Google Launches Bolo App To Improve Children Literacy In India
In a bid to create more apps designed for the Indian market, Google has introduced a new app called ‘Bolo’. The app is aimed at improving children’s literacy in the country. It is available to download on the Google Play Store starting March 6. ‘Bolo’ is a Hindi term which means ‘to speak’ in English. The app is still in development, so there may be a few bugs to fix and changes to introduce before the company rolls out a stable version of it.
Google Bolo App
Google Bolo uses a Hindi UI and a personal assistant called Diya, which is also configured to speak in Hindi. The app is aimed towards children in primary grade, to improve their English and Hindi reading skills. This is achieved by encouraging the reader to speak aloud using the device’s microphone, and giving them instant feedback. It is completely free to use and works offline, so no internet connection is required. The stories that are available to read and practice are either in Hindi or in English, and it is expected that Google may add more languages to the platform soon.
To make the stories engaging and interesting, Google Bolo features the aforementioned personal assistant called ‘Diya’ which uses the same speech technology as the Google Assistant. The assistant can also be used in case help is needed in the app. There are some word games as well, to make it more engaging and versatile.
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This is not the first time Google has developed an India exclusive application. The last few years have seen the company release a bunch of apps designed for the country. Google Pay, which was formerly called Tez, was released back in August 2017. It is a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app which has since gained immense popularity. Some other apps, like Google Neighbourly, can be used to ask questions about a particular neighbourhood. The Google Indic Keyboard also has been popular among the Indian audience, owing to its support for multiple local languages. The Go editions of popular apps like Youtube, Google Maps, have also been designed for countries like India.
