Technology has played a key role in developing tools to help people learn English, particularly in areas like pronunciation—and that’s exactly where the ELSA Speak app comes in.
Designed primarily for students and professionals who need to communicate effectively in English, ELSA Speak focuses on helping users refine their pronunciation. That said, it’s a valuable tool for any language learner.
The app helps users recognize subtle differences between similar-sounding words while expanding their vocabulary, making it a practical choice for improving spoken English.
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What is Elsa Speak and how does it work?
ELSA Speak is an app for learning English that helps you learn and improve your pronunciation of the language with activities based on listening comprehension, word stress, conversation, and intonation.
The exercises suggested by this app are what set it apart from other language learning apps that focus more on grammar rules, vocabulary, reading, or writing.
ELSA is an app that uses artificial intelligence and voice data from native English speakers, who speak with various accents and can provide immediate feedback on the user's pronunciation.
In short, the app analyzes the data it collects to pinpoint both correct and incorrect pronunciation, helping users build the fluency needed to speak confidently.
Getting started is simple: download the app from the Play Store or App Store, sign up with your email, select your level (from beginner to advanced), and share your goals for learning English.
ELSA Speak offers a variety of exercises to improve pronunciation, listening comprehension, syllable stress, conversational skills, and intonation. Each exercise is divided into three difficulty levels—easy, medium, and hard—to help you progress step by step.
Features of the Elsa Speak method
ELSA Speak’s conversational English and pronunciation exercises are divided into two categories: standard and advanced. Standard exercises focus on correcting pronunciation errors in individual words, while advanced exercises break words down by syllable to identify and fix mistakes in detail.
Each activity evaluates the pronunciation of a single sound within a word, rather than the entire word. The app highlights the sound and provides its International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcription for clarity.
Additionally, ELSA offers listening comprehension exercises that use audio clips and multiple-choice questions. For instance, you may be shown a word along with two audio recordings. Your task is to read the word, listen carefully to both clips, and choose the one that matches the correct pronunciation.
Practices of this type are used to show when the phonetics of a syllable should be emphasized; it also offers vocabulary according to the user's goal in learning English: it can be conversational or business-related.
Finally, Elsa has many exercises, around 1600, to develop good pronunciation. In the Premium version, all exercises are unlocked; in the free version, only five are available.
Elsa Speak for businesses
This app offers English language products for companies to train their employees. ELSA provides an AI-powered English tutor for each employee and claims that employees can improve their English in three months, without classes.
How much does Elsa Speak cost?
This language-learning app offers a free version with limited content, along with paid plans based on how long you’d like access to its exercises.
A monthly plan costs $11.99 USD. For a longer commitment, you can opt for the 3-month plan, priced at $8.66 USD per month. If you’re looking for the best value, the annual subscription brings the cost down to $7.99 USD per month.
Advantages and disadvantages of learning English with Elsa Speak
When considering an app like ELSA, it is always necessary to weigh the pros and cons to determine whether this tool for learning English can truly be useful to us.
Advantages:
Accuracy in corrections
Thanks to its high level of comprehension and use of AI, this app can make very accurate corrections to its users to help them understand pronunciation. This happens most of the time, because sometimes it can be flawed.
Notifications
The app offers notifications such as reminders and motivational phrases that help many users continue practicing in the app.
Pleasant user experience
This app is intuitive, and users can easily find the exercises they are looking for.
Disadvantages:
Malfunctions
Some users have reported issues with the app, including occasional crashes that result in lost progress. Others have expressed frustration that the app sometimes marks correctly pronounced words as errors. There are also complaints from users who claim they were still charged even after canceling their subscription.
There is no progress plan
The app lacks a built-in calendar or progress tracker to indicate when students should advance to the next level. Without this feature, it’s easy for learners to lose motivation and engagement.
Very limited free version
The free version of ELSA limits users to just five exercises per day, making it harder to fully immerse in daily practice and climb the app’s rankings.
Payments for unexpected costs
After paying for their subscription, users realized that they had to pay more to unlock other content or to update the app.
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User reviews
It is also important to take into account the opinions of users of this application so that we know firsthand how people are interacting with it. Let's see what people think about ELSA.
“It's excellent, I just wish the definitions and examples were in Spanish as well as English (which they already are) so I could understand them better. Overall, it's a very good app from what I've seen so far.”
While some users find the app effective and appreciate its features, others see it as an unexpected and unnecessary expense.
“I paid for the pro subscription and was obtaining IELTS certificates when, in the latest update, they decided to delete all progress and put all certificates behind a paywall. How much will I have to pay to get them? I liked the app, but I definitely won't be renewing my subscription.”
Some users believe this app is great for practicing and refining pronunciation, but not particularly effective for actually learning English.
“Sometimes the voice recognition fails. It has an ear icon to listen to your pronunciation, and it sounds terrible, so you might think it's the phone, but you can compare it to the phone's voice recorder and the quality is different. So even if you pronounce it correctly, it will give you an error, and sometimes it's very frustrating. It's a very good app for improving your pronunciation, but it's not for learning English.”
For other users, the app works well, as it helps improve pronunciation and understanding of the language, but the price is excessive.
“It's a very good app, especially for listening and pronunciation. It also gives you an approximate analysis of your progress based on your pronunciation and tells you your mistakes, which you can then use to train yourself.”
Would you like to know the opinions of other platforms? We recommend our article on Loora AI Reviews.
In short, is it worth studying English with Elsa Speak?
This app is a helpful companion in the journey of learning English, but it’s far from a complete solution. It offers a wide range of exercises that help users identify and correct pronunciation mistakes, as well as the ability to personalize learning by focusing on exercises that match their interests. Its interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it user-friendly.
However, this app should not be seen as a replacement for a structured English course. While it’s a valuable tool powered by artificial intelligence, it lacks the depth of guided instruction, and many users find themselves facing unexpected extra costs after signing up.
Why do we recommend learning English with Papora?
Papora is designed to meet all your English learning needs, accessible anytime from your phone or tablet. Created by educators who understand the challenges students face, its lessons are carefully crafted to support real progress.
The platform combines live classes with native-level teachers from the United States and the United Kingdom with a self-guided course, allowing students to reinforce what they learn at their own pace.
One standout feature is that Papora awards a certificate for every level you complete—perfect for enhancing your résumé and opening doors to better job opportunities locally or abroad—all at one of the most affordable prices on the market.
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Frequently asked questions about Elsa Speak:
Although the app doesn’t explicitly state this, it’s fair to say that with consistent practice, ELSA can help users reach a high level of English proficiency—potentially even approaching native fluency.
ELSA is a good support for learning English, it is an alternative as a complementary tool in the process of mastering the language. It does not replace a good course created by teachers and with real content such as Papora.
