Guide for Native Speakers

This guide covers the tools available to native speakers.

If you are a native speaker only (not also enrolled as a learner), the app opens on the NSP tab when you sign in. That is your home screen for managing participants. If your native language is not set yet, a setup prompt appears there. Your name is collected during onboarding when you first use the app.

If you also have the learner role, you keep the Progress tab and all learner features described in the Learner Guide and Getting Started.

The NSP tab

NSP stands for Native Speaker Panel — this is your home base for managing the learners studying your language.

The NSP tab shows all participants (learners) who are learning the language you are currently working in. You can use the search bar to find a specific participant by name.

If you teach more than one language, a language chip appears on the NSP, Phrases, and Conversations screens. Until you pick a language, the NSP tab shows Pick a language to view instead of the participant list. Search applies once you have picked one. Tap the chip to switch which language's participants, phrases, and conversations you are viewing. The chip is a browsing control only. It does not change your own enrollment, Progress, course, or who learners can book with you. Your choice is remembered on this device until you change it again.

Your availability hours are not per language. You publish one calendar. Learners are matched to you by the languages you teach, using their enrollment, not the language you currently have selected on the chip.

On the Phrases tab, if you have not picked a language with the chip, search and the All list include phrases from every language you teach. Once you pick a language, results are limited to that language. If you are also enrolled as a learner, Phrases and Conversations stay on your enrollment language until you pick a viewing language with the chip.

If you teach only one language, you will not see the chip; the app opens directly in that language.

If your permission to record phrases has been removed, the tab shows Native speaker access paused instead of the participant list.

If an admin has paused a participant's enrollment, for example while they're on holiday, you'll see a Paused badge next to their name in the list.

Viewing a participant's progress

Tap a participant's name to see their detail page. Their current course name and enrollment week are shown at the top (for example, "8 Weeks Professional · Week 3"). If their enrollment is paused, a banner reminds you not to expect activity from them for a while.

From here you can:

• Create Recording — record a new phrase for them
• Phrases — see phrases assigned to them in the language of their current enrollment, and their learning progress
• Sessions — schedule live sessions and track attendance

Scheduling live sessions

Availability, and learners booking or moving a session themselves, need Session scheduling (preview) switched on. You can still Create session for a participant without that.

Your availability

Open your Profile and tap Availability, or tap Availability on the NSP tab, which opens the same screen. Set your timezone, meeting link, weekly hours, and session length (default 30 minutes). That timezone is the clock time of your bookable hours. Session emails use the timezone on your profile, which you can change if you travel. Learners only see times at least 24 hours away, in the next 14 days.

Sharing sessions between learners

By default up to two learners can book the same session. When one has booked a time, other learners of your language see it as Join with the first name of the learner already booked. When the session is full it stops showing as available. A second learner joins without needing your approval, and you are told when it happens.

If you prefer to teach one learner at a time, switch on Only 1 learner per session under Availability. It is off by default and only affects sessions booked after you change it. Sessions that already have two learners stay as they are.

On a shared session:

• Learners cannot move it, only leave it (until 24 hours before it starts). You can move or cancel it any time before it starts, and both learners are told.
• You see everyone booked on the session screen. Tap a learner to open their notes and phrases for that session.
• The session length stays what it was when the first learner booked.

Learners can change a booking until 24 hours before it starts. You can move or cancel a session any time before it starts. While you choose a new date and time, the current booking stays on screen. The update email includes the previous time. The session email links to that session in the app, and the link only works on a device with zinguist installed.

Creating a session for a participant

1. Open the participant's page.
2. Tap Sessions.
3. Tap Create session (or the + button in the header).
4. Choose the date and time.
5. Enter the meeting URL (for example a Zoom or Google Meet link), or keep your default.
6. Optionally change the length and session name (it defaults to Native speaker session with that participant).
7. Tap Create session.

The participant will see the upcoming session on their Progress tab. Calendar invites are a reminder only; change times in the app, not by proposing a new time in Gmail.

Viewing sessions and marking attendance

1. Open the participant's page and tap Sessions.
2. Upcoming sessions show at the top. Tap the meeting link to open it when it's time.
3. Previous sessions are listed below. Tap a past session to open its detail screen.
4. On the session detail screen, mark Attended or Not attended, or use Change to update a previous mark.

Only native speakers can mark attendance. The participant sees their own status (Attended, Missed, or Not marked) on the Progress tab after a session has passed.

Linking phrases to a session

From a past session's detail screen you can record what was covered:

1. Tap a session under Previous sessions.
2. Tap Create phrase & recording to record a new phrase. It is assigned to the participant and linked to that session automatically.
3. Or tap Add existing phrase to link a phrase already assigned to that participant.
4. To remove a link without deleting the phrase, open the phrase menu and choose Remove from session.

On a session with two learners, Create phrase & recording and Add existing phrase ask Who is this phrase for? Choose one learner or Both. The phrase is assigned to whoever you pick, and each learner only sees the phrases covered for them. A learner's page shows just their own phrases for the session, and Remove from session takes the phrase off that learner only.

Removing a link does not unassign the phrase from the participant. Unassigning a phrase from a participant elsewhere does not remove it from the session history.

Creating a recording

You can record phrases for your participants to learn. Each phrase needs two audio recordings — one at natural speed and one at slow speed.

From a participant's page

1. Tap "Create Recording" on a participant's detail page
2. Enter the phrase name — this is the text of the phrase (e.g. "Where is the train station?")
3. Record at natural speed — speak as you normally would. Tap the microphone button to start and stop recording.
4. Record at slow speed — speak slowly and clearly so the learner can hear each word
5. Tap Create — the phrase will be assigned to that participant automatically

Without assigning to a participant

You can also create a recording without assigning it to anyone:

1. Go to the Phrases tab
2. Tap the + button
3. Follow the same recording steps as above

Using an existing recording

When creating a phrase, you can choose to use an existing recording instead of making a new one. Search for it by name in the recording selector.

Working with conversations

Conversations are collections of phrases grouped around a scenario or interaction (e.g. "Ordering coffee", "Introducing yourself at a party").

Creating a conversation

1. Go to the Conversations tab
2. Tap the + button
3. Give the conversation a name
4. Tap Create

Tip: Keep conversations under 30 phrases for the best experience.

Adding phrases to a conversation

Once you've created a conversation, open Edit tree and use the + buttons:

• The + beside a phrase adds an alternative line
• The + under a phrase adds a follow-up

Each + asks you to Create new phrase or Add existing phrase.

Assigning a conversation to a participant

You can assign any conversation tree to one or more participants. Native speakers and admins can assign trees created by someone else as well as their own. When you assign a conversation, all phrases currently in it are automatically added to that participant's My Phrases list. Any new phrases added to the conversation afterwards will also be assigned to them automatically.

1. Open the conversation
2. Tap the menu (three dots) in the top right
3. Choose "Assign to participant"
4. Search for and select the participant you want to assign it to
5. Tap Assign to Participant

Once assigned, a banner appears at the top of the conversation showing who it is assigned to. This is a reminder that any phrases you add will automatically reach that participant.

To remove a participant from a conversation, go back to the assignment screen and tap the X next to their name. Removing a participant does not take away phrases that were already assigned to them.

Editing a conversation

1. Open the conversation
2. Tap the menu (three dots) in the top right
3. Choose "Edit tree" to enter edit mode
4. You can now:
   • Add new phrases
   • Delete phrases from the conversation

Other conversation actions

From the menu (three dots) on a conversation, you can also:

• Share — copy a link to share the conversation
• Download tree recordings — save all recordings in this conversation for offline use
• Delete — remove the conversation entirely

Reviewing a participant's phrases

1. Tap a participant's name to open their detail page
2. Tap "Phrases"
3. Use the filter tabs to see phrases by status:
   • All — every phrase assigned to them in their current enrollment language
   • None — phrases they haven't started yet
   • Learned — phrases they've marked as learned, waiting for your check (shown with an amber border)
   • Review — phrases you've flagged for them to revisit (shown with a red border)
   • Memorised — phrases you've confirmed they know (shown with a green border). Fluent phrases are included here, shown with a purple left border and a Fluent label

Within each tab, phrases are listed with the most recently assigned at the top, so anything you have just assigned appears first.

If a learner decides not to learn a phrase you assigned, it stays in the list with a Deprioritised by learner tag and moves to the bottom. It no longer counts as a phrase they still have to learn, so you don't need to test it. Assigning the phrase to them again puts it back as a normal assigned phrase.

Phrases a learner saves to their Favourites don't appear in this list until they learn them.

If a phrase shows a location name underneath, that means the learner anchored it to a specific place.

Map tests

When a learner marks a phrase as learned, it appears under "Learned" in their phrase list, waiting for your confirmation.

1. Open the participant's phrases and filter by "Learned"
2. See the location assigned to a phrase under the phrase name.
3. Test the participant: from the location alone, can they recall the phrase?
4. Tap the · · · action button on the row to open the menu, then choose Change status.
5. Pick the new state for that phrase:
   • Fluent if they recalled it quickly and with full confidence. This is the highest tier.
   • Memorised if they recalled it in 2 seconds and 100% accurately.
   • Needs review if they recalled the phrase inaccurately, or if they took 10 to 20 seconds to recall it even if it was correct.
   • Learned to put the phrase back in the "awaiting-check" state (if you made a mistake and need to reset the status of a phrase).
   • Not memorised if they cannot recall the phrase, and it needs to be re-learned.
6. You can test a participant also on the phrases you previously marked as "memorised" or "fluent". This way you can check if they can still recall them accurately after some days or weeks, and flag any phrase for review if you think their recall is inaccurate or slow.

Session notes

Session notes are not available in the app at the moment. You cannot open them from a participant's page.

If a note already exists, the most recent one can still show on the participant list as a one-line preview.

The participant does not see notes inside the app. However, if they ever request a copy of their personal data (a GDPR data export), notes about them are included. Write notes assuming the participant will read them.

Unassigning a phrase

If you've assigned a phrase to a participant in error, or you want to remove it from their workload entirely, you can unassign it.

1. Open the participant's phrases.
2. Tap the · · · action button on the row of the phrase you want to remove.
3. Choose Unassign phrase and confirm.

Unassigning takes the phrase out of the participant's collection and clears any memorisation progress they had on it for the current course. If you assign the same phrase to them again later, they'll start with a clean slate. Their progress in any earlier courses is preserved.

Re-recording a phrase

If you want to improve a recording — for example, if the audio quality wasn't great or you want to change the pronunciation:

1. Open the phrase
2. Record new audio
3. The new recording replaces the old one

Deleting phrases

You can delete phrases that you created, but only if no learner has learned them yet. Once a learner has learned a phrase, it can't be deleted — this is to protect their learning progress. If you try to delete a phrase that's blocked this way, you'll be told a learner has learned it; remove the learner's progress (see Reviewing a participant's phrases) if you want to proceed.

If you also have the Admin role, a second confirmation lets you delete the phrase anyway by removing all learner progress for it first. See the admin guide for details.

From the phrase's · · · menu you'll see two delete options:

• Delete — removes the phrase itself. Its audio recording is kept, since the same recording may be reused by other phrases.
• Delete with recording — removes the phrase and, if no other phrase is using it, its audio recording too. If another phrase still relies on that recording, only the phrase is removed and the recording stays.

Both options ask you to confirm before deleting, and the phrase disappears from the list immediately once you confirm.