Minasan,
if you would like to integrate your reading and listening comprehension studies in Japanese help is at hand. Here is a facility I have recently discovered and tested.
It allows you to:
1. read any Japanese text on screen
2. record the read material in MP3 format
3. slow down the reading to a pace that suits you.
4. create your own material for study off line using a combination of the above
Interested ? READ ON!
There are 2 options: the FREE one and the 30 to 80 US dollar one.
HOW TO SET UP
FREE for PC users :
STEP 1: Get the free Japanese voice pack from Microsoft Kenji and Naoko for example at: http://www.pcsupport.dk/software/AimTalk.html or just do a search for 'lhttsjpj download'.
STEP 2: Use either with Microsoft reading facility in Word or get a free Natural Reader pack at: http://www.naturalreaders.com/?gclid=CO ... QgodSn2OXg
This has a capacilty limited to 100 words but you can read material in batches.
Other free text to speech programs can be found at :
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freewar ... load.shtml
The free voices are bit mechanical but the beauty is that the Japanese language does not rely on intonation as much as English or other European languages, so the result is a voice that is easy to understand and reasonably natural. You will need to cut and paste the text to read with this FREE set up. Note that you can EXPORT the material read as MP3 if you are using proprietary TTS engines (Microsoft Word does not do this). Great to practice reading a text off line.
CHEAPLY but more powerfully...:
STEP 1: Get TextAloud (~30 USD dollars) and also purchase a Japanese voice from Neospeech (~40 US dollars) I prefer the Miyu16 female voice as I find it clearer.
STEP 2: Install, also making sure you install the Text Aloud plug in for Firefox.
In this set up you have a truly excellent voice plus the additional facility to read highlighted text out of any website in Japanese, a great complement to rikai-chan or peraprera-kun [but note you have to untoggle perapera-kun to highlight the text for reading]! Still with all the advantages of the free set up above but with the facility extended to longer texts.
You can now let your immagination take you to new learning landscapes. Learn vocabulary like a native by reading and listening in context. Create your own vocabulary with simultaneous reading and hearing in the topics of interest to you. Create little Japanese messages to match your computer actions by creating short expressions in MP3 then converting to wav. Use the JPOD101 learning centre grammar section both as a comprehension and knowledge exercise.
Have fun! and if you try this out be sure to let me know what you think by means of reply to this post.
Gambatte!
mikuji
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