Propagated by Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura, SAMR is a model that helps educators make informed decisions about integrating technology in classrooms to provide improved digital learning experiences for students, in addition to better learning outcomes. In this blog, we explore the application of this model on our product Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder.

The four levels of education technology integration are Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition. As the educator progresses through each level, the role of technology becomes more transformative.

The first two levels of Substitution and Augmentation are meant to 'enhance' the learning experience while the latter two stages of Modification and Redefinition are meant to transform it i.e. by enabling teachers and students to perform activities that couldn't have been otherwise performed.

This 8 minute video by Analisa McMillan is the best I have seen to explain the 4 levels with utmost clarity and simplicity.

Glibzter's browser extension and web app - Glizbter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder works on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers while users access the internet via a laptop or personal computer (PC).  

It enables users to build and expand their vocabulary in English through real-time curation of words and phrases for AI-powered contextual practice when they stream videos with English subtitles/ closed-captions on Netflix and YouTube, and also read online news articles from select media portals such as BBC, CNN, MSN News, The Times of India etc.

Let's dive into how this product offering can be integrated into a classroom setting using the SAMR model of technology integration.

Think vocabulary building, and the image of a physical dictionary comes to mind. You come across a new word and the dictionary becomes a port of call for finding out the meaning. Likewise with idioms, phrasal verbs and connotations. Now imagine substituting the physical dictionary with an online dictionary app, say TheFreeDictionary.com. Or key in the word or phrase into the Google Search box to find its meaning, along with usage examples, pronunciation audio, synonyms, antonyms etc.

Application of Glibzter Immersive for Teachers: In place of physical books, teachers can curate educational content such as YouTube videos (with subtitles / closed captions in English) and online news articles (e.g. Editorials, Long form news articles on a specific subject), and ask students to watch/ read them on their laptops/ PCs with Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary builder as a browser extension. 

When you come across a new word or phrase, say in a book, magazine or newspaper, you would ideally underline it, jot it down in a notebook, refer the dictionary (online or physical one), jot down the meaning along with the usage sentence/s. What if all this takes place automatically at the back end as and when you are streaming a video on YouTube with subtitles/ closed captions in English or reading an online article without you having to pause the video or break your reading tempo for jotting all these down?

The enhancement is in terms of automatic real-time curation of the most relevant words and phrases (e.g. 20 words and 15 phrases from a 1000 word article) and unhindered content consumption experience for the learner.

Application of Glibzter Immersive for Teachers: Glibzter Immersive will extract and present to students the most relevant words and also phrases from the curated YouTube videos and online news articles you provide them, for contextual practice. Based on the presented words and phrases, the teacher can create in-class assessments in the future.

Read: Glibzter Immersive v/s Dictionary v/s Google Search

This is the phase where technology is used to design interactive and dynamic tasks that go beyond the limitations of a traditional classroom. (Source: 3P Learning.com). It would redesign the learning activity.

Application of Glibzter Immersive for Teachers: Glibzter Immersive leverages the power of Generative AI to enable students to better remember the usage of English words and phrases trough contextual relevance i.e. by knowing in what situation and in what emotions can the words/ phrases suggested be used. Add to this 'Word Combinations' i.e. Collocations and 'Synonyms', and students will get a well rounded practice session with translations in 7 Indian languages (soon to be opened for all languages) and audio feature for aiding in better pronunciation.

Redefinition is a phase where technology can make new learning opportunities, hitherto considered impossible, possible.

As an English Vocabulary Builder, Glibzter Immersive caters to the 'What to Speak' aspect of communication. Going forward, we will be looking to building the 'How to Speak' component with voice based assessments. We will also be looking to improve the assessments for contextual usage of words and phrases.

Application of Glibzter Immersive for Teachers: With these features, teachers can assess communication skills of students, be it in terms of vocabulary application but also in terms of confidence to verbally use the words and phrases in writing and speech.

This blog will be updated once these features are worked on. Until then, do share your views on this blog and our product offering Glibzter Immersive in the comments section below.

For starters, this blog is an 'analogy'. Google search the meaning of the word and you get this result (sourced from the Oxford Dictionary)

The meaning hinges around the words of 'comparison' and 'similarity'. In many respects, building your communication skills in English has a lot in common with how a mason would construct a wall. Let's explore this analogy: 

To build anything, you would need to source the right materials along with the requisite tools. When it comes to building a wall, the essential materials would be bricks, mortar (cement), TMT steel bars, water, primer and paint, while the tools would be trowels, spirit level, jointer, paint brushes/ rollers among others.

For Building Spoken English Communication Skills (Online): 

The mason identifies where the wall needs to be built and clears the area of any vegetation/ debris to dig a trench for the foundation. Before the wall is built, it is essential to finalize the design and layout.

For Building Spoken English Communication Skills:

On the similar lines, it is essential to make time and stay committed to the process of learning. Setting SMART Goals would be essential to determine the desired learning outcomes.

An example of setting SMART Goals while using Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder, a browser extension to help you build and expand your English Vocabulary by curating relevant English words and phrases in real-time while streaming videos with English subtitles/ closed-captions and reading online news articles from select media portals, for contextual usage practice:

The foundation is laid by digging and leveling the trench with gravel forming a stable base. The mortar is mixed and the bricks are laid on the foundation with the trowel being used to make each brick settle in place.

The analogy for building Spoken English Communication Skills:

If you have basic foundational proficiency and wish to improve your communication skills in English, then Glibzter Immersive would be an ideal tool to help you improve your contextual usage of English words and phrases.

Read: How Glibzter Immersive helps you build and expand your English vocabulary

Read: 5 ways how reading improves your Spoken English Communication Skills

What other analogies can you think of? Do share your thoughts on this blog and your communication skills enhancement journey in the comments section below.

This blog will focus on the following 3 fundamental principles enshrined in the NEP 2020 to analyze the impact on the education ecosystem:

• Technology use and integration through online / digital education
• Promoting multilingualism and the power of language in teaching and learning
• Imparting life skills 

NEP 2020 emphasizes the important role played by technology in the improvement of educational processes and outcomes. It sees the relationship between education and technology as being bi-directional at all levels. New forms of educational software and hardware are foreseen changing not just what students learn but how they learn, thereby placing importance of conducting extensive research on how they can be improved to meet learning objectives.

An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration, and so on, both for school and higher education. The aim of the NETF will be to facilitate decision making on the induction, deployment, and use of technology, by providing to the leadership of education institutions, State and Central governments, and other stakeholders, evidence-based advice proving the efficacy of edtech interventions, besides identifying new areas for research and innovation in the space of AI, Machine learning and Virtual Reality.

The thrust of technological interventions will be for the purposes of improving teaching-learning and evaluation processes, supporting teacher preparation and professional development, enhancing educational access, and streamlining educational planning, management, and administration

NEP 2020 also emphasizes on the need to bridge the 'digital divide' by making available affordable computing devices for students and making access to online/ digital education resources more equitable. Mass media such as television and community radio are mediums that will be used in the interim.

Appropriate agencies such as NETF, IITs, NITs etc. would conduct pilot studies to study the effectiveness of and suggest optimizing the integration of edtech products and services into the offline education set up from primary schools to higher education institutes. The policy also understands the need for suitable training and development for teachers to be effective online educators.

As per the NEP 2020, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language. Thereafter, the home/local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever possible. This will be followed by both public and private schools in India.

The three-language formula will continue to be implemented with the States and students being given the freedom to choose them so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India. 

Besides Hindi and Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Pali, Persian, and Prakrit, will also be widely available in schools as options for students, possibly as online modules, through experiential and innovative approaches, to ensure that these languages and literature stay alive and vibrant. Similar efforts will be made for all Indian languages having rich oral and written literatures, cultural traditions, and knowledge.

For the enrichment of the children, and for the preservation of these rich languages and their artistic treasures, all students in all schools, public or private, will have the option of learning at least two years of a classical language of India and its associated literature, through experiential and innovative approaches, including the integration of technology, in Grades 6-12, with the option to continue from the middle stage through the secondary stage and beyond. 

In addition to high quality offerings in Indian languages and English, foreign languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, will also be offered at the secondary level, for students to learn about the cultures of the world and to enrich their global knowledge and mobility according to their own interests and aspirations.

The teaching of all languages will be enhanced through innovative and experiential methods, including through gamification and apps, by weaving in the cultural aspects of the languages - such as films, theatre, storytelling, poetry, and music - and by drawing connections with various relevant subjects and with real-life experiences. Thus, the teaching of languages will also be based on experiential-learning pedagogy.

Read: Effectiveness of PLRRPAR Framework to improve your English skills

Read: How English teachers can use Glibzter Immersive while applying the PLRRPAR Framework

Studies will be undertaken to pilot new ways of assessment using education technologies focusing on 21st century skills. The NEP 2020 gives importance to holistic and multidisciplinary education with emphasis on enhancing communication skills, discussion, debate, team work, critical thinking, resilience and problem solving among others.

The motivation to write this blog comes from the article published in the editorial of The Hindu newspaper (19th Sept, 2024) titled Shed the myopia, refocus on the relevance of English, co-authored by Adv. Ra. Shhiva and Sabur Ali M, founders of Citizens for Law and Democracy (CLAD)

After perusing the entire NEP 2020 document, no where did we see any evidence of the English language being marginalized or explicitly categorized as a foreign language, with ample scope of it being used as a medium of education under the proposed three-language formula.

The NEP 2020 states that "All efforts will be made in preparing high-quality bilingual textbooks and teaching-learning materials for science and mathematics, so that students are enabled to think and speak about the two subjects both in their home language/mother tongue and in English."

We agree with the authors on the need to prioritize the promotion of English as a vital tool for national and international communication, so that every citizen can fully participate in the nation's growth story without any hindering linguistic barriers. However, the emphasis on Hindi and Sanskrit in NEP 2020 does not equate to the neglect of English in our studied opinion. 

English would still continue to be the lingua franca of the corporate world and an essential skill to have to climb the socio-economic ladder. We have a plethora of English learning apps for those students who'd have to learn English from scratch post grade 5 or 8. Our web browser extension and web app Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder would be better suited for students having basic foundational level of English proficiency moving to intermediate and advanced levels.

Read:How Glibzter Immersive helps you build and expand your English Vocabulary

What is heartening for an EdTech company like ours is the due importance given to technology interventions and research for further innovations in the space in the NEP 2020. Using EdTech to impart 21st century skills is certainly a business opportunity that excites us at Glibzter.

Encouraging experiential language learning using creative sources such as films, music etc. is a validation for our Glibzter Immersive offering.

With the objective of bridging the digital divide, simple interventions such as Same Language Subtitling, can be used to not just learn English, but also learn regional Indian languages through subtitles and closed captions in mass media like television as well as on OTT streaming platforms such as YouTube and Netflix videos. 

Read: Same Language Subtitling: A boon for language learning via videos

What are your views on our observations about NEP 2020? Do share them with us in the comments section below.

For a better understanding of the PLRRPAR framework and its seven phases, you are recommended to read the previous blog on the topic:

Read:Glibzter Opines: Effectiveness of PLRRPAR Framework to improve your English Skills.

The role of teachers in this phase is to curate relevant knowledges resources - be it videos on YouTube and Netflix or news articles from online news portals. Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder is programmed to work on international news portals such as BBC, CNN and MSN while also catering to Indian media portals such as The Times of India and Scroll.in

The objective is to achieve 'Immersive Learning' through engaging resources that are interesting and which motivate the learners for further language exploration. 

In this phase, teachers need to assess the prior knowledge of the subject and the associated language skills (i.e. Vocabulary) among their students, and facilitate its bridging with new language components that would be part of the video or news article. This is done through context setting and by sharing thoughts, views and experiences in class to pave the path for the remaining six phases.

While encouraging students to use Glibzter Immersive to learn from the curated videos (with subtitles/ closed-captions) and online news articles, the teachers can impart socio-cultural context and provide a summarized overview of the content after the students have watched/ read it.

This is the phase where Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder's browser extension (available forGoogle Chrome and Microsoft Edge) would extract and present to the students the most relevant English words and phrases from the content curated by the teachers. These words are categorized as Basic, Essential and Uncategorized while the phrases are categorized as Basic and Essential.

Read: How Glibzter Immersive helps you build and expand your English Vocabulary

Only the Essential and Uncategorized words and phrases are recommended for students to practice the contextual usage. Teachers can encourage students to learn the contextual usage of the curated words and phrases in class, and offer their perspective/ teachings on the usage (by context, situation and emotion).

In this phase, the role of the teacher is to facilitate metacognitive awareness i.e. linking personal experiences with the theme of the content; the contextual, situational and emotion based usage of the newly acquainted words and phrases; and display any relevant imagery to enrich their language learning experience and making students remember / retain the word and phrase usage better.

In-class discussions can be facilitated wherein students can share their personal experiences using the newly acquainted English words and phrases, besides discussion on the topic that was covered in the suggested video or news article.

This is the phase where the role of the teacher is pivotal. The teacher is irreplaceable here, as without them the overall picture of the association of language skills (i.e. relating vocabulary with grammar, listening, reading, writing and speaking) may get lost.

While using the word or phrase, how should the sentence be structured? What is the role of grammar in the sentence? How should the sentence be pronounced while speaking? How should the same sentence be written with the correct spellings and punctuation? How should the learner interpret the sentence while listening or reading it? And most importantly, associating the sentence with the context (i.e. situation and emotion) are important. 

These are areas where intervention of teachers helps in building language skills for the long term.

The quality of practice determines the accuracy and confidence with which the language skills can be applied. While using Glibzter Immersive  English Vocabulary Builder, the learning and the practice of words and phrases acquired takes place by context, situations, emotions, synonyms, and word combinations (collocations).

Teachers can conduct various activities such as summary / precis writing, role play and J-A-M (Just A Minute) sessions based on the video or text content curated; conduct vocabulary application assessments and grammar exercises, thereby making the teaching process all the more creative and engaging.

Most importantly, students must be encouraged to commit mistakes and learn from them in this phase. Even if a mistake is committed, the student should be corrected and not mocked at. This will address many negative attitudes towards applying the language. 

Similar to the practice phase, the students are encouraged to apply their learnings of the usage of newly acquired words and phrases independently in the form of social media posts first and then in real-life conversations on the social and professional fronts. Teachers can look to conduct 1:1 interviews / conversations and group discussions on relevant topics to assess the contextual word and phrase usage prowess of the students.

Infusing a lifelong love for learning and honing English is the essence of this phase for teachers. Teachers need to make their students feel 'empowered' by making them unlock new levels of English proficiency. Conducting assessments to revisit and apply previously acquired vocabulary will help reinforce the learning. 

Language learning and particularly vocabulary building and expansion don't have a finish line. They are all a continuous life-long metacognitive process fueled by the our curiosity and propensity to spend time on self-development. The application of the PLRRPAR framework in conjunction with the usage of Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder can take place in the manner suggested in this blog right from secondary schools to post graduation with the intervention of English teachers across the spectrum of schools and higher education institutes.

Read: Glibzter Opines: Technology Integration for ELT in India

The same process suggested here can continue even into professional life with the intervention of communication coaches and soft skills trainers. 

Do let us know what you think and share your observations by applying the PLRRPAR framework in your classes along with the usage of Glibzter Immersive in the comments section below.

Learners are exposed to authentic materials in the form of texts, dialogues and multimedia resources, promoting immersive learning and nurturing interest and motivation for further language exploration.

This foundational phase is meant to equip learners with context setting, thus prepping their minds to know what to expect and experience. It is tantamount to watching the trailer/ teaser of a movie or the headline/ sub-head/ abstract of a news article. It aims to bridge prior knowledge about a subject and its associated vocabulary, grammar, sentence structures and pronunciation with new language components in the new materials.

The second phase is about the learners' active engagement with the learning resources in the form of acquisition of words and phrases, observing how they are pronounced along with studying sentence structures, exploring the context in which they are used and their meaning. The aim is to enhance comprehension while consuming the content in the materials (be it multimedia resources, books, newspapers or magazines).

During the third phase, learners interpret the content they consume from the resource materials (OTT videos with subtitles and online news articles as in the case of Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder) and link situations they come across as well as the newly acquainted English words and phrases with self experienced real-life situations and emotions. Facilitating this metacognitive awareness will ensure the 'stickiness' of the newly acquired words and phrases.

English language skills include components such as listening, speaking, reading and writing besides vocabulary and grammar. How you read will determine how you express yourself through speech and writing. How you listen will determine how you comprehend and respond to what is said to you. 

While learning new words and phrases using Glibzter Immersive browser extension (available for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge) and web app, you will learn by context, situation and emotion through usage examples in the form of sentences. Through listening to these sentences (audio feature) and reading them, you understand the application of grammar in the sentence structure. Learners can make the most of this phase by reading the usage example sentences of words and phrases, listening to how the sentences sound, writing them out and finally speaking them during social interactions, thereby improving their LSRW skills.

While using Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder, once the words and phrases are automatically curated and presented to you, you need to practice them contextually - i.e. by situation and emotion, besides acquainting yourself with word substitutes (synonyms) and word combinations (collocations).

Most language learning apps like Duolingo have introduced the concept of 'spaced repetition' i.e. being presented with the word or phrase, its meaning and usage example along with a couple of gamified assessments spread across a period of time e.g. the next day, 3 days later, 10 days later, 15 days and 30 days later so as to improve mental retention. With increased practice, learners will start using the words and phrases more accurately, leading to greater comfort and confidence in real-life communicative situations.

The sixth phase will need the learners to apply their knowledge of the topics they have learn as well as the language skills they have amassed in their personal, social and professional environments. The biggest challenge however is that of hesitation or lack of initiative to engage despite knowing what to speak or write.

The more qualitative and frequent the practice, the better would be the outcome in this phase.

If you use Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder, we encourage you to share usage examples in the form of social media posts (text posts on Facebook or X.com, and then graduating to reels on Instagram). This is more of a shadow practice application before getting to engage with a larger audience through speech.

Reinforcement involves revisiting and creatively applying previously learnt language skills (especially contextual usage of words and phrases) through recall while watching other movies, reading news and taking part in assessments (solving word puzzles or playing word games). This is the phase wherein, if you are used to using a particular word to describe a situation, you should tune yourself to using synonyms of that word to become more creative and engaging in spoken English. 

This phase should also make learners realize that English language learning is a lifelong cognitive process, wherein it should be an objective to learn something new everyday.

As you can see, our product, Glibzter Immersive has been developed based on the PLRRPAR framework for the most part. The framework provides a systematic language acquisition path for learners, while being complemented by Glibzter Immersive serving as their digital English vocabulary coach curating words and phrases of relevance from the content they consume online.

The role of English language teachers in this process is pivotal to the successful implementation of the framework, thereby going to highlight the fact that both edtech and AI can best complement and can never ever replace the central role played by teachers as facilitators.

Read:Comparison - Glibzter Immersive v/s Dictionary v/s Google Search

Read:How Glibzter Immersive helps you build and expand your English Vocabulary

I came across a research paper examining the reasons behind the ineffectiveness of the existing English language curriculum and delivery in achieving desired learning outcomes among students the states of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh in India. Limited technology integration (be it in-class by teachers or adoption at student level through mobile apps) and inadequate exposure to the English language were observed as key reasons for the failure of ELT among non-native English learners.

The overuse of grammar-translation method (GTM) and lecture based teaching combined with the lack of audio visual components in the curriculum add to the linguistic challenges. 

The study revealed that the lack of competent English teachers can be mitigated by using Open Educational Resources (OERs), modern technology like the internet and mass media.

The research paper goes to highlight the propensity of non-native ELT stakeholders to adopt and integrate pro-English building ICT tools for effective English language instruction. With the use of Open Educational Resources like YouTube with subject specific channels; encouraging the usage of devices such as laptops, tablets and mobile devices, online dictionaries and English learning apps; there will be a shift initiated towards a more functional approach to language.

The research has recommended incorporating multimedia resources such as films, music and podcasts can expose students to diverse accents, dialects, and cultural contexts.

To impart practical language use and real-life communication skills for non-native English learners, other creative forms of pedagogy like storytelling, drama and role-playing would prove effective and engage the students in equal measure. 

Anglophobia (a strong aversion to all things associated with English) and glossophobia (fear of public speaking) were seen as the top psycholinguistic factors hampering learning outcomes among students in these states. Lack of motivation to study the language were seen as among other negative mindsets seen among non-native learners. 

The research recommends teachers playing the role of facilitators and personality development coaches in order to enable students to motivate and build their confidence and passion for communicating in the language.

The research paper published validates our business and product offering Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder in the following ways by recommending:

• The creative usage of YouTube and multimedia resources such as movies, music and podcasts for effective teaching and learning of English. We at Glibzter see subtitles / closed captions as an effective resource for learning new English words and phrases.
• The integration of modern technology into the English classroom for enhanced exposure to the language.
• English teachers to don the role of personality development coaches, linking the usage of the language to enhanced self-image and a better quality of life.
• Practice on practical real-life usage rather than rote learning

Search Google for quotes on reading and you will find many. The one which truly strikes a chord with me as being the most relevant for this blog post has been that of the legendary American animator Walt Disney 

                                       - “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”

While books today have taken an electronic form, the emphasis is more on the activity of reading with many tangible and intangible benefits of reading being referred to as the 'treasure'. Let's get down to explore some of these benefits from a communication skill building standpoint.

Reading is an activity of amassing knowledge in the form of information, insights and perspectives. These can be shared in the form of expressing views during social or professional conversations. While venturing an opinion, they can be used to support your argument besides opening your mind to presenting new ideas and concepts.

If you see yourself being 'Tongue-tied' or 'Not knowing what to speak' on certain social occasions, then reading the news is the solution to give you the needed talk points to 'break the ice'. Reading induces confidence in speech!

Whether it is a work of fiction, a news article, a social media post or even an advertisement; what you read is a story that is published. How information is structured and pieced together to convey something so that it creates the desired action from you - the reader is the 'Art of Storytelling'.

If it is a work of fiction, the objective would be play on your sentiments or emotions. A news article is meant to enlighten you through information dissemination. An advertisement is meant to compel you to realize a need and convince you that the product or service advertised best solves the need for you.

Through conscious observation while reading, you'd pick up the skills of how to build and deliver a story effectively to apply them in your life. The more diverse your reading material, the better would be the variety of stories that you'd get acquainted with. The more unique the story, the more interesting you'd be as a communicator. Lastly, always tailor your story for the intended recipients for greater impact.

Unlike a fleeting video, written text affords you more time to comprehend the content better. You can, to borrow a phrase, 'read between the lines' to understand what the writer has not communicated but hinted instead. There is more time to analyse the cause and effect, make inferences, thereby facilitating critical thinking. 

By reading differing perspectives on the same topic, you will be able to appreciate the respective arguments and practice empathy while communicating. 

The more you read, the more you are acquainted with how sentences are framed. While having a strong understanding of English grammatical rules, will help you not only comprehend what you are reading, but later enable you to express yourself in a more compelling and seamless manner; by reading, you will observe the practical application of grammar without getting boggled by the specifics of nomenclature (whether a sentence is in present perfect or present continuous tense).

Reading enables you to imbibe grammar through observation and the more you read, better would be the way you'd construct your sentences.

Reading makes you an explorer and sets you off on an adventure where you uncover not just new knowledge, stories and information but also new words and phrases. The more you read, the more the likelihood of you finding more words and phrases that you could use in your day to day conversations.

If you are a student of biosciences, then reading a scientific journal will acquaint you with words and phrases relevant to that subject. Similarly, if you are a salesperson in the field of field of technology, reading tech focused media publications would fine tune your tech parlance and help you ace your client presentations by using trending words and phrases in your domain.

Adding new words and phrases to your vocabulary arsenal through reading will benefit you in the following ways:

• More creativity in expressing yourself (due to vocabulary diversity)
• More confidence in speech (once you master contextual knowledge of what word or phrase to use for what situation)
• More engagement (create greater influence and impact through improved diction)

This is where Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Buildercomes in to assist you as your digital English Vocabulary coach.

Glibzter Immersive is a browser extension and web app that helps you improve your communication skills in English through vocabulary building and expansion. What makes Glibzter Immersive truly unique is its ability to curate or select relevant words and phrases from the content you read in online news articles (from select media portals) as well as the videos with English subtitles/ closed captions that you stream online (on YouTube and Netflix), and present them to you for contextual practice.

Read: How Glibzter Immersive helps you build and expand your English Vocabulary

Glibzter Immersive functions on both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers on laptops and desktop/PCs.

You begin your work day by opening your laptop / PC. Click on a browser of your choice which opens a home screen recommending news articles tailored to your reading interests. You open one that catches your fancy and begin reading it. As you read, you come across a set of new words, some interesting idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs - some of which you are well acquainted with, while others seem relatively new to you.

If you are someone yearning to become a better communicator in Spoken English by improving your vocabulary, what you'd look to do is:

• Take out a diary or a notepad
• Pen down the words and phrases
• Open a dictionary or Google Search them for meaning etc.
• Jot them down in the notepad along with the way in which they are used in the article
• Commit them to memory by revisiting them (Learn by rote or association with the news you read)

Likewise if you are streaming a video with English subtitles/ closed-captions on YouTube or Netflix, you might do the same activities when you encounter new words and verbal expressions, although it may seem a lot more difficult without having to pause the streaming, jot down the word/ phrase and then press 'PLAY'. 

Without a physical notepad and pen in hand, you may choose to type them into the notepad of your mobile. Come to think of it, this way of acquiring vocabulary appears a tad tedious, hampering your video watching experience.

What if there was a way to help you identify, collect and present to you these words and phrases - be it from the videos with English subtitles you stream or the news articles you read online - without you having to pen them down? 

Imagine reading a news article without having to underline words and phrases or watching a movie without having to hit the pause button to jot them down!

This is one of the benefits of using Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder. It automatically selects the most relevant English words and phrases from the online article you are reading (only on select media channels) and online videos you stream on YouTube and Netflix (with subtitles/ closed-captions in English) for you to practice contextually.

Let's get down to understanding, how? 

When you install the Glibzter Immersive English Vocabulary Builder browser extension on Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser, it would appear like this on the browser.

Click on it and it opens the browser extension interface. Open an online news article (from any of the media channels Glibzter Immersive is programmed to work on), and give the browser extension the permission to 'Extract text content from this site'. This will be needed if you are using Glibzter Immersive for the first time for that particular portal.

What you'd then see (after refreshing the screen) is some Glibzter 'Magic'.

What you see are a total of 146 estimated words and phrases which are categorised under three categories:

• Basic: These would be English words and phrases which anyone with basic foundational knowledge of English is likely to know. Basis the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) levels of language proficiency, this would cover words and phrases relevant to those having A1 (Beginner), A2 (Elementary) and B1 (Intermediate) level proficiency. In the example above, Glibzter Immersive has identified 130 basic words and phrases. By default, it will not recommend them for practice. Users who are interested in knowing these words and phrases can unlock them by clicking a button in the web app.
  
• Essential: These would be English words and phrases which Glibzter Immersive considers most relevant for you and recommends to you for contextual practice. These would come under the B2 (Upper Intermediate), C1 (Advanced) and C2 (Proficient) categories. 
• Uncategorized: These would be only English words (no phrases) which may not be part of our dictionary database, which would be proper nouns (names of people, places), words in languages other than English, words relevant to different domains that are not part of daily use vocabulary. They are still recommended to you for contextual practice. 

Overall, you will be recommended not more than 15% of the total words and phrases in the digital content source for practice in the Glibzter Immersive web app.

Let's now see the usage of Glibzter Immersive browser extension on videos with subtitles/ closed-captions.

The browser extension would work slightly differently on Netflix videos, with 'Estimated words and phrases' being updated every 5 seconds as the video streams.

The browser extension comes with the feature of manual entry, where you can identify and manually enter words and phrases that are new to you that you come across while reading or listening something offline or from a media channel that is not associated with Glibzter Immersive. This feature is particularly helpful while reading e-papers, e-magazines, PDF files etc.

Move down the browser extension interface and you will see a summation of the words and phrases acquired from the MSN news article (with 12 Essential + 4 Uncategorised) and the YouTube video of the US Presidential Debate 2024 (14 Essential + 3 Uncategorised)

You can then click on this interface to open the dashboard of the Glibzter Immersive web app, which gives a quantified overview of the words and phrases acquired, practiced and already known. It also gives you an overview of the words and phrases acquired by type (Basic, Essential, Uncategorised) and by source (Online Videos, Online News Articles and Manual Entry)

Read the blog: "Comparison: Glibzter Immersive v/s Dictionary v/s Google Search" to know how you can benefit from this contextual learning aided by an audio feature for pronunciation as well as translation feature in 7 Indian regional languages. We will soon be introducing a voice based speech analysis feature so that you can orally practice the usage of words and phrases.

Besides the tech-enabled feature of automatic curation of English words and phrases from videos with English subtitles/ closed-captions and news articles online, Glibzter Immersive will also have a daily word and phrase list compiled called 'Daily Dozen' for words and 'Take 20' for phrases, (both currently in test phase) making it the most engaging, systematic and fastest way for you to build and expand your English vocabulary.

Are you ready to Glibzter today?

Know more about its Features, Benefits, Use Cases, and Pricing. Share your views on the product in the comments section below. 

A dictionary's use case is predominantly to help you understand the meaning of a word or phrase. It was very rare for dictionaries in their print/ offline versions to have usage examples. Usage examples are key to better comprehension of the meaning and also aid in improved retention. If the sentence sticks in your mind, then you'd always associate the usage of a particular word or phrase with that sentence.

Online dictionaries come with a feature of audio pronunciation assistance in addition to a pronunciation key. This is indeed a nifty tool for English language learners to use in order to help them get their pronunciation of the word or phrase right.

In the example above, we also see the dictionary helping out with the word origin. Language purists swear by etymology (study of history and origin of words) as an effective way to remember them better.

[French, from Old French, from nuer, to shade, cloud, from nue, cloud, from Vulgar Latin *nūba, from Latin nūbēs.]

[French, from nuer to show light and shade, ultimately from Latin nūbēs a cloud]

An online dictionary could also double up as a Thesaurus, providing you with synonyms (associated words having the same meanings that can be used to substitute the word being referenced) and antonyms (words having the opposite meaning of the referenced word). Some dictionaries also help provide a visual representation of the word (more so for tangible objects) to aid in better association, retention and recall.

In the absence of a physical dictionary or a dictionary mobile app, Google Search comes in handy to search for the meaning of the word. This is usually actioned by prefixing 'meaning of' or 'define' to the word you'd want to search.

Pronunciation assistance, meaning, usage examples and word origin are covered similar to what other online dictionaries cover. Additionally, Google Search yields a very interesting feature of 'word usage over time' as denoted by the graph. 

In the 'Usage examples' section, we see 3 sentences. In total, there are 5 usage example sentences including 2 in the 'Overview' section. Moving on to the 'Similar and opposite words' section, you have a list of synonyms (and antonyms when applicable).

The last segment of 'Pronunciation' has a visual depiction of mouth movement while pronouncing the word with audio assistance. Users can select pronunciation in Indian English, American accent and British accent. What's more? Users can adjust the pace of the pronunciation to 'Slow'.

Glibzter Immersive is a powerful web browser extension that helps you build and expand your English vocabulary in an 'Immersive' manner replicating how we naturally learn a language. i.e. by watching movies, TV shows, web series and by reading online news articles. 

Glibzter Immersive assumes the following roles to aid you in your English communication skills improvement journey through vocabulary building:

Download the Glibzter Browser extension for Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser. 

Open a web page of any of the media channels we currently support for online news or videos on YouTube and Netflix with English subtitles/ closed captions.

Glibzter Immersive will work its magic as a digital magnet of words and phrases for that news article or video. The browser extension will show you an estimation of the words and phrases in an article or video.

Words and Phrases are categorised as Basic, Essential and Uncategorised.

Basic: These would be words/ phrases which anyone with foundational knowledge of English is likely to know.

Essential: These would be words/ phrases which Glibzter recommends to you for practice.

Uncategorised: These would be words/ phrases which could be proper nouns, words from other languages or those which are newly coined (neologisms).

In the example above, out of the 275 words in the news article; Glibzter curates and suggests only 24 words for practice. That is the role played by Glibzter Immersive as a digital magnet for words and phrases.

After reading a news article or streaming a video with subtitles/ closed captions online, you now move on to practice the words and phrases that have been acquired. The Glibzter Immersive browser extension has a segment which records how many words and phrases have been acquired and practiced, categorized by sources i.e. from videos and online articles. This section can be clicked to move on to the practice section.

Glibzter Immersive's browser extension also comes with a very handy manual entry feature. You come across a word or phrase offline or on a media channel that is currently not part of our offering, all you have to do is manually enter it into the section below to keep it ready for practice.

This shows you have Glibzter Immersive serves as a digital diary for recording all the new words and phrases relevant to you.

With helping you with English Vocabulary building and expansion as the main objective, Glibzter Immersive takes on the role of a digital gym to enable you to develop your verbal ability.

A gym is where you go to in order to build muscle or increase your levels of fitness. As a digital gym, Glibzter Immersive's web app enables you to build and expand your English vocabulary through practice of contextual usage of words and phases (which would include idioms, phrasal verbs and collocations).

Much like how running on a treadmill will show you the distance covered and the calories burnt, Glibzter Immersive helps you to quantify your word power in terms of quantifying the number of words and phrases acquired, already known and practiced by the period of time you select (i.e. Today, Yesterday, Last week, Last Month, Last Year, Till Date etc.)

Click on 'Start Practice' (for either words or phrases and you will be taken to a page called the Card of 5.

You can select which words/ phrases you want to practice on that card. This opens up an interface which helps you practice the usage of the word/ phrase by:

• Context
• Situation
• Emotion
• Word Combinations (Collocations)
• Synonyms
• Test 

As can be seen, Glibzter Immersive enables you to gain a deeper understanding of the context of usage of the word 'nuanced' by giving you situations when the word can be used along with examples. The latest version of Glibzter Immersive will also provide 'Word Combinations' which are essentially collocations (e.g. nuanced performance, nuanced portrayal etc.).

These can be translated into 7 Indian regional languages. We will be looking to offer this facility to international languages in the future. There is also an audio feature enabled to read out these usage examples to enable you to pronounce the words in the sentences right.

Also, get to know the usage of words/ phrases by 5 basic emotions: Happiness, Sadness, Fear, Surprise and Anger

There is also a 'Test' feature to test your contextual understanding of the word/ phrase usage.

As a user of Glibzter Immersive, you get to know exactly how many words and phrases you have acquired (from videos, online articles and manual entry), practiced and already known for any selected time frame.

With Daily Dozen (Word list with 12 words) and Take20 (List of 20 phrases), you can accelerate your English vocabulary building and expansion by practicing these curated theme based word and phrase lists; in addition to acquiring and practicing via content from digital media consumption. 

All this makes Glibzter Immersive the most engaging, systematic and fastest way for you to build your English Vocabulary and hone your communication skills. 

In the future, Glibzter Immersive will come integrated with AI-enabled voice practice to help you by recording the usage examples of words and phrases in your own voice. This will boost your confidence in applying what you have learnt through Glibzter Immersive.

Quite clearly, Glibzter Immersive is more than just a word meaning reference tool which an online dictionary or a Google search would cater to. Its use case is very different as it is more focused on being your digital vocabulary coach acquiring, curating and presenting relevant words and phrases from the digital content you consume online as well as through daily thematic lists; for contextual practice.

Are you ready to Glibzter today? 

If so, download the Glibzter Immersive browser extension and web app for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

Know more about its Features, Benefits, Use Cases, and Pricing. Share your views on the product in the comments section below.