Side by side
| Speak | Language Boss | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is built | A course: learn, practice, apply. Lessons are written by learning designers and reviewed by people. There is also Free Talk and AI Tutor Call. | Koda writes each scene from what you want English for, with a role and missions. A table read comes before it and dailies after it. |
| Who sets the situation | The curriculum, or you in Create Your Own, which is in beta. | Koda, from your dream. You can also pitch a scene and he writes it. |
| Correction while you talk | Depends on the mode. Subtle corrections after each turn in Free Talk, with a retry. During and after the call in AI Tutor Call. | The character folds the fix into its reply, in role, at your level. Explanations come after the call. |
| Your sounds | Feedback on how you sound, and assessment of pronunciation, intonation and fluency. It doesn't score each sound or say what a sound came out as. | Every sound of every take is scored after the call, and you hear what it came out as: "the th in think came out as s". |
| Seeing your mouth | No mouth or tongue visuals. | X-ray Mouth replays your selfie with the tongue drawn over your own cheek. Free. |
| Repeat mistakes | AI Tutor Call recalls your last talk and brings repeat mistakes back into the conversation. Premium Plus targets frequent mistakes. | Counts each mistake and sound across all your takes and ranks what to fix first. The next character listens for your top three recurring mistakes. |
| Help in your language | 15 native languages for English courses, and native-language help in AI Tutor Call. | The scene stays in English and Koda explains in your language. That help fades as your level rises. |
| Languages taught | English, Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese, Italian and Simplified Chinese. | English only. |
| Where it runs | iPhone and Android. No desktop. | In the browser, on a phone or computer. |
| Progress | Streaks, freezes, leagues you can turn off, and a Speak Level. | No streaks or leagues. Which sounds you say clearly, stars, stickers, a rank from your own best scores, and Then and Now. |
| Free | A 7-day trial that needs a payment method. Free members get previews only. | First scene free. Voice Coach, Sounds of English, X-ray Mouth, Glass Words, table reads, dailies and flashcards are always free. |
| Paid | Premium $17.99 a month or $83.99 a year. Premium Plus $39.99 a month or $164.99 a year. | Pro covers live calls: $6.99 a week or $49.99 a year. |
A course or your own scenes
Speak is built around a path. You learn something, practice it and apply it, in an order its learning designers set. If you want someone else to decide what comes next, or you want a language other than English, that is what it is for.
Language Boss starts from what you tell Koda: a real interview next month, a weekend in London, the voice chat you keep muting yourself in. He writes the scene and the character, and you talk it through live. There is no fixed syllabus, because the point is to rehearse your own life.
A scene also gives you a reason to keep talking. Here is what the research says about role-play, including its limits.
How each one corrects you
Speak has put real work into this. It uses separate models to judge whether to correct at all, and it holds back when it isn't confident about what it heard. It reports its false-positive rate falling from 25% to 2%, which is its own number. In Free Talk the corrections come after each turn, with a chance to retry.
In Language Boss, the correction comes from the character, in role, in the next sentence: you say "I have never went there" and it answers "Oh, you've never been there? Why not?" You hear the right form straight after yours and the scene carries on. Then your own lines come back fixed the next day in dailies, because a correction like that can be missed. We go through the research on correcting spoken English here.
Sounds and the mouth
Speak calls real-time pronunciation feedback a core part of the app, and Premium Plus adds review aimed at your weakest pronunciation patterns. It also has a Pronunciation Coach for English learners.
Language Boss works one sound at a time. After a call, you see which sounds slipped and what they came out as, and you hear your own word beside the model. X-ray Mouth then shows you the physical change: it replays your selfie with the tongue drawn over your cheek. No other language app draws it over your own face. Start with the th sound or ship and sheep.
Questions
Is Language Boss better than Speak?
Yes, if you want to rehearse your own situations and fix individual sounds, and the first scene is free. If you want a set course, or a language other than English, Speak is built for that and Language Boss isn't.
Does Speak correct pronunciation?
Speak says it gives real-time feedback on how you sound and assesses pronunciation, intonation and fluency. It doesn't score each sound or show you your mouth. Language Boss scores every sound of a live take after the call and tells you what it came out as.
Can I use Speak or Language Boss on a computer?
Speak's help pages say iPhone and Android, with no desktop version. Language Boss runs in the browser, on a phone or a computer.
How much does Language Boss cost?
The first scene is free, and Voice Coach, Sounds of English, X-ray Mouth, Glass Words, table reads, dailies and flashcards are always free. Pro covers live calls and costs $6.99 a week or $49.99 a year in the US.
