How to learn English with text to speech

Text to speech, or TTS, is a powerful artificial intelligence tool that can help with many aspects of learning, including foreign language acquisition. If you’re learning English, you’ll be interested to learn how this method can help you speed up the process Here, we’re sharing everything you need to know.

How text to speech helps you learn English

The process and pace of learning a foreign language—in this case, English—is different for everyone. While getting acquainted with the language basics can be achieved with only a little effort, reaching intermediate and advanced levels requires much more dedication.

However, if you’re not using the right approach, you can spend hours not focusing on what you really need to learn or studying in ways that don’t match your learning style. This can stall your progress and cause feelings of frustration.

Here’s how text to speech apps can help you learn English, or any language, with ease.

Pronunciation guide

Text to speech is excellent for practicing and mastering your pronunciation. While Google Translate can get the job done in a pinch, the levels of customization and the variety of voices and reading speeds available with text to speech software make this tool all the more valuable.

You can choose between UK, US, Australian, or Canadian accents if you want to learn a particular English accent.

This assistive technology tool allows natural-sounding English texts to be read aloud along with a highlighting feature so you can focus on the given words and their pronunciation. You’ll feel like you’re listening to a real person, not a robotic voice.

Improve literacy skills

Boosting your literacy skills is essential to learning a language, and speech synthesis software (another term for text to speech) can help you with that. You can use OCR (optical character recognition) technology to scan difficult texts and have the software read them aloud.

When you practice reading texts you find challenging every day, your skills will improve drastically in just a few weeks.

Proofreading

Professionals and native language speakers use text to speech technology to help them spot errors in their writing or spelling. So, naturally, it’s also useful for foreign language learners.

Similarly to learning how to pronounce new words, you can use TTS to fix common pronunciation mistakes you make with the words you already know. You can even have your practice essays read aloud to you so that you can catch problems with syntax or word choice. Hearing the words you wrote offers a new perspective.

Motivation and self-esteem boost

TTS software is fun and interactive and does miracles for self-esteem and motivation-boosting effects. Software like Natural Reader, Speechify, and even Google Translate make the language you’re learning more lifelike.

When you don’t live in a country where your target language is spoken, it can be difficult to remain motivated to keep learning. But with TTS, you can hear the language anytime you want. Best of all, you can listen to any content you like, something like listening to audiobooks.

Presentation help

You can use text to speech apps to time your presentations or check how your presentation would sound. Just copy the Microsoft or any other document where the presentation is, and listen to a TTS software read it aloud.

With this technique, you can ensure you read all the words correctly and calculate how much time you’ll use to go over all the slides when the day comes for your presentation.

Maybe you’ll be limited to 10 or 15 minutes, but the presentation lasts for 20. You can tweak the speed rate to fit the length into the required time frame.

Speechify—The best TTS service for learning English

Text to speech technology is on the rise, and there are many high-quality apps on the market. Whether you’re learning English, Spanish, or any other language, you can use text to speech tools to boost your reading comprehension, literacy skills, and the language learning process.

One of the best text to speech software for English language learners is Speechify. This e-learning tool can read any text or English words with male or female voices.

Take any written text, paste it into the software, and have it read in natural-sounding voices in different accents straight from your Google Chrome extension.

A big difference compared to Google Translate is that you can choose different human voices and get downloadable audio files of the recording for listening on the go. Best of all, Speechify can read any file format, including PDF, Google Docs, Drive, DOCX, HTML, you name it.

Speechify is available as an iOS and Android app and a Chrome extension, so you can use it whenever and wherever you want.

Here’s an overview of the app and how it can help with second language acquisition:

• Hundreds of natural-sounding voices

• Works with dozens of languages

• Free version available

• Highlighting tool to help master pronunciation

Why is text to speech good for learners?

The learning landscape has rapidly changed ever since the rise of education technology, and TTS plays an important part in it. Audio output is an essential aspect of language. Hearing makes it possible to understand messages for people who are autistic or have trouble reading.

For a long time, TTS was mainly reserved for students with learning disabilities like dyslexia. However, there’s much more to it. TTS is a great learning tool, and it’s considered UDL (Universal Design for Learning). Teachers can use it to help students advance in their English learning studies.

Most TTS software today operates on the cloud, meaning it is easily accessible on multiple devices. This way, the learning process isn’t jeopardized in terms of accessibility.

Also, TTS can create audio files in numerous formats including MP3, WAV, and others. This feature further eases access to the features of the software.

Try Speechify for free today

Speechify is very simple to use across platforms. There is a free version, but you can also try the premium with a free trial to access even more helpful features. And if you ever get stuck (highly unlikely), you can always check the tutorials on the website.

There are numerous built-in features like text highlighting, adjustable reading speed, and the choice of many different accents.

Whenever you’re ready, you can try Speechify for free by visiting the official website. 

FAQ

Does text to speech help ELL students?

Yes, text to speech technology helps ELL students in numerous ways. It boosts their pronunciation and literacy skills and makes reading difficult texts easier, to name a few benefits.

What disabilities does text to speech help with?

TTS helps with several disabilities, including blindness, learning disabilities, dyslexia, autism, and all visual and physical conditions that impede a person’s reading ability.

What are some differences between text to speech and audio recordings?

An audio recording refers to any recording made by a device, including, but not limited to, digital audio files. Text to speech, on the other hand, is a type of audio recording produced by software.