Today I got to test the next release of learn10. If you want to listen to the sound of your word, you’ll be able to click a ‘listen’ tab & choose a virtual model (an animated human character), then you select which voice they should have, meaning that when you play your daily word list you can listen to your words in different accents . We have to charge for this facility, however I am looking for an advertising agency who could find clients wishing to sponsor a character of their own creation.
On Friday I was busy choosing the various different models, more difficult than I thought it was going to be because you have to choose hairstyles, skin tones, outfits and make-up, even details like accessories. Each character will have a look (indicated by a first name) and a voice (indicated by a surname). We hope that people will find their own favourite character and then be able to remember them by their name. You can even create a model from a photo.
We’ve aimed to make them a representative bunch - however I was unable to find a headscarf - which may be important to some of the many Arabic speakers who are using learn10 to study English. In fact, it was quite difficult to find any female outfit without either a plunging neckline or uncovered arms. I really don’t know what the Islamic take will be on the apparel of animated characters, but someone is bound to tell me soon.
We have a hard deadline for the next release. At the moment it feels like we’re waiting to see if anyone will come to our party. What if, after all our hard work, nobody likes it, and it turns out that we were the only people who thought it would work?
