Buddy
723,000 user reviews with 4.7-star rating
AGES 3—7

Meet Buddy, your child’s personal AI English tutor!

Get the 1:1 speaking practice your child needs to become fluent — for a fraction of the cost of a live tutor

Try Buddy Free10% web-only discount
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Buddy offers many of the benefits of learning with a live teacher…and a few extra.

Voice-based interaction

Buddy hears and responds using the latest voice recognition and AI technology.

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Unlimited access

Buddy is available anytime kids want to learn without the hassle and expense of scheduling sessions.

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Fun lessons

Buddy’s games and activities motivate kids to keep learning.

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Teaching tailored to your child

Buddy understands that children learn in different ways. Every lesson features game mechanics to appeal to visual⁠, auditory and kinaesthetic learners⁠⁠.

Gameplay
Gameplay

Learn to speak English from the very first lesson

Vocabulary
Pronunciation
Listening comprehension
Buddy
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Vocabulary Retention

The app teaches more than 1,500 everyday English words and phrases in categories like Animals, School, and Home.

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Pronunciation

Buddy’s cutting edge technology lets your child practice saying new words out loud until they master them.

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Listening Comprehension

Kids learn to understand English by chatting with Buddy, playing learning games and watching cartoons together.

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Mastering these skills will boost your child’s speaking confidence and help them prepare for international language exams like Cambridge English Qualifications.

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Start learning in 3 simple steps

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Download the app

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Personalize your child’s learning plan

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Complete the first lesson together

Classroom-quality learning at home

Parents can choose from three courses based on CEFR proficiency levels.
Education progression
PRE-A1

Starter

The perfect first step for children with little to no English exposure

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Beginner

For students who’ve begun learning English

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Elementary

For students who want to sharpen their English conversational skills

Neuroscientists agree:
The best time to learn English is NOW

Studies have shown that early childhood is the best time to learn a new language. The earlier kids start, the better their chances of becoming fluent.

How Buddy Works

Buddy’s curriculum features 1,500 everyday English words and phrases organized into more than a dozen subjects:

ANIMALS1-animals
COLORS2-colors
BODY3-body
NUMBERS4-numbers
NATURE5-nature

Each lesson uses the PPP structure to maximize learning outcomes

Warm-up

Buddy engages the child in small talk to help them feel comfortable.

Presentation

Buddy introduces a new English word/phrase using flashcards, 3D objects, animations, video fragments and/or sounds.

Practice

The child then practices the word/phrase with Buddy through voice-based exercises and conversational games.

Production

Buddy asks questions using these concepts in context, allowing kids to demonstrate understanding.

HomePLAY not homework

Learning a language in a busy classroom setting can be challenging. Buddy is an effective way to supplement your child’s English education at home and even improve their grades.

Homeplay Desktop
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A fun, nurturing environment

Buddy’s playful attitude and frequent positive reinforcement encourages kids who might not feel comfortable pronouncing new words in front of their peers.

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Learning at an individual pace

Move onto a new lesson or repeat a previous one — Buddy lets your child control their progress.

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Unlimited speaking practice

Get all the personalized attention your child needs to feel confident saying English words out loud.

The best of both worlds

Buddy’s approach to language learning combines the personalized attention of live tutoring with lesson plans developed by experts using the latest educational strategies.

The Buddy System

Communicative approach & Implicit learning

Buddy helps children learn English organically through 1:1 communication, problem solving and play.

Active retrieval

Buddy challenges students to recall previous English words during lessons, ensuring they retain vocabulary in long-term memory.

Total Physical Response (TPR)

Buddy promotes learning visually and verbally, as well as with facial expressions, gestures, and cartoonish animations. Children are encouraged to mimic Buddy’s reactions, which activates other regions of the brain to promote learning.

Spaced repetition

During lessons, Buddy will automatically return to more challenging words to build kid’s confidence and strengthen memory.

Learning game loop

The app’s lessons interweave more challenging language acquisition with relaxing, creative games meant to keep students playing (and learning).

Storytelling

Buddy uses chapter-driven stories to increase engagement and provide context for the words that students are learning.

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What experts say

Anton Leuski

“The process of learning with Buddy feels much closer to a lesson with a real human tutor than a standard language learning app or a website. The focus on speaking and using voice-based interactions with a virtual character makes Buddy.ai a truly unique AI-based tool among the more common educational products. And in accordance with many scientific studies, including the surveys we conducted at ICT, this approach has many advantages over the standard graphic interfaces.”

Anton Leuski PhDUniversity of Southern California (USC), Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT)
Alex Desatnik

“Voice-based virtual tutor, this concept may sound simple, but there is science behind that. From a psychology of learning standpoint, the virtual talking character is an embodiment of the teacher. This approach creates an effect called epistemic trust, strengthening the student’s motivation and engagement, and improving the learning outcomes.”

Dr. Alex DesatnikUniversity College London
Alex Korenev

“I firmly believe that in the future there will be a virtual reality based computer game where players will immerse into a natural learning environment to practice simulated real-life communication. Buddy is very close to this idea as it involves children into meaningful communication with an attractive character and allows them to function in various communicative situations that are based on real-life scenarios. This should allow them to apply these skills in the future.”

Alex Korenev PhDAssociate Professor at MSU

The leading AI tutor for kids

We are backed by top VCs and angel investors, including stars 
of the game industry, deep tech, and Hollywood.

En Awards
South SummitGlobal Edtech Startup AwardLaunchpadStartup World CupVoice Summit AwardsGlobal Edtech Startup Award 2

Families recommend Buddy

Parent

Lots of funny animation and cute characters. My kid adores Buddy and Sparkles. And she’s learning so many English words. Thank you so much!

Child

Beautiful app! My brother plays all the time and talks too much English now. 👍🙂

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Child

Perfect game! I always dreamed of learning English and Buddy is helping me.

Parent

This is a fantastic app. The mechanics are kid-friendly, which encourages autonomy and Buddy is very interactive and fun. My son loves him.

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What teachers say

Buddy is the teaching assistant who makes the perfect classroom aide. Hundreds of teachers are already using Buddy.

Teacher

Some kids are shy about speaking English, especially in class. Buddy helps boost their confidence. I was amazed how some of my students talk to him. It’s like he’s one of their friends.

Teacher

I recommend the Buddy app to all of my students. They think of it as a game, not school work, so they use it a lot. The results speak for themselves.

Buddy

Are you a teacher interested in using Buddy in your classroom?

Get a month of unlimited learning for the cost of one live tutoring session

10% web-only discount

Try Buddy Free