This ESL Robots Project creates online electronic tutors to help English language learners practice speaking English. To use the site, study the conversations first by reading and listening to them several times, and then try practicing these conversations with the robot. Type in your question, and then click the SAY button or hit the ENTER key on your keyboard, and the robot will reply with its computer voice. (To save costs, right now only the Apartment Robot can speak with a voice.) If your computer has speech recognition software installed, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, you can speak into your microphone instead of typing your questions.

      The robots are capable of learning. They are being trained, so they are getting smarter each day. Each robot will eventually be an expert on one topic. It is interesting to chat with the robots, who can understand you most of the time. Their answers are interesting. They have learned many idioms and proverbs. The robots can even point out some spelling and grammatical errors in your writing. Therefore, the robots can also be considered a good tool for ESL students to practice writing. After using the program for a certain time, students will be able to write faster with fewer mistakes.

      This project is under development at Pasadena City College, California, USA. It is improving as more people use it. Please send your comments to me by email. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. If you use the program to learn English, please spend a few minutes answering the survey questions. Thank you very much for using the program and contributing feedback. All the data collected will be used for research and development of the project only.