Grammarly for speech – market size and attitude

Problem: English Speaking is very stressful (esp.) for non-native speakers 

Many non-native English speakers say they have lost overall confidence because of their lack of English skills. However, traditional methods of speech training mainly focus on rote memorization and the cost of a 1:1 human tutor is too expensive (= low accessibility).

Solution: A Digital 1:1 Tutor for Speech

We propose a 1:1 digital tutor for speech, which can give you feedback on your speech in many ways. While Grammarly is a powerful tool for your writing, an equally effective tool for speech is non-existent at the time. 

Our proposed 1:1 digital speech tutor will give feedback on paraphrasing and word/phrase selection, while also providing an analysis of filler words, hedging words, speech cadence and intonation.

Market Size

• Bottom-up Calculation

Projected Market Growth

• The market value is set to grow by USD 14.37 billion (CAGR 16.78%)
• 45% of Growth from APAC (China and India key markets)
• English is spoken by 20% of the global population. And it is the Official Language of Business
• Digital tutoring growing at  18.2% (2022~2030)

> Interview 1: Kate (non-native english speaker, level: beginner)

• • Is from Korea and has not had much exposure to English 
  • Has a hard time getting into a deep conversation with English speakers
  • Naturally finds herself most comfortable with Korean speakers
  • Has always been looking for methods to practice English speaking 
    • Tried Ringle, an online 1:1 tutor program 
    • Was very satisfied with the quality of the program. However, the cost is too expensive ($50/hour)
    • Currently is attending numerous ESL classes on campus, but find the free classes to be lacking in value because the lecturers are volunteers and sometimes seem inexperienced
    • Also, the ESL classes are not 1:1, so not as much feedback as Ringle (1:1 tutor)
  • At home, tries to work on the core fundamentals of English
    • Vocabulary: memorizes with textbook
      • The problem here is that she does not know whether this will actually help here English
    • Grammar: studies with ‘Grammar in Use’
      • Thinks it is a nice workbook, but is kind of hard to get used to the concepts so that they 
    • Listening & Reading: audiobooks (audible) + animation movies
  • Would like a personalized list of things to memorize which she would use the most

> Interview2: Julie : 1st year CS student from China

– Is very hard to communicate with students in a discussion-heavy classroom environment

– Finds Chinese friends the easiest to get along with 

– Also, there are a lot of Chinese students on campus (especially in her department) so she still feels comfortable just speaking Chinese

– After graduating, is thinking of working at a big tech firm for a while as a SWE, and then returning back to China 

– If asked if the plan would be the same if she was fluent in English, she said that she wasn’t sure. 

– She says: Engineering interviews are not that heavy on English communication skills

– However, she does want to improve her English because it seems to limit her boundaries and her world

– After coming here, has not been able to set aside time to study or practice any English (besides a mandatory ESL class for international students)

– Is living with a roommate and this affects her. If she was alone, she would have probably tried speaking out loud by herself to practice. But since her 

– Is not sure if she will actually be able to set aside time to practice English – speaking English in her everyday life is almost too much already

– She would most want a tool to increase her confidence in being able to speak up during class discussions or just everyday conversations with her cohort

– The biggest help she has got so far is from speaking to native English speakers who spoke slowly and asked her many questions (which she met during SGSI)