One way to improve spoken language is to imitate. This program is a little tool to help to make imitating materials yourself. It will insert pauses into the audio so you can get time to repeat after the speaker.
If you have no python (version 2.7) installed on your machine, download and install the right version for your operating system.
https://www.python.org/downloads/
pauser requires pydub library. pydub can be installed via pip:
sudo pip install pydub
If the command 'pip' is not found, you need to install it first. Check:
https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/
Download and install ffmpeg if you are going to manipulate mp3 format audio file.
https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
Finally, download pauser:
https://github.com/freemandealer/pauser/archive/master.zip
Use cmdline to change to pauser directory. For linux/unix/osx, use your terminal. For Microsoft Windows, click 'start' and run 'cmd'. Then issue:
cd /path/to/where/you/download/pauser
Then, issue command:
python pauser -f /path/to/your/audio/file
After operation completes, you will get your own material to imitate!
Also, pauser supports some other options. You can use them to twist the process till you are satisfied with the output. For example, if you want to extend the duration of the blank so you can have time to repeat twice , you can issue:
python pauser -f /path/to/your/audio/file -e 3000
Now you can get extra 3 seconds in each pause. Or you can simply issue:
python pauser -f /path/to/your/audio/file -b 2
This will double the duration.
You can also adjust the granularity of chunks with -g options. The default granularity is 400.
Granularity is also determined by -d option. If your audios have non-ignorable background noise, you are suggested to use -d options followed by a smaller threshold. The default threshold is 70.
Enjoy!
Report bugs to freeman.zhang1992@gmail.com