Google Translate Adds “Listen” Japanese
According to the official blog, Google Translate has added a text-to-speech functionality for three new language, Arabic, Korean and Japanese.
It is helpful for you to check how Japanese brands are pronounced, though you need to put proper Japanese Katakana or Hiragana there.
For people who have no idea how to pronounce Mobage Town and other Japanese web services, I list them up on Google Translate. Listen!
The quality of the voice is not so great when you compare with English one. No Japanese will think it is spoken by real person, but it is not Google's fault. The level of Japanese speech synthesis is not so great on other services, too.
Like as other language, there is a length limit for speech. When I typed 101th letter in Japanese, the "Listen" button disappeared.
Author Information @akky(Akky AKIMOTO) is one of the first pro-bloggers in Japan [J]. He also leads Asiajin, writes for Japan Times, does consultation for foreign companies interested in entering Japanese web market. -
Kathy
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http://blog.rekuru.com/2010/12/19/listen-to-japanese-option-now-available-in-google-translate/ “Listen” to Japanese option now available in Google Translate | Blog | Rekuru
