Leon Finds His Voice: Altissia’s Conversational Chatbot Goes Audio 🤖🎙️

Since its launch, Leon, Altissia’s conversational chatbot, has transformed the way our learners put their knowledge into practice. It has paved the way for spontaneous, context-rich exchanges that are corrected in real time. Today, we’re taking it a step further: Leon speaks. Our anthropomorphic educational chameleon is no longer content with just written exchanges; it now engages in actual spoken conversations with learners. A natural evolution, designed to offer a comprehensive learning experience, covering both written and spoken skills.

Leon Speaks: A New Milestone in Conversational Learning

Leon can now hold spoken conversations too, supporting learners from level A1- upwards, starting with English. In practice, learners chat by voice with Leon in a customisable conversation space,can request a transcript of the conversation at any time to review or revise it, and, just as with written practice, they receive immediate, personalised educational feedback at the end of each exchange. The aim hasn’t changed since Leon’s early success in written practice: to turn the theory learnt on the platform into real-life practice, within a supportive environment where making mistakes is part of the learning journey rather than a source of judgement.

Why Speaking Practice Makes All the Difference

For many learners, speaking in a foreign language remains the most daunting stage of the learning process. Yet it is also the most sought-after skill,both in professional and personal contexts.

Why is it so daunting, you may ask? Producing language, not just understanding it, pushes learners to draw on and organise what they’ve learnt in ways that listening alone doesn’t. But that’s only one piece of the puzzle — how learners feel matters just as much as how they think. Confidence, emotional safety and a supportive environment all shape whether that knowledge translates into speech (Cf. among others Swain's (1993 / 1995) "Output Hypothesis").

With Leon’s spoken practice, every learner can:

• Find the confidence to speak in a non-judgemental environment, available at any time, to overcome the fear of making mistakes;
• Develop genuine fluency through conversations guided by real communicative goals, in line with the action-oriented approach promoted by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR);
• Produce spontaneous responses in realistic situations — booking a hotel room, giving an opinion, presenting an argument — rather than reciting phrases learnt by heart;
• Make progress through immediate educational feedback, essential for retaining of grammar and vocabulary lont-term.

Leon Writes and Speaks – A 360° Approach to Language Learning

This is the true strength of this approach: Leon does not replace writing with speaking, but brings them together in a single, coherent and progressive learning experience.

Leon Writes, available from A2 level in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Dutch, lets learners practise anywhere – even when speaking aloud is not an option – by putting recently learnt vocabulary and grammar to use in authentic written exchanges.

Leon Speaks,available from A1- level in English, comples the picture by finally giving a voice to language practice: spontaneous spoken conversations, on-demand transcript, and a personalised conversation space.

In both cases, the pedagogical approach remains the same, and this is precisely what makes Leon so valuable: an AI that converses naturally with the learner, conversations based on the content actually studied on the platform, and a coach who provides personalised feedback after each exchange. The learner chooses the format — written or spoken — that suits their situation, level and objective, without ever having to change tools or learning approach.

Altissia’s Pedagogical Expertise Behind Every Conversation

Leon is not a generic chatbot bolted onto a language learning platform: it is a tool designed by trainers, for trainers. Every conversation builds on the content the learner has just studied, so there is a clear continuity between the lesson content and its practice. Every exchange concludes with constructive advice, designed to help the learner progress rather than simply to ‘grade’ them.
This approach has always been part of Altissia’s philosophy: combining artificial intelligence with educational expertise so that technology serves learning, rather than the other way round. **Leon the chameleon, a symbol of adaptability, embodies this conviction: adapting to each learner’s level, pace and learning style to guide them, step by step, towards fluency in a new language. **

A comprehensive offering, a single goal: confidence in languages

With Leon Writtes and Leon Speaks combined, Altissia now offers a truly comprehensive conversational practice solution to support learners all the way from their very first words to their best fluent spoken conversation. A new step towards a more engaging, more human and more effective learning experience.

Would you like to set up a comprehensive conversational practice programme for your learners? Contact our team!

Watch the video to discover Leon! 📽️