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Show HN: Pronounce – practice while you browse for any language

40 points by filipeisho 6y ago

stareatgoats 6y ago
Sounds like a useful extension that I might have liked to try (I'm using Chrome). But I'm wary of extensions that I need to load from other locations than the Google webstore - the webstore at least provides some guarantee against abusive extensions (or that become abusive after a while). You say that the it "infuriates you" that Google demands payment for adding an extension to the Chrome web store - but it's only $5 FCOL [0]. Their motivation is purportedly to stave abusive extensions, and it might actually work like that to some degree (as well as contributing minimally to their cashflow). But regardless, $5 for an otherwise free service that gives you a much farther reach than your current method - might be worth it. [0] https://9to5google.com/2020/03/12/chrome-web-store-fee/ https://9to5google.com/2020/03/12/chrome-web-store-fee/
- helsinkiandrew 6y ago
  hear! hear! I would add an extension from the webstore to play with for a few minutes, but wouldn't install something from a 3rd party website without enough research to make sure it was worth it. Add paypal, buymeacoffee link and you'll likely recoupe the $5
  - filipeisho 6y ago
    Thanks helsinkiandrew, but there is no need! I will try to get it into the chrome store ASAP.
- pcthrowaway 6y ago
  In a sense, it's "safer" to install extensions which you can download yourself from source which is open and auditable. Google's webstore does indeed remove extensions that exhibit bad behaviour, but they don't audit the extension source code along with all updates to my knowledge.
- filipeisho 6y ago
  At the time I wrote the readme of the repo none of my friends found the extension useful so I was skeptical about paying 5$ for something I wasn't sure anyone would use... You are totally right, it's only 5$ and it was very irrational of me to not have paid. Thanks for pointing out this, I am going to begin the application process next week :)
shimonabi 6y ago
Great work! I've tested it with French. I just wish the voice wasn't so robotic.
- filipeisho 6y ago
  Yeah, it gives you an idea of how something is pronounced but it is not satisfying at all... Unfortunately I am using the SpeechSynthesis API and I have no way of making the voices more natural.
bovermyer 6y ago
By "any language" the author actually means the 48 most popular dialects. Less common languages like Estonian are not supported.
- filipeisho 6y ago
  Haha sorry - I never thought anyone would miss a language that isn't in the Web Speech API of firefox/chrome...
Hitton 6y ago
Doesn't work at all for me in Firefox.
- filipeisho 6y ago
  Sorry to hear.. Dumb question but have you tried restarting firefox?
  - Hitton 6y ago
    I didn't. Addon using WebExtension API shouldn't normally require browser restart, if it does and doesn't even notify user about that, I would consider that bug too.
    - filipeisho 6y ago
      There is no need to restart it... Someone mentioned on the github repository that for Arch Linux and other distros the TTS engine I am using (SpeechSynthesis api) is not linked.. If you are running linux depending on your distro that is probably causing the bug
timo555 6y ago
Love it! I'm using it for Spanish and I can already tell this will help me a lot. Thanks for making this.
- filipeisho 6y ago
  I am glad you like it!
tasogare 6y ago
Kind of already exists on iOS thanks to accessibility tools (with more languages supported, like Chinese): after enabling it a "Speak" button appears when selecting text. Good idea anyway and nice to have executed it.
- filipeisho 6y ago
  I just found the setting in iOS and it works great! Thanks for pointing this out.. I was looking for a way to implement it on iOS but now there is no need :)
achairapart 6y ago
Sounds useful but I had to turn it off almost immediately due to poor UX. Some suggestions: - Let me toggle this on and off by clicking its icon (hijacking the double click on every site I visit is both intrusive and annoying); - Better yet, don't inject any script until I activate it; - Please, don't pollute my JS console with debug and other logs (find a way to turn it off in production version) :) Don't get me wrong, I think you had a great idea with this extensions. You just needs to polish it up a little bit.
- filipeisho 6y ago
  Damn, thanks for the feedback! You are completely right on everything, I am going to do another release asap. Thanks again!
- filipeisho 6y ago
  Hello again! I just came back to let you know that the new release is up and all of these problems have been solved :)
  - achairapart 6y ago
    Thanks, I'll check out!
spidersouris 6y ago
Interesting. Would be great if it also showed IPA when double-clicking.
- filipeisho 6y ago
  It is a good idea! I will try to implement it and get a setting inside the menu-bar to enable/disable it.
MaxDPS 6y ago
Hey, this is awesome! I've been Google Dictrionary for Chrome which has the same functionality but it seems to only work for English. I'd deffinitely try it out if it was on the Chrome webstore.
- filipeisho 6y ago
  I will take a look again on the application process for the chrome store... If a lot of people find it useful I don't mind paying the fee :)

40 points by filipeisho 6y ago

Sounds like a useful extension that I might have liked to try (I'm using Chrome). But I'm wary of extensions that I need to load from other locations than the Google webstore - the webstore at least provides some guarantee against abusive extensions (or that become abusive after a while). You say that the it "infuriates you" that Google demands payment for adding an extension to the Chrome web store - but it's only $5 FCOL [0]. Their motivation is purportedly to stave abusive extensions, and it might actually work like that to some degree (as well as contributing minimally to their cashflow). But regardless, $5 for an otherwise free service that gives you a much farther reach than your current method - might be worth it. [0] https://9to5google.com/2020/03/12/chrome-web-store-fee/ https://9to5google.com/2020/03/12/chrome-web-store-fee/

helsinkiandrew 6y ago
hear! hear! I would add an extension from the webstore to play with for a few minutes, but wouldn't install something from a 3rd party website without enough research to make sure it was worth it. Add paypal, buymeacoffee link and you'll likely recoupe the $5
- filipeisho 6y ago
  Thanks helsinkiandrew, but there is no need! I will try to get it into the chrome store ASAP.
pcthrowaway 6y ago
In a sense, it's "safer" to install extensions which you can download yourself from source which is open and auditable. Google's webstore does indeed remove extensions that exhibit bad behaviour, but they don't audit the extension source code along with all updates to my knowledge.
filipeisho 6y ago
At the time I wrote the readme of the repo none of my friends found the extension useful so I was skeptical about paying 5$ for something I wasn't sure anyone would use... You are totally right, it's only 5$ and it was very irrational of me to not have paid. Thanks for pointing out this, I am going to begin the application process next week :)

shimonabi 6y ago

Great work! I've tested it with French. I just wish the voice wasn't so robotic.

filipeisho 6y ago
Yeah, it gives you an idea of how something is pronounced but it is not satisfying at all... Unfortunately I am using the SpeechSynthesis API and I have no way of making the voices more natural.

bovermyer 6y ago

By "any language" the author actually means the 48 most popular dialects. Less common languages like Estonian are not supported.

filipeisho 6y ago
Haha sorry - I never thought anyone would miss a language that isn't in the Web Speech API of firefox/chrome...

Hitton 6y ago

Doesn't work at all for me in Firefox.

filipeisho 6y ago
Sorry to hear.. Dumb question but have you tried restarting firefox?
- Hitton 6y ago
  I didn't. Addon using WebExtension API shouldn't normally require browser restart, if it does and doesn't even notify user about that, I would consider that bug too.
  - filipeisho 6y ago
    There is no need to restart it... Someone mentioned on the github repository that for Arch Linux and other distros the TTS engine I am using (SpeechSynthesis api) is not linked.. If you are running linux depending on your distro that is probably causing the bug

timo555 6y ago

Love it! I'm using it for Spanish and I can already tell this will help me a lot. Thanks for making this.

filipeisho 6y ago
I am glad you like it!

tasogare 6y ago

Kind of already exists on iOS thanks to accessibility tools (with more languages supported, like Chinese): after enabling it a "Speak" button appears when selecting text. Good idea anyway and nice to have executed it.

filipeisho 6y ago
I just found the setting in iOS and it works great! Thanks for pointing this out.. I was looking for a way to implement it on iOS but now there is no need :)

achairapart 6y ago

Sounds useful but I had to turn it off almost immediately due to poor UX. Some suggestions: - Let me toggle this on and off by clicking its icon (hijacking the double click on every site I visit is both intrusive and annoying); - Better yet, don't inject any script until I activate it; - Please, don't pollute my JS console with debug and other logs (find a way to turn it off in production version) :) Don't get me wrong, I think you had a great idea with this extensions. You just needs to polish it up a little bit.

filipeisho 6y ago
Damn, thanks for the feedback! You are completely right on everything, I am going to do another release asap. Thanks again!
filipeisho 6y ago
Hello again! I just came back to let you know that the new release is up and all of these problems have been solved :)
- achairapart 6y ago
  Thanks, I'll check out!

spidersouris 6y ago

Interesting. Would be great if it also showed IPA when double-clicking.

filipeisho 6y ago
It is a good idea! I will try to implement it and get a setting inside the menu-bar to enable/disable it.

MaxDPS 6y ago

Hey, this is awesome! I've been Google Dictrionary for Chrome which has the same functionality but it seems to only work for English. I'd deffinitely try it out if it was on the Chrome webstore.

filipeisho 6y ago
I will take a look again on the application process for the chrome store... If a lot of people find it useful I don't mind paying the fee :)