Preferred Language:
| English | Español | Português | 中国人 |
If you need help or have feedback, please Contact Us.
Quick Links
Quick Start Guide
About the Simulation
This application is designed to help you practice English language conversation skills by having interactive conversations with virtual characters. After you finish the conversation, you will receive feedback and be able to work on elements that you had trouble with using practice exercises.
Technical Requirements
- Chrome, Mac, or Windows operating system (desktop); iOS or Android (mobile)
- Latest version of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Edge browser
Navigating the Application
Several screen functions will be available to you throughout the application.
Menu: Allows you to navigate between simulations.
Help: Opens this Help document.
Audio On/Off Button: Mutes/Unmutes audio.
Settings: Allows you to open the Microphone Setup, select the language, and adjust the volume.
Player Dashboard: Keeps track of your progress through the simulations.
Previous/Next Page: Goes to previous or next page in the application.
.
Interactive Simulation
The interactive conversations in this application will allow you to practice your conversation skills. You will receive feedback at the end of the simulation so that you can see how well you did during the conversation. If you had difficulty with any section, you will have the opportunity to review using practice exercises afterwards.
Introduction
The simulation begins with a short explanation of the context of the conversation, so that you know who you are speaking with and what you are discussing. This screen will also include a list of conversation goals (called Objectives) you need to talk about in order to complete the simulation successfully.
Once you have reviewed this, press “Start” to begin the conversation.
Screen Functions
- Press the record button (1) to record and press again to stop.
- Open “Directions” (2) to see suggestions. Choose a suggestion (3) if you need more help deciding.
- Open “Transcript” (4) to see your chat history.
- Open “Objectives” (5) to see the goals of the conversation.
- Press this button (6) to restart, exit, or see practice exercises.
Restart
At any point after the character has finished speaking, you can press the restart button at the bottom right to:
- Restart the conversation.
- See Practice Exercises for the conversation.
- Exit the conversation.
Feedback
At the end of each simulation, you will receive specific feedback on how well you did during the conversation. This includes an overall assessment of your conversational skills and detailed feedback on each of the Objectives. Press the Forward and Back arrows to navigate through the Feedback slides.
Your overall score is the Mastery Score, which is a measure of how accurate and fluent your speech was. Performance scores are from 0% (not accurate, not fluent) to 100% or more (very accurate and very fluent).
The number of objectives you have completed/failed.
Details on the objectives you completed.
Details of any objectives you failed.
Your time spent in the simulation with feedback if you were too fast or too slow.
At the end, you will have the opportunity to replay the same simulation again, review practice exercises for any objectives you missed, or exit.
.
Practice Exercises
Once you have completed a simulation, you will be able to practice vocabulary and grammar that you had difficulty with. There are several types of practice exercises available to you, depending on what you need to work on. Each exercise includes instructions on how to complete them.
Player Dashboard
Press the icon on the top row to open the Player Dashboard. The Player Dashboard keeps track of your progress through the simulation.
Finished/Started. Number of simulations you finished / Number of simulations you started. A checkmark means you met all of the objectives of the simulation at least once.
Last Attempt. Date of last attempt.
Time Spent. Total time you spent on this simulation.
The Close button will close the Player Dashboard. Press on any simulation to expand the details.
Date. Date and time of session
Mastery Score. Measure of how accurate and fluent your speech was. Performance scores are from 0% (not accurate, not fluent) to 100% or more (very accurate and very fluent).
Objectives. Each simulation has many objectives. Objectives show how many objectives you completed and the number of objectives you can try. For example, a score of 3/4 means you completed 3 objectives out of 4 available objectives in this simulation.
Time Spent. Total time you spent on this simulation.
The Back button will take you back to the main Player Dashboard.
The Close button will close the Player Dashboard.
Using the Voice Recording Feature
Each interactive conversation and many practice exercises require you to interact with the application using a microphone connected to your computer. The application listens to what you record using Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) technology. This will work best if you are using a headset that includes a microphone that is positioned in front of your mouth. You can also use your computer’s built-in microphone and speakers if necessary.
There are two types of recording buttons used in the application, explained below.
Record Button
Stop Button
Processing Icon
To record your voice, follow these steps:
- Press on the Record button pictured above.
- Wait for the Record button to change to the Stop button. If the button turns gray, this just means the software is preparing to record.
- When the Stop button is present, speak into the microphone clearly.
- Note that the user has a limited amount of time to make their recording. A green bar will animate around the Stop button while they can record. When the bar has made a full circle, the recording will end.
- When you are done speaking, press the Stop button.
- An animated gray icon will appear as your recording is being processed. Please wait for feedback from the application.
On some practice exercises, you can listen to your recording by pressing the Playback button.
If you receive an error message after trying to record your voice, go to the Microphone Setup to confirm that your microphone is working correctly, or follow the steps listed in the Troubleshooting at the end of this document to find the problem.
Enabling Your Microphone
This lets you check that your microphone is working correctly by recording and playing back any phrase, such as the English numbers “one, two, three, four, five.”
If your microphone does not appear to be working correctly, the first thing to do is to make sure that it is connected to your computer (if you are using a headset or earphones) and otherwise appears to be working.
Remember that many headsets have a button to mute the microphone – make sure yours is not muted!
The first time that the Microphone Setup appears, you may receive a message from your browser such as:
.
For any such message, press “Yes,” “Allow,” or “Share Selected Device.”
If your microphone suddenly stops working, you should be able to restart it by pressing the Refresh button in your browser.
See the Troubleshooting section at the end of this document for further help with recording issues.
Language Selection
.
The Language Selection menu allows you to change the language of user interface buttons and introductory information. However, the interactive conversations and practice exercises will always remain in English.
Troubleshooting
Lesson pages or certain elements on the page are loading very slowly.
- This may have something to do with the browser you are using. Make sure your browser is up to date, or try a different one.
No sound when Play button is pressed:
- Make sure you are using a current version of Chrome, Firefox, or Edge – this product will not work with the Internet Explorer browser.
- Make sure your headset (or speakers) is set up properly, plugged into the correct port on the computer, and that the computer’s Mute button is not on.
- Confirm the Audio On/Off button is not muted.
- Press the “Settings” button at the top of your screen and make sure the Volume slider is set to a high enough level.
- Check your computer’s audio/sound Control Panel to confirm the correct device is selected for output.
No response, or error message when using microphone
- Make sure you are using the record button correctly (see the Using the Voice Recording Feature) section of this document for instructions).
- Confirm you are using a current version of Chrome, Firefox, or Edge – this application will not work with the Internet Explorer browser.
- Use the Microphone Setup page in the Settings menu to see whether or not the software is receiving a signal from your microphone.
- Confirm you have not muted input from your headset or computer microphone and that any external microphone is plugged into the correct port on the computer. Check your computer’s audio/sound Control Panel to confirm the correct recording device is selected for Input.
- If the recording level seems too low or too high, select the recording device from your computer’s audio/sound Control Panel, then adjust the volume within the device settings.
- The microphone you are using may not be sensitive enough to use with this application, or other noise in the room may be interfering. Try using a different type of microphone.
- If you are using Google Chrome go here (https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2693767?hl=en) and follow the instructions to give permission to use your microphone.
- For Edge and Firefox, permissions are granted when the user visits a page (as shown above).
| Lesson pages or certain elements on the page are loading very slowly. | This may have something to do with the browser you are using. Make sure your browser is up to date, or try a different one. |
| No sound when Play button is pressed: | Make sure you are using a current version of Chrome, Firefox, or Edge – this product will not work with the Internet Explorer browser. |
| Make sure your headset (or speakers) is set up properly, plugged into the correct port on the computer, and that the computer’s Mute button is not on. | |
| Confirm the Audio On/Off button is not muted. | |
| Press the “Settings” button at the top of your screen and make sure the Volume slider is set to a high enough level. | |
| Check your computer’s audio/sound Control Panel to confirm the correct device is selected for output. | |
| No response, or error message when using microphone | Make sure you are using the record button correctly (see the Using the Voice Recording Feature) section of this document for instructions). |
| Confirm you are using a current version of Chrome, Firefox, or Edge – this application will not work with the Internet Explorer browser. | |
| Use the Microphone Setup page in the Settings menu to see whether or not the software is receiving a signal from your microphone. | |
|
Confirm you have not muted input from your headset or computer microphone and that any external microphone is plugged into the correct port on the computer. Check your computer’s audio/sound Control Panel to confirm the correct recording device is selected for Input. |
|
| If the recording level seems too low or too high, select the recording device from your computer’s audio/sound Control Panel, then adjust the volume within the device settings. | |
| The microphone you are using may not be sensitive enough to use with this application, or other noise in the room may be interfering. Try using a different type of microphone. | |
| If you are using Google Chrome go here (https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2693767?hl=en) and follow the instructions to give permission to use your microphone. | |
| For Edge and Firefox, permissions are granted when the user visits a page (as shown above). |
Additional Information
This application is powered by Enskill®.
The above trademark notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
This product uses art from VectorStock® (https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free- vector/music-instruments-vector-70904, https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free- vector/party-silhouettes-vector-1742).
CHW Reskilling uses art from iStock.com/kbeis.
Enskill Basic, Transitional and Refresher English were developed in partnership with Laureate Education, Inc.