Google: Google introduces new ‘Reading practice’ feature for Play Books – Times of India

Google has introduced a new ‘Reading practice‘ feature for its Play Books Android app and Kids Space, helping readers improve their vocabulary and comprehension skills. The feature is available in the US and will highlight text as the user reads out loud, tracking where they are in the book and helping them to focus on the next word, Google said in a blog post. The feature is meant for children between the age group of 0-8 years.
The Reading practice filter in Google Play Books will narrow down users’ store or library searches to ebooks that offer Reading practice. In case a reader is unable to pronounce any words, they can tap on the word to listen to how it has to be pronounced, the blog post added.
With Reading practice, early readers can:
Track their reading position: They’ll see the text highlighted as they read out loud, tracking where they are in the book and helping them focus on the next word.
Hear a word: If they’re stuck on how to pronounce a word, they can simply tap it to hear what it sounds like.
Sound it out: With a quick tap, they’ll also hear a word broken down by syllable.
Hear a sentence: For even more context, new readers can listen to an entire sentence.
Define a word: To learn more, they can tap to see or hear a child-friendly definition of a word.
Set a new reading position: They can tap any word to update their position in the book and start tracking from there.
Practice a challenging word: At the end of the page, they’ll have the option to practice any words they skipped or mispronounced.
“To get started with Reading practice, check out our hand-picked collection of kid-friendly reads on Google Play Books, including some no-charge options,” said Vitaliy Dikker, product manager at Google Play Books.