I can’t get enough of them.
There is nothing more exciting to me than finding a voice note in my inbox.
It’s like a little secret, that will be unveiled for my ears only as I press the play button.
What I love about voice notes is that you hear audio, and there’s a sense of drama to it, like i’m being told a story.
You can listen to it, and you can listen to it again.
There are certain voice notes from my life that I have saved, that I know through and through.
voice notes for language learners
What I like about sending one is that it gives you space to think about what you’re going to say.
And this matters a lot when you’re learning a language, because it lets you attempt something imperfectly for the first time, without any pressure.
This is why I created this thing to have short conversations on Whatsapp, especially through voice notes.
voice note example (my note + response)
When you’re actually speaking to someone, it’s fast, and native speakers don’t always have the patience for you needing a bit more time to process or respond.
But when you receive a note, you can listen to it a second, and a third time.
You can speak slowly, you can speak for a longer time without interruption (something that in interactions with other people can be more difficult).
Want to try it out
I am currently still in the middle of developing, but if you’d like to try out Street Cat for yourself you can do so, for free, on Whatsapp.
It’s an app I am really developing for my own use, but want to share with others as well, and I will be sharing some of my process, thoughts and features on this Substack, so if you aren’t subscribed already but you are interested to hear more, I am sure there will be a button somewhere around here.
and don’t hesitate to let me hear your thoughts!