Awesome Talking Library has been classroom reviewed and received a score of "4.6" out of "5." Improve Reading Skills By adding a Natural Voice to Web pages, children and teens can learn to pronounce words as they read them. Awesome Talkster, the Awesome Talking Library, includes an animated character, providing synchronized highlighting so that children can follow along even more easily. This multi-sensory approach is a powerful method for improving reading skills. Online books for children and teens to practice their reading skills are available in the Awesome Library. And More Awesome Talkster combines a browser, directory, search engine, and text-to-voice technology. This allows you to select online text and have it read to you. Children can have the Web pages read to them slowly, but adults can have pages read at normal speed. Having Web information read to you has many benefits. For example, the Awesome Talkster voice "Mary" can read online stories or books to children while an adult supervises, helping children learn to read or improve their reading skills. He can read online books to you while you (or your children) commute. It can just be more fun to hear what you read as you read it. Awesome Talkster can also make the Web more accessible to persons with impaired vision or persons with impaired ability to navigate a page with a mouse. It can be navigated with keystrokes. Awesome Talkster is very fast and has the largest screen area of any known browser. How to Get the Awesome Talkster The license to download the Awesome Talkster 1.0 is free, courtesy of Evaluation and Development Institute, Microsoft, Lernout and Hauspie, and Code-It, author of Web Talkster. Please read the Help page before installing it. Voices Talkster can accept additional voices, such as Spanish and other languages, so it can be very helpful in bilingual education. The voices speak online text written in other languages, such as some of the languages available at the bottom of Awesome Library pages. For example, the Spanish voice can speak a page that has been translated into Spanish. In this way, Talkster can make the Web more accessible for persons who do not normally speak English, persons learning English, or persons learning a second language. See the Help page for assistance with loading additional voices. Download Awesome Talkster 1.0 Awesome Talkster 1.0 requires: Microsoft Windows™ 95, 98, ME, 2000 or XP (Will not operate on the Apple Mac™.) Microsoft™ Internet Explorer (Must be at least version 4.0 or higher. It takes advantage of several files in I.E.) Speakers or earphone Connection to the Internet If you meet these minimal requirements, Awesome Talking Library 1.0 is available now to Download for free. It is large (over 11MB), so it can take up to an hour or more for it to load on a 56k modem. See our Help page for instructions to install. The Help page also includes instructions on using Awesome Talkster 1.0. FOR WINDOWS XP USERS ONLY, you will also need to download Spchapi.exe into your Awesome Talkster directory and then 'double click' it before restarting your computer. If, for some reason, you have difficulties, try the "Web Talkster" at Code-It's ATECH Solutions. Download and run the program and then select "Web Talkster" from the Menu. This alternative program was written by the same person who wrote the program for the Awesome Talking Library. For a CD-ROM version of Awesome Talkster, send $10 to: Evaluation and Development Institute 9201 East Mississippi, U-201 Denver, CO 80247-7507 Please make checks and money orders for the CD-ROM version of Awesome Talkster payable to Evaluation and Development Institute. The cost includes shipping and handling within the USA. Costs for handling and postage for outside the USA are handled on an individual basis. Email us at jadams@awesomelibrary.org for more information or special orders. Click Here for Help with using the CD-ROM version of the Awesome Talkster.
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