speaking-practice
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Praktika.ai
Praktika.ai is an AI-powered language learning app that lets people practice speaking through conversations with personalized AI avatar tutors. Instead of the tap-and-match drills common to language apps, Praktika simulates the responsive, spoken back-and-forth of a private tutor - complete with realistic voices, accents and emotional inflection - at roughly $8 a month versus hundreds for a human tutor. Founded by the team behind AI service firm Cleverbots, the company reports over 30 million learners, 1.2 million monthly active users across 100 countries, and raised a $35.5M Series A led by Blossom Capital in May 2024.
Pingo AI
Pingo AI is a San Francisco language-learning startup building an AI companion that teaches people to speak new languages through real, spoken conversations rather than flashcards and drills. Launched in January 2025 and backed by Y Combinator (S25), the app pairs learners with an AI tutor that sounds like a native speaker, guides them through everyday scenarios, gives real-time corrections, and remembers their progress. It grew from zero to hundreds of thousands of paying users and millions in annual recurring revenue within its first year and was named a Google Play Best of 2025 winner.
Toko
Toko is an AI-powered English speaking tutor that lets learners hold short, realistic conversations with an AI and get instant feedback on grammar and pronunciation. Founded in 2021 by MIT engineers Jen Liu and Erica Du and backed by Y Combinator (W22), the New York-based app is especially popular across East Asia, with more than 1 million downloads and tens of thousands of five-star reviews.