Kickstarter for "Visually Speaking" App: Students Dialog with iPad to Learn Languages

NEW YORK - May 13, 2014 - PRLog -- New York, NY – May 14, 2014 – Maurice Hazan, creator of the QTalk Method of language instruction, (as well as an earlier version of his method called Symtalk), has started a Kickstarter campaign to complete a revolutionary new app to help language learners who do not have access to a native speaker for beginning language lessons, as well as ongoing fluency improvements through dialogue practice. The power of Maurice Hazan's method is that it enables an immersion environment with the use of visual scaffolding and a deliberate focus on oral production (speaking) for syntax and vocabulary building . The campaign began on May 6 and ends on June 5. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mauricehazan/visually-speaking-the-science-of-language-acquisit

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Maurice Hazan's "Visually Speaking" app is being developed initially for the iOS platform. The app behaves as a dialogue partner for the student, facilitating the understanding and speaking of complete, correct sentences from the first lesson.  The build-in voice recognition features of the iOS device make it possible for any language learner, anywhere in the world, to learn, practice and improve their new language fluency in a short period of time, without need for grammar study or memorization. Currently, the app is in a prototype for English language lessons, and Maurice Hazan would like to make the basic level free to anyone in the world who would like to learn English. Additional lessons and features would be purchased on an as-needed basis, so the student only pays for the lessons as they are needed. Maurice Hazan's QTalk Publishing offers materials to support teachers of Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, Hebrew, and Hindi - eventually all these languages will be available for the new app. The visual method is particularly well suited to learning a language with a writing system different from the student's first language. The method is used to teach language to students as young as 24 months, and has proven beneficial to learners with reading disabilities.

To complete the implementation and testing of the English language template, to add additional languages, and to pilot the "Visually Speaking" app for iOS with a scalable delivery and support infrastructure (initially as a reward to all the Kickstarter backers), the Kickstarter campaign will help raise the minimum $10,000 needed to complete Phase 1 development; any funds raised beyond the $10,000 goal will accelerate the start of Phase 2 development. Kickstarter is an online funding platform that has funded many creative endeavors by allowing supporters and fans to financially back projects before the creation of the product, promising its investors rewards of varying levels. To support Maurice Hazan's "Visually Speaking" Kickstarter campaign, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/mauricehazan/visually-speaking-the-science-of-language-acquisit

“What Maurice has done is to train adults to learn to speak languages and develop fluency in the way that children and babies do.”- Anthony P. Geraci, MD, NYU School of Medicine

The ability to offer an immersive, interactive learning experience outside the classroom setting will help any student in the world to learn a new language easily, even if she or he has limited literacy skills and/or dyslexia, autism, ADD/ADHD, or simply struggles to succeed in traditional grammar-translation method academic language classes. Maurice Hazan grew up in France speaking five languages, and when he immigrated to the United States he was amazed that language learning was considered to require amazing intelligence or some kind of special gift. Working as a teacher first in elementary school then in high school in the Saint Louis, Missouri area in the 1990's, Maurice began to develop his visual teaching method based on tools he found effective with his special needs students, especially those with speech delays in their first language, who were considered to be unable to learn a second language. The joy and amazement of students who found themselves now easily thinking and speaking in their new language after a few short lessons, compelled Maurice to leave teaching and focus entirely on the delivery of his new teaching method. He has had a lifelong dream of bringing this method to millions across the world, especially those who are unable to benefit from his QTalk method in a classroom or homeschool setting.

The benefit of an interactive, easy-to-use, stand-alone app is especially great when the number of students far outstrips the availability of native speaker teachers to work one-on-one and provide the necessary conversation practice. These limitations especially impact students of English as a second language (ESL/ELL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) whether new immigrants, business travelers, tourists, or applicants for student visas, need to become communicative in English within the shortest possible time, often with minimal support.

The new "Visually Speaking" app's engaging lessons have been composed by Maurice Hazan with input from native speakers, including the language teachers at his Tribeca Language center in New York City. The development team is supported by technical experts at Maurice Hazan's QTalk Publishing, a sole-source provider of QTalk Method materials for K12 schools and homeschool families. Visual images are Maurice Hazan's original artwork developed for the QTalk materials, consisting of thousands of vocabulary words and expressions representing all parts of speech. The new "Visually Speaking" app will be an independent project, with initial pilot aimed at adults worldwide who wish to begin learning English, with additional languages to follow in Phase II of the product development.

For more information about Maurice Hazan, visit his website www.MauriceHazan.com. Maurice Hazan is the founder and CEO of QTalk Publishing and Tribeca Language. He lives and works in New York City.