on this with someone else as well.
Bill: So you were talking about some of the features and benefits of this app. What is the big difference? What really makes this different than other speech apps on the market?
Keri: Right, this is so different because it's the only one that uses the x-ray technology, and so I had this idea quite some time ago, and then I worked very closely with actually an institutional review board to get permission to be able to capture these moving x-rays that show these sounds in action. And I even worked with a radiation health physicist to make sure that I was safe, there really is need, and getting these x-rays done to show inside the mouth. And you know, like I said that hasn't been done before. It's a new and very innovative way to look at how speech sounds are formed.
Bill: So Keri, why did Pullman Regional Hospital and the Center for Learning and Innovation develop this?
Keri: Well so you know, in 2017, I had the opportunity to pitch this idea to our hospital administration, and it kind of felt like my little Shark Tank moment. I love that show, Shark Tank, I never miss an episode. And it was just really fun for me to be able to present this as an idea, of course I didn't know if they going to go for this or not, but the hospital said, "Yes, we need to do this."
And I think the reason is the Center for Learning and Innovation at Pullman Regional Hospital is very interested in thinking about healthcare differently, thinking about how we can give people access to something that maybe they've struggled getting access to. Speech therapy is one of those things. It can be very hard for people to get access to this type of help, some people find themselves on a wait list for a long time, some people find that they don't have insurance that will cover it. There's a number of reasons, and so in getting this app out there for a very low cost, we can help people in a way that we wouldn't have been able to help them before.
Bill: So you were just talking about access. I imagine they can easily use this at home, and that's a benefit as well.
Keri: Yes, that's what's so nice about an app, is that once you've downloaded that app and it is on your iPhone, or your iPad, hopefully at some point we would have Android. But you know, once it's there, it's yours, you have it. You can use it anytime or anywhere that you feel comfortable, and that's really important for a lot of people. And I love the idea that this can be accessed all over the world. It's really exciting for me to think about that, and for my co-workers at the Center for Learning and Innovation.
We love to look every day, we log onto the Apple Developer's site, and we see where it's been downloaded. And you know, we're in Czech Republic, we're in Ecuador, we're in Thailand, we're in Russia. It's really neat, you know? We're just a small critical access hospital, and in a way we can reach all these corners of the world.
Bill: That is very exciting. So how does this work then? The person just looks up a word they are struggling with at the time and then work through the app that way word by word?
Keri: It's a sound, and so that's a great question, because what you really need to do, is first you need to focus on the sound in isolation. For some people it might be the vowels of the English language that are so tricky. For other people it might be that K sound, or it might be that R sound, or the L sound.
Whatever sound it is that you know that you struggle with, or if it's a parent knowing that their child struggles with this particular sound, then what you do, is you select that sound from all of our sounds. There's a list there for you very plainly in the app. You click on that sound and then it's immediately going to open up into the x-ray video for you to watch. You can make that large screen so you can see that really big, or you can keep it small, then you read all those instructions that are printed out beneath that video. And finally you can record yourself, even at the same time as the video, simultaneous so that you can have that immediate feedback of your sound compared to the video. And if you've gotten really good at that, then you can swipe right and it pulls up a list of words, and you can practice that sound at the word level.
We're presently building in more words, and we hope to build in sentences for practice, so that then you could graduate to that next level of sentence work. And so I think it's a very comprehensive approach, but we start with the building blocks, which are just the sounds in isolation.
Bill: That is amazing, and it totally makes sense. And from what you were describing there with the swipe right, and you get to record yourself, I could see for a younger learner this could almost be fun, almost like a game almost.
Keri: Yeah, I think so. And the kids, they like the image of the x-ray. I had one kiddo that said, "Look at that cool skeleton." But you have to- it's my x-ray image, and then my studio image, and they've been lined up together. So it's just kind of something that you have to see it to believe it. It's really cool. Yeah, we're proud of it.
Bill: So Keri, where can someone find this for purchase?
Keri: Yes so we are available for purchase in the app store, and it is for $9.99 or $10.00 basically in the app store. Like I said for iPad and iPhone at this time, and you can also look us up on our website and click to the app store through that link. Finally you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and I'm constantly posting new information about our app, and places that we're going to showcase the app, and so you can follow us. We'd welcome the feedback through those sites as well.
Bill: Well that's wonderful information and great job on this app. I know it's going to help many, many people. Keri, thank you so much for your time today. So once again, you can find out more about the app online at www.PullmanRegional.org/speech-sounds-visualized, or you can purchase it in the iTunes app store for $9.99. This is The Health Podcast from Pullman Regional. I'm Bill Klaproth, thanks for listening.