Conditions of Use

1. Introduction

Welcome to Fonetic English. By accessing www.foneticenglish.com and any related websites, services, applications, or tools (together, the Fonetic English Services or FES), you agree to these Conditions of Use.

FES is provided to you by Fonetic English Pty Ltd (ABN 69 676 819 104) of 2a Mona Rd, Darling Point NSW 2027, Australia (FEPL, we, or us).

These Conditions of Use are a legally binding agreement between you and FEPL. They take effect from 1 May 2026. You accept these Conditions of Use at registration by ticking a dedicated acknowledgement, separate from the acknowledgements you are asked to provide for the Privacy Policy and, where applicable, the Parent Safeguarding Notice. Your acceptance is recorded against the version of this document shown to you at registration.

The Conditions of Use apply to everyone who uses FE — adult learners, parents whose subscriptions include children, tutors, teachers in school employment, and institutions. Other documents apply in addition, depending on how you engage with FE:

• the Parent Safeguarding Notice, which you separately acknowledge if your subscription includes any person under 18;
• the Tutor Terms and the Tutor Code of Conduct, which apply to every individual tutor authorised to use FE;
• the Teacher Code of Conduct, which applies to teachers employed in schools or English language colleges using FE in classroom teaching;
• the Institutional Engagement Agreement (and, where applicable, the Foundation Partner Addendum), which applies to schools, colleges, and other organisations engaged with FE.

Our Privacy Policy and our Returns Policy also apply and are available on our website.

2. How Fonetic English is offered

Fonetic English is made available through the following subscription tiers. Each tier has its own terms, in addition to the general terms in this document.

2.1 FE Individual (Adult)

For adults aged 18 or over learning English on their own. You register, you subscribe, and you use FES for your own personal, non-commercial learning. You confirm at registration that you are aged 18 or over.

2.2 FE Parent-Educator

For a parent or legal guardian aged 18 or over who wishes to teach one or more of their own children using the Fonetic English system. The parent is the account-holder. Children access FES through learning profiles under the parent’s account. The parent is responsible for the children’s use of FES. A family subscription covers the subscriber’s own children or children in their legal care — it may not be used to provide tutoring services to other families.

2.3 FE with a Tutor

Where a parent wishes their child to be taught using Fonetic English with a Tutor, the parent is the account-holder, subscribes on behalf of the child, and is responsible for the safety of the child during tutoring. The selection of a Tutor for a child is a decision the parent should approach with at least as much care as they would take in hiring a babysitter — meeting the Tutor, asking questions, satisfying themselves about the Tutor’s identity, credentials, child-safety background check, and references, and trusting their own judgement about whether the Tutor is right for their child.

Parents find and engage Tutors directly. Some parents find Tutors through a third-party tutor-matching platform such as Preply or iTalki; in those cases, the platform’s terms and safeguarding processes apply alongside FE’s. FEPL does not employ, supervise, recommend, or vouch for any Tutor. FEPL provides information through the Parent Safeguarding Notice and structural protections — it does not collect contact details for any child, and the Tutor Terms include firm contractual commitments by the Tutor not to harm anyone connected to the tutoring relationship and not to initiate contact with a minor outside lessons.

FE is designed for cooperative learning, where the Tutor teaches both the child and the parent how to use FE so that the parent can support the child’s practice between lessons. As the child becomes more independent, tutoring time can be reduced.

2.4 FE with a School or Institution

Schools, colleges, and other organisations can engage with Fonetic English under an Institutional Engagement Agreement. An engaged institution may use FE in its own teaching (for example, by displaying FE on a classroom screen and having students work along on their own devices), may recommend FE to its families, or may do both. In all cases, the families and adult learners who use FE subscribe individually under clauses 2.1, 2.2, or 2.3, and they pay their own subscriptions. The institution does not hold the subscriptions and is not the contracting party for the families.

The Institutional Engagement Agreement covers the institution’s right to use FE in its teaching, access for the institution’s teachers, the institution’s referral arrangement (including any referrer code, family discount, and commission to the institution), brand and acknowledgement, and other commercial terms. Teachers in the institution’s employment are governed by the institution’s own professional standards and safeguarding policies and accept the FE Teacher Code of Conduct that covers FE-specific use rights and obligations. The Fonetic English Tutor Code of Conduct, which applies to individual tutors, does not apply to teachers in school employment.

Where children use FE through an institutional engagement, the institution is responsible for the safety of the child during school activities under its own safeguarding framework, child-protection policies, mandatory reporting obligations, and staff training. The parent retains general responsibility for the safety of their child. FEPL provides FE; FEPL does not employ or supervise the institution’s staff and is not part of the institution’s safeguarding chain. Schools that wish to engage as Foundation Partners do so under an additional Foundation Partner Addendum to the Institutional Engagement Agreement.

Institutions interested in engaging with FE should use the contact path on our website. We will respond with the Institutional Engagement Agreement appropriate to their use.

3. Definitions

FES / Fonetic English Services includes: the Fonetic English markup of standard English spelling (syllable breaks, greyed silent letters, and sound cues); the Fonetic English website and educational tools and games; the eReader running on supported devices and platforms; the FE eBook Store and library; a limited text to Fonetic English conversion service, the Fonetic English online apps; and any other services added from time to time.

User means any person who visits or uses any part of FES.

Adult Subscriber means a person aged 18 or over who has subscribed to FES in their own name and for their own learning.

Parent means a person aged 18 or over who is the parent or legal guardian of a Minor and who is the account-holder for that Minor’s access to FES.

Minor means a person under 18 years of age (or under the age of majority in their jurisdiction if higher).

Learning Profile means a sub-profile within a Parent’s account through which a Minor accesses FES. A Learning Profile is not a separate account.

Tutor means an independent language tutor who uses FES to teach a Student and who is bound by the Tutor Code of Conduct.

Tutor-Matching Platform means a third-party online marketplace through which Tutors and Students are matched (for example, Preply, iTalki, or similar), with which FEPL may have a Platform Partner Agreement.

Institution means a private school, English-language college, or other educational institution that holds an Institutional Licence Agreement with FEPL.

Digital Content means eBooks and other content that Users may license through the FE eBook Store for personal and non-commercial use.

Subscription means a paid subscription to FES, regardless of tier.

4. Age, accounts, and Minors

4.1 Adult account-holders. The account-holder for every subscription must be aged 18 or over. You confirm your age at registration. We may request evidence of age and may suspend or terminate accounts where we reasonably doubt that the account-holder is an adult.

4.2 Parent-as-account-holder. Where FES will be used by any person under 18, the subscription must be held by that person’s parent or legal guardian. The parent is the contracting party and is responsible for the use of FES by every Minor under their account.

4.3 No separate child accounts. We do not offer separate accounts for Minors. A Minor accesses FES through a Learning Profile within the parent’s account.

4.4 No child email addresses. We do not collect or hold email addresses, phone numbers, or other external contact details for Minors. Communications about a Minor’s learning — including billing, progress reports, safeguarding notices, and platform updates — go to the parent. In-app notifications may appear on the Minor’s Learning Profile when they log in, and the parent controls whether those notifications are enabled.

4.5 Account security. The account-holder is responsible for keeping the account credentials secure. For family accounts, the parent must not share the parent-level login with any Minor or Tutor. A Minor uses their own Learning Profile, not the parent’s login. A Tutor never has parent-level access to an account.

4.6 Data about Minors. Information we hold about a Minor is limited to what is needed to support learning and to tailor Fonetic English to the Minor’s needs. This includes: a display name (which need not be the Minor’s real name); age or year level; native language; current English level; learning goal; known reading difficulties, learning differences, or neurodevelopmental conditions that affect reading (for example, autism, ADHD, developmental delay, intellectual disability, dyslexia, dysgraphia, speech or language delay, hearing or vision impairment, or English as an additional language), which the parent may indicate through a multi-select list and a free-text description; activity and progress data (such as exercises completed, errors made, reading time, and areas of difficulty), which we record so that we can adjust content to the Minor’s progress, target revision, and improve the Fonetic English system over time; a link to the parent’s account; and any other similar information that helps Fonetic English provide a better learning experience. We do not collect external contact details for Minors, including email addresses, phone numbers, or home addresses. Full details of how we handle personal information about Minors are in the Privacy Policy.

4.7 Your account stays with you. When a subscriber first joins Fonetic English, their subscription is attributed to the referrer (a tutor or institution) through whom they came to FE, if any. This attribution continues for as long as the subscription continues. If the subscriber later becomes associated with a different referrer — for example, a student moving to a new school, or a family changing its tutor — the original attribution is unchanged. The subscriber keeps their account, their Learning Profile, their reading history, and their progress data. New referrers do not change the attribution and do not earn commission on existing subscribers. This rule preserves the continuity of the subscriber’s learning record and applies equally to all referrers.

5. The Fonetic English system

5.1 What FE markup does. Fonetic English markup is not an exact representation of the pronunciation of a word — if it were, regional pronunciations would require different spellings and written communication would break down. The aim of the markup is to enable a User to sound out a word accurately enough to recognise it (if it is known) and pronounce it so that a third party can understand.

5.2 Source of the word list. The Fonetic English word list has been compiled from public-domain sources and from words extracted from books and other documents. In addition to English words, it contains proper nouns and some common foreign words.

5.3 What is not marked up. Certain character strings are not marked up: non-words (such as "Aaaarrgh!"), misspellings, vernacular dialogue (such as in Huckleberry Finn), nonsense words, and obscure foreign words.

6. Tutors and Tutor-Matching Platforms

6.1 FEPL’s role. FEPL provides the Fonetic English system and supporting technology. FEPL does not employ Tutors, does not control their lessons, does not observe or record their lessons, and does not participate in bookings or payments between a Tutor and a Student or parent (except where FEPL directly bills for an FES subscription).

6.2 Tutors are independent. Each Tutor is an independent third party — a self-employed tutor who has entered into the Tutor Terms with FEPL. Tutors may also be active on third-party Tutor-Matching Platforms (such as Preply or iTalki); a Tutor’s presence on a Platform does not change their relationship with FEPL.

6.3 The Tutor Terms and the Tutor Code of Conduct. Every Tutor authorised to use FES has agreed to the Fonetic English Tutor Terms and the Fonetic English Tutor Code of Conduct. Together, these set out: firm contractual commitments by the Tutor not to harm anyone connected to the tutoring relationship and not to initiate contact with a minor outside lessons; credential and background-check requirements; the operational rules that flow from those commitments; lesson conduct standards; professional boundaries; and reporting obligations. The current versions of the Tutor Terms and the Tutor Code of Conduct are publicly available at [URL].

6.4 "FE-enabled" branding. A Tutor may describe themselves as "FE-enabled" or in such other terms as FEPL permits. No Tutor is permitted to describe themselves as employed, supervised, or individually endorsed by FEPL. "FE-enabled" means only that the Tutor has agreed to the Tutor Code of Conduct and is authorised to use the Fonetic English system; it is not a warranty of the Tutor’s competence or character.

6.5 Tutor-Matching Platforms. Where you find or book a Tutor through a Tutor-Matching Platform such as Preply or iTalki, the Platform’s own terms and safeguarding processes apply alongside FE’s. The specific responsibilities of the Platform are set out in its own terms, which you should review. Your relationship regarding the tutoring is with the Platform and the Tutor, not with FEPL. FEPL’s role is limited to providing the Fonetic English system and to enforcing the Tutor Terms and the Tutor Code of Conduct through the Tutor’s commitments to FEPL.

6.6 Right to suspend. Where a safeguarding concern is raised, we may immediately suspend a Tutor’s access to FES, or a User’s access, or both, pending investigation. Suspension is a precaution, not a finding.

6.7 Reporting safeguarding concerns. If you have a safeguarding concern about a Tutor, another User, or anything you have observed through FES, please email us at safeguarding@foneticenglish.com. If the concern is urgent and a person is at risk of harm, contact local police or child-protection authorities first. We will acknowledge your report within 24 hours and follow the process set out in our safeguarding framework.

7. Responsibilities of Parents

Where your subscription includes any person under 18, you have additional responsibilities. The Parent Safeguarding Notice — which you acknowledge separately at sign-up — sets out helpful information about engaging a Tutor for a child and discusses the matters that you and the Tutor agree about lessons.

7.1 You are the account-holder. You hold the subscription, you control the account credentials, and you are responsible for your child’s use of FES and for the safety of your child.

7.2 Keep the parent login to yourself. You must not share your parent-level login with your child or with any Tutor. Your child accesses FES through their own Learning Profile. A Tutor never has parent-level access.

7.3 Report concerns. If you have a concern about a Tutor or about anything involving FES, report it to us at safeguarding@foneticenglish.com, to the Tutor-Matching Platform (if applicable), and — where a person is at risk of harm — to local authorities. Do not delay a report out of uncertainty.

7.4 Content in the eBook library. The eBook Store and library contain Digital Content that may not be appropriate for everyone under 18. By default, a Minor’s Learning Profile can access only Digital Content that you, the parent, have added to it. You are responsible for checking the suitability of Digital Content before adding it to a Learning Profile. Digital Content is classified by BISAC codes supplied by third parties and by algorithmic reading-age estimates; neither is warranted by FEPL.

8. Digital Content and the eBook Store

8.1 Licence. When you license Digital Content from the eBook Store, FEPL grants you a non-exclusive right to view, use, and display that Digital Content within the FES eReader, an unlimited number of times, solely for your personal, non-commercial use or for the use of Minors under your account.

8.2 Restrictions. You must not: sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense, or assign rights to Digital Content; remove proprietary notices; modify, transmit, publish, or create derivative works from Digital Content; or bypass, modify, or circumvent any security feature that protects Digital Content. You must not assist or authorise any other person to do any of these things.

8.3 Ownership. Digital Content remains the property of the publisher or its licensors and is protected by copyright and other intellectual-property laws. Your rights are those granted by the licence, not ownership.

9. Use of FES software

9.1 Personal use. You may use the FES software on up to 5 different devices. You may not separate any component for use on another device, transfer it for use over a network, or sell, rent, lease, lend, distribute, sublicense, or assign any rights to the software or to any Fonetic English text, in whole or in part.

9.2 No harmful code. You must not transmit to FES or to any User any viruses, worms, time bombs, trojans, spyware, malware, or other code designed to cause software to cease operating, or to damage, interrupt, or interfere with FES software or content, any other person’s software, data, or hardware, or to collect unauthorised information about any other User.

9.3 No reverse engineering. You must not (and must not assist or authorise any other person to) modify, reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the software or any device on which it runs, create derivative works, or bypass, modify, defeat, or tamper with any function or protection of the software, including digital-rights-management functionality.

9.4 Automatic updates. We may automatically provide updates or upgrades to the software on your device to keep it current.

9.5 Internet connectivity. Internet connectivity is required to access FES. Any access fees or data charges from your internet service provider are your responsibility. Some Digital Content involves large amounts of data.

9.6 Export controls. You agree to comply with all applicable export and re-export restrictions and not to transfer, or assist in transferring, the software to any prohibited country or in violation of any such restrictions.

9.7 No illegal use. You must not use FES or any Digital Content for any illegal purpose. Subscribing to FES or licensing Digital Content does not transfer to you ownership of any intellectual-property rights of FEPL or its suppliers. All FES is licensed, not sold, and the licence is non-exclusive.

10. Intellectual property

10.1 Copyright. You acknowledge that the Fonetic English markup system, the content of FES, and the Digital Content are subject to copyright. You agree not to use Fonetic English or any Digital Content in any way not specifically authorised by this agreement. You acknowledge that injunctive relief may be appropriate to protect copyrighted material, and that FEPL may take legal action in any jurisdiction in the world to protect its copyrighted material, notwithstanding clause 14.

10.2 Trademark. You acknowledge that "Fonetic English" is a trademark licensed to Fonetic English Pty Ltd.

11. Privacy

We collect, use, share, and protect personal information as described in our Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy is the authoritative source on how we handle personal information. It is available on our website and you should read it in addition to these Conditions of Use.

12. Warranties, disclaimers, and liability

12.1 Consumer guarantees. Nothing in these Conditions of Use excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy under the Australian Consumer Law or any similar law that cannot be lawfully excluded.

12.2 No other warranties. Subject to clause 12.1, FES, Digital Content, and the software are provided "as is" and FEPL and its suppliers and licensors disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, quiet enjoyment, and non-infringement of third-party rights. No oral or written information or advice given by FEPL or any representative creates a warranty.

12.3 Limitation. Subject to clause 12.1, neither FEPL nor its suppliers or licensors are liable for any incidental or consequential damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, or use, arising out of or relating to FES, the software, or any Digital Content. Subject to clause 12.1, FEPL’s aggregate liability under this agreement is limited to the amount actually paid to FEPL for the service in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to liability.

12.4 Tutor conduct. Subject to clause 12.1, and because Tutors are independent third parties, FEPL is not liable for the acts or omissions of any Tutor, any Tutor-Matching Platform, or any Institution. Your remedies for conduct of a Tutor, a Platform, or an Institution lie against them, not against FEPL. This clause does not exclude any liability of FEPL for its own acts or omissions.

12.5 Force majeure. We are not liable for failure or delay in performing our obligations to the extent caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including internet outages, communications failures, industrial disputes, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, or legislative or administrative interference, provided we use reasonable endeavours to mitigate.

12.6 Indemnity. To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify FEPL and its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against claims, damages, costs, liabilities, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal costs) arising out of your breach of this agreement, your misuse of FES or Digital Content, or your breach of the Parent Safeguarding Notice.

13. Termination

13.1 Termination for breach. Your rights under this agreement automatically terminate without notice from FEPL if you fail to comply with any term. On termination, you must cease all use of the software; FEPL may revoke access to FES and Digital Content, and may delete information relating to you, without refund of any fees.

13.2 Termination for safeguarding reasons. FEPL may terminate or suspend your access immediately where we reasonably consider this necessary to protect a Minor, another User, or the integrity of FES. No refund is payable where termination is for breach of the Parent Safeguarding Notice or for conduct endangering another User.

13.3 No waiver. FEPL’s failure to insist on strict compliance does not waive any right.

14. General

14.1 Governing law. The laws in force in New South Wales, Australia, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles, govern this agreement. You and FEPL submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

14.2 Injunctive relief. You acknowledge that a breach of this agreement may cause irreparable harm to FEPL and its affiliates and licensors, and that in such case FEPL is entitled to injunctive or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction, in addition to any monetary relief, without posting security.

14.3 Amendment. We may amend this agreement by posting the revised terms on the FEPL website. Material amendments will be notified in advance by email to the account-holder or prominently on the website. Your continued use of FES after the effective date of an amendment constitutes acceptance.

14.4 Severability. If any provision is held illegal, invalid, or unenforceable, it is to be read down to the minimum extent necessary, or severed, and the remaining provisions continue in full force. Where severance is required, a suitable and equitable substitute provision will be treated as forming part of the agreement, to the extent valid.

14.5 Entire agreement. These Conditions of Use, together with the Parent Safeguarding Notice (where applicable), the Privacy Policy, the Returns Policy, and any Institutional Licence Agreement, form the entire agreement between you and FEPL regarding FES, and supersede all prior agreements and understandings on the same subject matter.

14.6 English language. The parties have required that this agreement and all related documents and notices be drafted in English.

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