Reading Tool: From Text to Speech

        In my Technology class at NYU, we learned about an online tool and a software which could convert text to speech and speech to text.  Here, I am introducing teachers especially Mandarin teachers a great tool which provides natural reading
(Chinese reading contains tone variation.  For instance, lǎo shǔ means "mouse" and the tones are all third tones.  However, when saying lǎo shǔ, Chinese people usually say láo shǔ.  It is just like American people say "y'all.").  Its name is Select and Speak.

        Select and Speak is a web app created for Google Chrome browser.  After installation, users can select a section of text on any webpage and click on the right button of mouse to choose the pattern of trumpet to turn on speaking.  To change languages and speed, users can go to the trumpet and click on the right button of mouse again to choose "options" and change.

        The only disadvantage of this app is that it cannot read pictures, so if a webpage has too many pictures, it will slow down the processing of the app.  Therefore, it is recommended that users choose the webpages with fewer pictures.