Speakace

About Us

We are a small American family business founded by a linguist, a business school student, and a computer science guy.

As people who have worked for international companies and have friends and family scattered across the globe, we've always shared a few beliefs about languages:

Every language is a treasure and a window into another culture.
Learning another language can enrich your life and expand your worldview.
On a practical level, knowing multiple languages can open up new career and life opportunities.
Native speakers or not, people typically use only a small fraction of their vocabulary in spoken language.

But it wasn't until we found our new home in the US that we had to take a closer look at the striking difference between the language we understand and the language we speak.

Understanding vs Speaking

So why do people use only a small fraction of their vocabulary when they speak? Research suggests the difference comes down to how our brains work:

Understanding involves receptive skills (listening and reading), while speaking involves productive skills. Receptive skills are generally easier.
Understanding is supported by context (we can read a sentence even with multiple missing letters), while speaking requires constructing sentences from scratch.
We are exposed to a wider vocabulary in listening and reading than we use in everyday speech. This exposure helps understanding but might not translate into active use.
Unlike reading and listening, speaking also involves social factors like confidence and anxiety.
Language we understand
Language we speak

The Challenge

Imagine you're truly passionate about the German language, literature, and philosophy. You have an extensive German vocabulary, yet you lack speaking practice.

German is relatively phonemic (you can pronounce words based on their spelling), leading you to believe you'll do well if you travel or move to Germany. However, you won't.

The words from your extensive vocabulary simply won't surface in conversation; they'll remain passive.
Sentences can sound awkward or unnatural, often full of fillers like “you know” or “like.”
Your muscle memory isn't developed, and your speech may be unclear with poor intonation and frequent mispronunciations.
You might notice people sensing your struggle, which can lead to anxiety and shaken confidence.
Over time, you might start avoiding conversations altogether.
Despite being great at reading and listening, your spoken language will be nowhere near the expected richness:
Expectations
Reality

Ultimately, you would learn firsthand that "language barriers" are called barriers for a reason.

The Speakace App

Facing similar challenges with speaking, we decided to create a basic app for family use only. The first version was created in the fall of 2023, and it wasn't much different from the app you can download now.

Hands-Free Mode

People don't use apps when they speak, and they don't see spelled-out phrases in front of them. That's why hands-free was a must-have from day one.

On-Demand Content

The app has been user-centric from the start. Everything in the app, both features and content, comes from user requests and feedback.

Playlists

The idea of playlists hasn't changed at all since the family version. Users still use the repetition feature to master specific phrases or set the list to shuffle mode to make practice closer to real-life experience.

The latest version includes a variety of new features and enhancements, such as progress tracking, user feedback, and advanced search options. However, the core of the app is still the same:

Speakace is your flexible conversation partner: practice and build speaking confidence on the topics you choose, when you need it, and how you need it.

The Use of AI

As in most modern businesses and applications, AI is a huge help for us as a small business. It's nearly everywhere, from handling multilingual user requests to generating content, searching, and powering other key functions of the app.

However, we truly value the authenticity of human voices and support teachers, bloggers, and other language enthusiasts in their efforts to bring the natural beauty of languages to their students and audiences.