Text-to-Speech (TTS) Shadowing
Shadowing practice is a terrific technique for improving naturalness of speech (phonology: pronunciation, intonation, rhythm, speed, and stress). During shadowing practice, learners usually shadow speech from textbook CDs/videos, TV programs, podcasts, etc., or from their teachers. But what if you want to shadow natural sounding language that is customized for a specific need, like a presentation you have to deliver?
Writing that presentation and then having a native speaker (or similar) record themself delivering that speech for you to shadow would be a great way for you to practice. In place of that native speaker, we can use a TTS generator.
Below is a sample speech for the benefits of using the TTS shadowing technique:
Speech: The Benefits of Shadowing with Text-to-Speech (TTS)
Good morning everyone,
Today, I would like to talk about a powerful language learning technique: shadowing with text-to-speech, or TTS. Shadowing means listening to spoken language and repeating it at the same time. When combined with TTS technology, it becomes an effective way to improve English skills. Let me share three key benefits.
First, shadowing with TTS improves listening skills.
By hearing clear and consistent speech, learners become more familiar with natural rhythm, stress, and intonation. TTS can read texts slowly or at normal speed, allowing learners to adjust the challenge and gradually strengthen their listening ability.
Second, shadowing supports better pronunciation.
Since TTS uses accurate models of spoken English, learners can copy sounds more precisely. Repeating after TTS helps students notice differences between their own voice and the model, leading to more natural and confident pronunciation over time.
Third, shadowing builds speaking fluency.
The technique trains learners to speak continuously without long pauses. By matching the pace of TTS, students practice producing words smoothly, which helps them gain confidence in real conversations.
In conclusion, shadowing with TTS offers three major benefits: stronger listening skills, clearer pronunciation, and more fluent speech. It is a simple yet powerful method that learners can practice anytime, anywhere. I encourage you to try it and experience the improvement in your English communication.
Thank you.
Next, we are going to copy and paste this speech into a TTS generator. There are many resources available with different limits and fee structures, but I prefer Free Text to Speech AI – TTS Reader & Voice Generator Online as it is free for up to 20,000 characters – enough for most short presentations.
!!! IMPORTANT !!! TTS engines read punctuation literally. So, if you want your TTS voice to sound more like a natural presentation, you need to guide it with punctuation and formatting.
Here are some tips:
1. Use commas for short pauses.
Without commas: “Shadowing is a useful technique for improving fluency and pronunciation.”
With commas: “Shadowing is a useful technique, for improving fluency, and pronunciation.”
→ The second version forces the TTS to slow down slightly.
2. Use periods for longer pauses.
“Shadowing is powerful. It improves listening. It improves pronunciation. And it improves fluency.”
→ Short, clear sentences create a speech-like rhythm.
3. Add ellipses (…) for dramatic pauses.
“And the most important benefit is… fluency.”
→ Most TTS voices will insert a noticeable pause here.
4. Use line breaks or paragraph breaks.
* Many TTS systems treat line breaks as natural pauses, even if there’s no punctuation.
5. Avoid long, complex sentences.
* Break them up into shorter chunks. Presentations sound better with one idea per sentence.
RULE OF THUMB:
Commas = small pauses
Periods = full stops
Ellipses/line breaks = dramatic effect
So, using the five tips and our original speech script above, we will modify it to look like this TTS-friendly speech script:
Good morning everyone.
Today, I would like to talk about a powerful language learning technique… shadowing with text-to-speech, or TTS.
Shadowing means listening to spoken language, and repeating it at the same time.
When combined with TTS technology, it becomes a simple but effective way to improve English skills.
Let me share three key benefits.
First, shadowing with TTS improves listening skills.
By hearing clear and consistent speech, learners become more familiar with natural rhythm, stress, and intonation.
TTS can read texts slowly… or at normal speed.
This allows learners to adjust the challenge, and gradually strengthen their listening ability.
Second, shadowing supports better pronunciation.
Because TTS uses accurate models of spoken English, learners can copy sounds more precisely.
Repeating after TTS helps students notice differences between their own voice, and the model.
Step by step… this leads to more natural, and more confident pronunciation.
Third, shadowing builds speaking fluency.
The technique trains learners to speak continuously, without long pauses.
By matching the pace of TTS, students practice producing words smoothly.
This helps them gain confidence in real conversations.
So in conclusion…
Shadowing with TTS offers three major benefits: stronger listening skills, clearer pronunciation, and more fluent speech.
It is a method you can practice anytime… anywhere.
I encourage you to try it — and experience the improvement in your English communication.
Thank you.
Here is the output from the TTS generator:
*Note: This speaking speed may still be a little fast, so I recommend that you play the audio in an audio player that has fine speed controls. A playback speed of 0.9 or 0.8 should help slow the speech while maintaining reasonable phonology. Lower speeds will sound too slow, drawn out, and robotic.
VLC Media Player and Audacity (Advanced Audio Program) are both free and allow for fine speed control.
The Randall Sensei 