Reading听颈蝉听crucial to听a child鈥檚听诲别惫别濒辞辫ment听鈥� yet one in nine kids in this country don鈥檛 own a book.听
Practise at home is fundamental to improving and honing this听most important of skills.听However,听helping听a听child navigate through a book听in a way which benefits them听may not be straightforward听for many grown-ups.听
鈥淭he reality is, not all parents have got the time听鈥�听especially at the moment听鈥�听to听sit and read with their children,鈥� Kim Antoniou, founder of Fonetti听鈥撎�tells听老九品茶Cloud.听
鈥�You’ve got lots of parents, and single parents,听that are听struggling. They are听juggling听working from home,听paying听the bills, home–schooling听their kids.听
“Even more importantly, many do not have the skills to do this. I know a young woman, with two young boys, who is highly dyslexic. They probably read better than she does. My daughter Victoria [who is also dyslexic] is in her late 30s and she still struggles with reading.听
鈥淓qually, parents that don’t speak English as a first language also don’t have the ability to sit and read with their children.听It’s just not fair to put听all of the onus on the parents without giving them tools to help them.鈥�听
Reading is crucial to learning:听the impact of illiteracy or below-par literacy will be felt keenly throughout a person鈥檚 life.听Yet, Antoniou (below) says, there’s another critical element听which many people听underestimate: reading aloud.听听
鈥淚t helps with confidence,鈥� she says.听鈥�All through your life, being able to read aloud competently and comfortably is such an important life skill.鈥�听
In an age where children can navigate a tablet almost as听quickly as they are able to walk,听harnessing technology to听support the ability to read seems a no-brainer. Inspired by her听then two-year-old听grandson鈥檚听use of听YouTube, Antoniou听launched Auris in 2016 to bring fledgling voice recognition tech into the听primary school听learning environment.听
However,听she came to realise that off-the-shelf models were not sufficient for such a specific skill.听鈥�One of the things that’s fundamentally important to understand about voice technology is that there aren’t any real meaningful tools out there for children,鈥� she听says.听鈥淎nd when it comes to reading,听that听is a very, very different speech pattern to conversational speech.听
鈥淭he听Siris,听Cortanas听and Alexas haven’t been designed for kids听鈥撎�and听they haven’t been designed in the context of reading.鈥�听
Auris teamed up with听Dr Peter Bell, an expert in听speech technology at the University of Edinburgh and member of the Centre for Speech Technology Research, to develop a proprietary听algorithm focused specifically on children reading out loud.听
鈥淎fter modelling听our engine,听we had to get the contextual data to train听it听鈥�听so听we spent an entire year going all around the whole of the United Kingdom, recording children听reading,鈥� explain Antoniou.听鈥�We’ve got the largest repository of children’s听reading听voices in听every听UK accent on record.鈥�听
It became apparent that reading in silence would not provide optimal data. 鈥�That’s not the real world, so we听conducted听our听data collection in school libraries听and听public places.听We needed that background noise, the听different levels of reading and errors to feed into the engine.听
鈥淭he net result is that our engine has now got benchmarked accuracy of over 92%.鈥�听
The resulting app,听Fonetti, features an array of books听which children can听access on听iPads with Android tablets to follow later this year. As they read aloud, the words change colour 鈥� to green if they get it right, grey if not听鈥� and they can double-tap on any word to hear it spoken correctly.听
Two of my own children spent a good half-hour reading听titles,听from听stories听about听a cat which refused听to go outside to a听non-fiction book about听wild animals.
鈥�It was really听fun听and I loved it.听Especially the story about the boy who wanted a pet shark!听I know you liked the one about tigers,听Daddy. Good books,” says Charlie.
鈥�The little creature [which pops up at the end of a story] was funny. I was happy to feed him words because he must be hungry!听
鈥�It made me feel happy.听I think听I鈥�m a听really good听reader now. I was very proud of myself.鈥�
The app听picked up听when Jack, as he is wont to do, missed a word;听and also听recognised when Charlie backtracked to repeat a sentence which he had not听turned fully green the first time around.听
It also knew to disregard the inevitable background noise, such as yelps from the baby monitor听and听commentary from the 鈥榥on-reading鈥� brother.听听
鈥淭he real-time acknowledgement that Jack is getting it right tends to help children pay attention,鈥� Antoniou says of my eight-year-old’s tendency to听daydream and read superficially. 鈥淚n the New Year we’re introducing comprehension, so听at the end of certain books, children听can听answer questions听about听the听content: what was the dog’s name?听What was the colour of Jack’s hat?听
鈥�The app听allows听them to make mistakes, to stop and start again, and to pick up and carry on with their听train of reading.听听
鈥�At the end of every book,听they will be presented with stars depending on how accurate they were 鈥� so they鈥檙e always striving for three stars 鈥� but also a fanfare,听because听it’s all about encouraging children to read more.鈥�听听
The听ability for children to manage this process themselves is crucial.听鈥�We get quite a lot of recognition in the dyslexia and SEN (Special Educational Needs) environments, because if you’ve got a child with dyslexia, the worst thing you can do is to ask them to read aloud in front of someone,鈥� explains Antoniou.听听
鈥淕iving them a platform to be able to practise in private,听independently, and knowing that听they’re receiving听encouragement听鈥� with nothing negative听鈥撎�is听so powerful for a dyslexic.听
鈥淧lus, if a highly dyslexic parent [for example] is sitting with their child as they use听Fonetti, they can still be part of the process, but the parent does not have the pressure of being the one that’s doing the assessment because the app is doing it for them.鈥�听
Available on the platform is the听Sadsville听series of books, which were created by TV personality Martin Roberts to support the work of the NSPCC in making children aware how they can seek help when needed.听听
The app was one of eight selected for the government鈥檚 Hungry Little Minds educational campaign around the turn of the year, but the initiative has fallen by the wayside as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Given听the potential of these apps to support home learning, Antoniou says the government has 鈥渄ropped the ball鈥� in allowing it to fade into the听background.听听
TV presenter Clare Balding is a brand ambassador and investor in听Fonetti. She is leading a 鈥�12 Days of Christmas鈥� campaign which will see a dozen celebrities听read a story from the听Fonetti听library from Christmas Day for 12 days.听
“It鈥檚 such a simple concept and a brilliant use of technology to support children, make them feel more confident and allow parents to monitor their progress,鈥� says Balding.听“It recognises the individuality of children鈥檚 intonation and regional accents. It is helpful and supportive of hesitant delivery or speech impediments and will be an endlessly patient and non-judgmental friend to nervous readers, encouraging them to be more confident and braver.听
鈥淚 have always wanted to be involved with an idea that could change the world and I believe听Fonetti听is the one.鈥�听
The听ultimate aim听is to get half a million children using the platform, which operates a subscription model,听in 2021.听鈥淲e’re just launching in schools now. We’ll be working in 20 schools by the end of the year for our beta programme, and then we’re launching properly into schools in the New Year,鈥� says Antoniou, who made the platform available for free during the two COVID-19 lockdowns.听鈥�Our plan is to have 2,500 schools by this time next year.鈥�听
Personal logins can be linked to the school鈥檚 account, giving the child access to the library of books.听This allows schools to track when and what their pupils are reading, their accuracy and when to move them on to a higher level of books.听
The high quality of data has听opened up听an additional unexpected revenue opportunity.听鈥�We’ve got conversations on the go with several major publishers,鈥� reveals Antoniou. 鈥淲e can tell them how many books have sold; whether those books have actually been read;听and听the places where听people听stop reading听and become disengaged.鈥�听
Among the first of these 鈥榩remium鈥� titles听which can be purchased inside the app are the books of Enid Blyton.听听
There are also plans to extend the technology to assist the recovery of stroke patients听and to help people in global markets to learn English.听However,听the original vision holds true for Antoniou, who plans to raise a Series A round of investment next year.听
鈥�One of the most powerful things听[when things don鈥檛 go as smoothly as you expected]听is听when听I see children using the platform听– and I remember why we鈥檙e doing this,鈥� she says.听鈥�When we’ve asked children how using听Fonetti听makes them feel,听several told us听‘it makes me feel brave’.听Imagine that.听
鈥淢y whole team has been incredible throughout the pandemic. They’ve all put blood sweat and tears into what we’re doing because they feel that there’s a purpose.鈥�