JPH0454956B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a novel learning device particularly suitable for use as a foreign language pronunciation practice.

Traditionally, for language practice, a magnetic tape is used on which words or sentences with accurate pronunciation are pre-recorded, and the learner listens to the pronunciation and then pronounces it himself and transfers it onto another magnetic track. Record and then
By playing this and comparing the correct pronunciation described above with his own pronunciation, he corrects his own pronunciation and thus practices pronunciation.

However, with such a practice device, it is difficult for the user to determine whether or not his/her own pronunciation is actually correct.

In view of these points, the present invention has been developed by displaying alphanumeric characters, words, etc. displayed on the display section and pronouncing them into the microphone.
Alternatively, by pronouncing any of the pre-registered words, the corresponding letters are displayed, thereby making it possible to check whether the pronunciation is correct.

An example of a learning device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a microphone-cum-speaker, that is, an acoustic-electrical converter, which will hereinafter be referred to as a microphone or a speaker depending on its usage. 2 is a changeover switch,
3 is a speech recognition board, which includes an amplifier 4, a filter 5, an A-D converter 6, a recognition section 7, a speech registration section (memory) 8, and a control section 9; The signal is passed through filter 5 to A
- The signal is supplied to the D converter 6 and converted into a digital signal. The signal from the control section 9 of this board 3 controls the A-D converter 6, the recognition section 7, and the registration section 8, respectively, and converts the analog signal into a digital signal, stores it in the registration section 8, and compares it, which will be described later. Perform operations such as recognition.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a main control section, which can be switched between registration mode and learning mode. When setting to registration mode, the audio signal from the microphone 1 mentioned above is digitized and sent to the registration section 8. be remembered. 11 is the recognition unit 7
The output circuit 12 is a matching circuit to which the output from this circuit is supplied, and is controlled by or controls a signal from the control section 10.

Also, the signal from the control unit 10 controls the address encode 13, and the signal from this (for example, an address signal) changes the audio parameter (PARCOR).
The memory 14 and display code memory 15 are controlled respectively. Both of these 14 and 15 can be constituted by a so-called soft chip 16. The signal read from the display code memory 15 is supplied to the display section 17 and displayed as characters. The signal read out from the audio parameter memory 14 is also supplied to the audio synthesis circuit 19 of the audio synthesis board 18, where it is audio synthesized and passed through the filter amplifier 20.
The signal is supplied to the speaker 1. Further, the control unit 10 supplies a signal to the voice synthesis board 18 for timing the display (pronunciation) of images and voices, which will be described later.

Next, a method of using the above-described device will be explained. First, with the switch 2 switched to the state shown by the solid line and the control section 10 set to the registration mode, all English vowels are recorded (registered) in one's own voice into the microphone 1. As a result, the above-mentioned vowel-based signals are converted into digital signals and registered in the registration section 8 at respective addresses. For example, "(phonetic symbol)" is located at address X ₁ Y ₁ , "ei (phonetic symbol)" is located at address X ₂ Y ₂ , and so on.

Next, the control unit 10 is switched to learning mode, that is, playback mode. There are several types of playback modes, one of which is to set (switch) the control unit 10 to playback I mode.
When this happens, a command signal is automatically issued from the control section 10. This command signal is supplied to the address encode circuit 13, which supplies a certain address signal to the display code memory 15 and the audio parameter memory 14, respectively. As a result, a signal related to a certain character, such as "A", is read out from the display code memory 15 and displayed on the display section 17, and at the same time, a signal is read out from the audio parameter memory 14, which is synthesized into speech by the speech synthesis circuit 19. , is fed to speaker 1 and asks, for example, "How is this pronounced?" At this time, the switch 2 is in the state shown by the dotted line.

When the learner sees this and accurately pronounces ``'' into the microphone 1 (at this time, the switch 2 is in the state shown by the solid line), the recognition unit 7 recognizes this as the number that he or she has memorized (registered) in the registration unit 8. It is made to recognize which address of the information matches the stored information. In this case, since it matches the stored signal at address X ₁ Y ₁ , that address signal X ₁ Y ₁ is read out and supplied to matching circuit 12. In this matching circuit 12, the signal is compared with the signal from the control section 10, and here, the above-mentioned address signal X ₁ Y ₁
If it matches, the encoder 13 instructs the address of another word related to this address signal X ₁ Y ₁ ,
The words are read out one after another from the display code memory 15 and displayed.

To give one example, regarding "A" mentioned above,
Rat, cat, nap, … related to “”
...etc. Then, the signals are read out from the audio parameter memory 14 at the required timing, synthesized by the audio synthesis circuit 19, and output from the speaker 1.
It's pronounced like ratt, kyat, natupu... In this way, words related to this "" are sequentially displayed on the display section 17 and are also pronounced from the speaker 1. These words are stored in advance in the code memory 1 for displaying several types of words for junior high school students, for example.
5 and the audio parameter memory 14.

Also, when displaying the above “A”, the learner should use “ei”.
When this is pronounced, the recognition unit 7 recognizes the signal as being the signal at address X ₂ Y ₂ in the registration unit 8 , for example, and sends this address signal to the coincidence circuit 12 . As a result, signals related to the pronunciation of "ei" are sequentially read from the display code memory 15 and the audio parameter memory 14 from the address encoder 13, and are displayed on the display section 17, and the signals related to the pronunciation of "ei"
Let them be pronounced more sequentially. For example, rate,
cate, nape,...etc.

From the above, even if the same "A" is pronounced, depending on whether it is pronounced as "" or "ei", the display unit 17 displays the corresponding word, and the speech synthesis circuit 19, the correct pronunciation is achieved, and at the same time, as is clear from the example above, by adding an "e" to the end of the spelling, the pronunciation of "A" becomes "ei". , a certain principle can be found.

In this way, displays related to "A" are displayed sequentially in the horizontal direction on the display section 17, and when all of these displays are completed, a further command from the control section 10 causes the display of, for example, "E" to be displayed. The message is displayed on the display section 17, and at the same time, the speaker 1 utters, "How do you pronounce this?"
Therefore, when the learner pronounces "e" or "i" into the microphone 1, the recognition unit 7 recognizes the address signal (for example, X ₃ Y ₃ or X ₄ Y ₄ ) stored in advance.
In response to the signal from the address encoder 13, related display and sound signals are read out from the display code memory 15 and audio parameter memory 14, respectively, and are displayed and sounded in the same manner as described above. Thereafter, similar operations are performed in sequence.

Next, in playback mode, the learner
By correctly pronouncing any of the words pre-registered in the chip 16, for example, by pronouncing "ht (phonetic symbol)", "hat" will appear on the display section 17. By pronouncing "heit (phonetic symbol)", "hate" will be displayed on the display section 17, and these will be sequentially arranged and displayed in the horizontal direction, and through the speaker 1,
By the signal from the audio parameter memory 14,
Accurate pronunciation. Even with this, ""
depending on whether you pronounce it as ``ei'' or ``ei''.
It is possible to display English characters with different spellings and to find certain rules, thereby increasing the learning effect.

Next, in the case of playback mode, memory 14 and 1
5 are read out sequentially, a certain word is displayed on the display section 17, and a synthesized sound is output from the speaker 1 after a certain timing delay. The sequential display (steps) in this case is
By saying ``next'' or ``repeat'' into the microphone 1, it is possible to move sequentially or to repeat the utterance.

The above-mentioned display code memory 15 and audio parameter memory 14 are paired with each other, and these chips 16 can be freely exchanged.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the general appearance of this device, and 17 and 1 are the display section and microphone/speaker shown in FIG. 1, respectively. This display section 17 can be configured with, for example, two lines of liquid crystal.

21 is a switch used when storing (registering) one's own voice as described above; 22 is a switch for switching to , , as described above in playback mode;
23 is a power switch.

As explained above, in the learning device of the present invention, character data corresponding to a plurality of words related to an input vocal sound and audio data corresponding to each word are sequentially read out from the storage means and displayed on the display means. By displaying the words sequentially and simultaneously pronouncing them sequentially using the pronunciation tool, you can check the accuracy of your own pronunciation. It is particularly effective for learning phonetics, which defines the rules for pronunciation, as it allows you to grasp and understand the relationship naturally and easily.

In addition, in the above, we explained English letters, but
It is obvious that it can also be used to pronounce hiragana, katakana, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a learning device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the entire device. 3 is a voice recognition board, 10 is a control section,
12 is a matching circuit, 13 is an address encoder, 1
4 is an audio parameter memory, and 15 is a display code memory.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A voice registration means in which a plurality of vocalizations inputted in advance are each stored, and which of the vocalization actually input and the plurality of vocalizations stored in the voice registration means. voice recognition means for recognizing whether or not the words match; character data of a plurality of words each associated with the vocalization stored in the voice registration means; and voice data of each of the words. storage means that are stored in association with each other; display means that displays characters based on the character data of each word read from the storage means; and voice data of each word read from the storage means. a pronunciation means for producing a sound by voice synthesis based on the voice recognition means, character data corresponding to a plurality of words related to the vocalization whose coincidence has been recognized by the voice recognition means, and voice data corresponding to each of the words from the storage means. A learning device comprising: control means for sequentially reading data, sequentially displaying it on the display means, and simultaneously causing the sound production means to sequentially produce sounds.