Read and Write Gold Activity 1

Converting Text to Speech

Although Read and Write Gold has many features, its main function is to read out anything you select on the screen.  This is useful if you want to proof read your work or if there is a lot of information to read on a website.

Try the following to give you a better understanding of this:

1. Open Read and Write Gold;

2. Write 2-3 brief paragraphs on a topic of your own choice (Examples: your first week at College; what you did over the summer etc.);

3. Click on the drop-down arrow next to the green play button;

4. Select and watch the 'speech video tour';

5. Select 'Speech Options'. Experiment with and select a preferred voice and speed.  You can select 'Test voice' to test this at each stage;

6. Read and Write Gold also highlights text as it reads. In 'Highlight' at the top of the 'Speech Options' box, you can alter the colour of the highlight or even remove it altogether.  You only ever need to do this once because Read and Write Gold will save your settings;

7. You are now ready to listen to your paragraphs.  Try listening to these by selecting 'Read by sentence' and 'Read by paragraph'.  What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of each?