Spoken Content

My early morning summer routine these days includes walking through our city as the sun rises before traffic gets bad. I listen to scripture as I pray. I also listen to Greek as I learn. I have found a free Large Language Model (LLM) AI tool that helps me create short dialogues with familiar content. And then I use a “text to speech” app on my iPhone called Spoken Content to convert the written text from my notes into audio format. Just what I need for listening practice for that day!

Here’s how it works. I provide the model (something similar to Chat GPT) with a “prompt” for content that I want. For example, yesterday I stumbled over ordering a cup of coffee. So, today my prompt was, “Create twenty short simple sample dialogues in Greek between me and a barista somewhere in Greece. One exchange each per dialogue is enough. Remember I am learning Greek so make sure the dialogues reflect that. For example, what would I say if I don’t understand something? For each dialogue create one version that is just in Greek, followed by a version with both Greek and English.” 

On some days I may provide a prompt for the model to give me flash-card type vocabulary including verb conjugations all couched in familiar and memorable contexts. Or maybe a list of minimal pairs. The options are limitless! The key is to get something that really promotes what I need right then and there. Both cognitively and motivationally. I learn best from what I experience, especially from my mistakes, which motivates me to improve. 

So, I now have the text of what I want to listen to. How do I create the audio? There are a number of AI tools available for converting text to speech. The iPhone native app for doing this is called Spoken Content. I provide a short video here that shows how to activate Spoken Content on your phone and then use it to convert digital texts written in apps such as “Notes" into an audio format for easy listening.

Once activated, it’s as simple as a two-finger swipe over the text (from top to bottom) and suddenly I’m now listening to the lesson I created. I select a voice and speed that work for me. (I am still at turtle speed :) 

I really try to stick with the principle of not getting over my head with language I cannot yet understand. I feel I am in my “comprehensible input” zone. While I still need to look at the text on my phone with English translation some of the time, that is happening less and less. I must be learning something! With every lesson my goal is to be hands free to just listen. Until then I practice listening every day as my comprehension improves. Once I understand all I hear, I archive the audio for periodic listening practice and review.

I'm happy to report that today was a “win” as I ordered a cup of coffee, plus enjoyed a short conversation, entirely in Greek!