Frequently Asked Questions

Phonics AI is a free, interactive web application that helps students aged 9-15 learn English pronunciation through games, lessons, and AI-powered features. It covers all 44 English phonemes and uses a structured approach: Listen, Practice, Play, and Assess.

Yes! Phonics AI is completely free. There are no hidden costs, subscriptions, or in-app purchases. It was created as an educational tool for learners everywhere.

Phonics AI is designed for students aged 9-15. However, it can be useful for anyone learning English phonics, including adult English language learners who want to improve their pronunciation.

No download is needed! Phonics AI runs directly in your web browser. Just visit the website and start learning. It works on computers, tablets, and smartphones.

Creating an account is recommended to save your progress, earn XP, and unlock achievements. However, you can explore the app without an account - you just won't be able to save your progress.

Click "Sign Up" or "Register" on the app's homepage. Enter your email address and create a password. That's it! You can also sign up with your Google account for faster access.

On the login page, click "Forgot Password" and enter your email address. You'll receive an email with instructions to reset your password.

Yes! If you're logged into your account, your progress is automatically saved to the cloud. You can continue learning from any device by logging into your account.

Yes! Your progress syncs across all devices when you're logged in. Start a lesson on your computer and continue on your tablet without losing any progress.

Every lesson follows a 4-phase structure:

1. Listen - Hear the correct pronunciation with visual guides
2. Practice - Try the sounds yourself with feedback
3. Play - Reinforce learning through fun games
4. Assess - Test your knowledge and earn stars

The 5 worlds represent different stages of learning with 95 lessons total:

• 🔤 Letters Land (20 lessons) - Individual letter sounds, short/long vowels
• 🏙️ Word City (25 lessons) - Blends, digraphs, word patterns
• 📜 Rule Realm (20 lessons) - Vowel patterns, r-controlled vowels, diphthongs
• 🚂 Sentence Station (15 lessons) - Fluency and intonation patterns
• 👑 Story Kingdom (15 lessons) - Reading comprehension and fluent reading

Yes! While we recommend following the progression, you can work on any unlocked content. As you complete lessons, you'll unlock new worlds and more advanced content.

Stars are earned based on your assessment score:

• 3 Stars: 90-100% correct
• 2 Stars: 70-89% correct
• 1 Star: 50-69% correct

You can retry lessons to improve your star rating!

XP (Experience Points) is a measure of your progress. You earn XP by:

• Completing lessons
• Playing games
• Achieving high scores
• Completing daily quests
• Maintaining streaks

Phonics AI works best on modern browsers:

• Google Chrome (recommended)
• Safari
• Firefox
• Microsoft Edge

For the best experience with speech features, we recommend Chrome.

Try these troubleshooting steps:

1. Check that your device volume is turned up
2. Make sure the browser tab isn't muted
3. Try using headphones
4. Refresh the page
5. Try a different browser

Voice recording requires microphone access. Here's what to check:

1. Click "Allow" when the browser asks for microphone permission
2. Check your browser settings to ensure microphone access is enabled
3. Make sure no other application is using the microphone
4. Try using Chrome browser for best compatibility

Slow loading can be caused by:

• Slow internet connection - try moving closer to your WiFi router
• Too many browser tabs open - close unused tabs
• Outdated browser - update to the latest version

Refreshing the page often helps!

Currently, Phonics AI requires an internet connection to work. Progress is saved to the cloud, so you need to be online to access your account and save your progress.

Yes! Phonics AI is designed with child safety in mind:

• No advertisements
• No social features or chat
• No external links to other websites
• Educational content only
• No collection of personal data beyond login information

We recommend 10-20 minutes of practice per day. Consistent, shorter sessions are more effective than long, infrequent ones. The daily quest system is designed to encourage regular practice without excessive screen time.

Here are some ways to help:

• Sit with your child occasionally to see what they're learning
• Ask them to teach you the sounds they've learned
• Celebrate their achievements and XP milestones
• Point out the sounds they've learned in everyday reading
• Use headphones for better focus

Absolutely! Phonics AI is designed to complement classroom instruction. You can use it for:

• Learning stations during literacy rotations
• Independent practice
• Homework assignments
• Intervention support
• Whole-class instruction (projected on screen)

Currently, each student needs their own individual account. There is no classroom management dashboard yet, but this is a feature we're considering for future updates.

Phonics AI covers all 44 English phonemes following a systematic phonics approach. The sequence moves from simple to complex (letter sounds to CVC words to sentences to paragraphs to fluent reading). Most standard phonics curricula follow a similar progression.

Phoni is a friendly owl 🦉 helper that appears in the bottom-right corner of every page. Click on Phoni to:

• Ask questions about how to use the app
• Get help with lessons and games
• Learn about XP, achievements, and quests
• Find out how features work

Phoni is always there to help you learn!

During the Practice phase of lessons, you can record your voice and get AI-powered feedback on your pronunciation. Our system uses Google's Gemini AI to:

• Analyze how you pronounced the word
• Give you a score
• Provide specific tips to improve
• Offer encouragement based on your progress

In Sentence Station (World 4), you'll learn how to make your voice go up and down when speaking English. This includes:

• Rising intonation ↗️ for yes/no questions
• Falling intonation ↘️ for statements
• Karaoke-style word highlighting
• Practice with different sentence types

Your dashboard includes these pages:

• Progress - Track your learning journey and phoneme mastery
• Quests - Complete daily challenges for bonus XP
• Achievements - View and unlock badges
• Games - Practice phonemes with games like Phoneme Pop
• Profile - View your stats and account info
• Settings - Customize audio, display, and gameplay options

Yes! Teachers can register with a "Teacher" account to:

• Create classrooms
• Share join codes with students
• Monitor student progress
• View class statistics

To create a classroom:

1. Register or log in with a "Teacher" account
2. Go to your Teacher Dashboard
3. Click "New Classroom"
4. Enter a name for your class (e.g., "Grade 4 - Section A")
5. A 6-character join code will be generated automatically
6. Share this code with your students

Students can join a teacher's classroom:

1. Go to Settings → Classroom in the learner dashboard
2. Enter the 6-character join code from their teacher
3. Click "Join"

Once joined, the teacher can see the student's XP, level, lessons completed, and other progress data.

Teachers can view comprehensive progress for each student:

• Level and XP
• Current and longest streak
• Lessons completed
• Last activity date
• World progress (percentage per world)
• Phoneme mastery breakdown
• Achievements unlocked

Yes! Parents can register with a "Parent" account to:

• Link to their child's account using a code
• View their child's progress and stats
• See lessons completed and XP earned
• Monitor learning activity

The linking process is designed to keep children in control of their data:

1. Child generates a code: In Settings → Parent Link, the child clicks "Generate Link Code" to get an 8-character code
2. Child shares the code: They tell the code to their parent (the code expires in 24 hours)
3. Parent enters the code: In their Parent Dashboard, they enter the code to request a link
4. Child approves: The child sees a pending request and clicks "Approve" to complete the link

Parents can only see progress for children who have explicitly approved their request. Children can remove linked parents anytime from their Settings.