Conversation — teacher guide

The student chooses someone to talk to—a store employee, a general practitioner, a job interviewer—presses the large circle, and starts talking. The voice responds immediately, at the level chosen by the student, and the conversation lasts as long as the student wants.

How it works

Students find partners under Conversation. Recommended ones are at the top, followed by categories divided into Everyday life and Work. There are over 300 partners in Norwegian, mostly under Professions, where the student speaks with someone from the profession they are aiming for. The search field Search for a conversation partner quickly finds a scenario.

When the student opens a partner, the conversation page appears with three options:

• Level — A0, A1, A2, B1, or B2. Automatically set based on the student's own level, but can be changed on the page.
• Voice — 30 voices, female and male, with a playback button so the student can listen to the voice first. Random chooses for the student.
• Mode — Direct is a continuous conversation, like a phone call. Simple is push-to-talk: the student finishes speaking and presses to send, without time pressure.

The conversation is spoken throughout: the student speaks into the microphone and receives answers as speech, without typing anything. The browser requests microphone access the first time. During the conversation, there are options to Pause and End conversation. The Transcript panel displays the text of what the partner is saying, and Copy places the conversation onto the clipboard.

Create your own conversation partner

Under My conversations, you can create partners tailored to your class. You fill in the Name, a Short description that the student sees, and the Role prompt—the instructions the partner follows. If you don't want to write it yourself, describe the scenario in your own words under Get help with role prompt, select a level, and press Write suggestion. The suggestion is inserted into the field, and you can edit it freely. You can set a Default voice or let the student choose.

The completed conversation is shared via Share: Share with link provides an address you can paste anywhere, or you can share it directly with a group. The card shows Link, Groups, or Only me. Try lets you test the partner before the students receive it.

Who it is suitable for

Conversation covers A0 to B2. At A0 and A1, the partner speaks very slowly, in short and complete sentences—this works for beginners, but they often need you to prepare some phrases first. A2 and B1 are where Conversation is most useful: the student has enough vocabulary to keep the conversation going, but needs high-volume practice. At B2, more complex topics are addressed.

It is better to choose one level lower than you think. A student who understands the answers will keep talking; one who cannot keep up will stop.

Conversation does not correct the student and provides no score or report to you. It is conversation practice, not a test. If the student needs feedback on pronunciation, Pronunciation is the right tool.

Suggestions for working with Conversation

1. Split the class in two. Half speak using headsets with microphones, while the other half work on written tasks, and switch after fifteen minutes. Without headphones, a classroom with many conversations quickly becomes unusable.
2. Prepare the vocabulary first. Go through a vocabulary list in Word lists or look up words in Dictionary, and let the student use those words in the conversation afterward.
3. Assign the same partner to the whole class, for example, someone from Retail and services, and follow up afterward: what were you asked, what were you unable to say.
4. Create a custom partner tailored to what the class is currently working on—a conversation with the safety representative, calling the school about a sick child—and share it with your group.
5. Set quiet students to Simple mode, preferably as homework. There, no one is waiting for the answer, and no classmates are listening. Many feel confident speaking there first.
6. Use the Norwegian test partner as a warm-up before an oral exam, and have the student copy the transcript into a writing assignment.

Good to know

• The level controls tempo and sentence length. If the student changes the level, the partner changes the way they speak from the next conversation onward. This is the main factor determining whether the student can keep up.
• Time counts toward study time. Each conversation is saved with its duration and counts toward spoken activity under Progress, along with the daily streak.
• The role prompt is for you, not the student. The student only sees the name and the short description, not the instructions the partner follows.
• Shared conversations are outside the catalog. A partner you create does not appear in the directory for others. It can only be opened by you, by those who have the link, and by the group you shared it with.

See also

• How do students practice speaking?
• How to create a group