Downloading and Installing WordTalk

Click the Download link on the WordTalk homepage and install WordTalk in the normal way, just following the instructions on the screen.   Normally the whole download and installation is very short, even if the intaller has to install something call NET Framework as well.  If you are installing a new version, you need to remove previous versions first.  Here are detailed install and removal instructions.

Adding the WordTalk Toolbar to MS Word

To add the program to Word, find WordTalk under Start Menu/Programs, click on it, and choose "Add to Word Toolbar". 

Viewing the Toolbar

Open an MS Word document, and if you have an older version of Word, you should see the WordTalk Toolbar.  If not, go to the View Menu/Toolbars, and check WordTalk.

(If you have MS 2007 or later, with ribbon style menus, click the Add-ins Tab to find the WordTalk Toolbar).  

Viewing Tooltip Balloons

You can hover the mouse pointer over each icon to see its function.  

The Help Menu

If you need a more detailed explanation of features, click the Help icon at the far right of the toolbar.

Printable WordTalk QuickGuide

 Here's a link to the Quick Guide on the WordTalk website that explains how to use the program.  It is well worth printing this excellent, short guide for future reference.  

Reading Different Amounts of Text

The first 6 symbols in the toolbar control reading.  Students have a choice of reading from the cursor, reading a paragraph, sentence, word, or selection. 

Take some time to discuss with students why they might want to read different amounts of texts for different purposes.

Choosing Voice Options

Students will also need to determine which voice, reading speed, and volume works best for them.  These can be set by clicking the Configuration Icon (wrench) and going to the Speech tab. 

The quality of the voice will be very important for some students.  If you don't have any decent voices installed, you can purchase better quality voices from an extensive collection at NextUp for about $35 per voice. 

Using Keyboard Commands

If students find it cumbersome to use the mouse to control reading, they may prefer to use the keyboard shortcuts.  These can be enabled by clicking the Configuration Icon (wrench) and going to the Keys tab.  Ask them to try both methods and compare which works better.

Choosing Highighting Options

Students can read with or without highlighting in a choice of colours.  Highlights can be activated by clicking the Configuration Icon (wrench) and going to the Colour Tab.  We found dark blue with current word in light yellow was a pretty good choice.

Hearing What You Type

WordTalk will speak text as you are typing in Word, providing great auditory feedback for writing and editing.  To turn on typing echo, click the Configuration Icon (wrench) and click the Options tab. 

Teachers often report that student writing improves when they use text-to-speech to read back what they have written.  Might be interesting to do an informal comparison of writing samples with and without TTS. 

Using the Talking Spellchecker

To run the talking spellchecker, put the cursor in front of the text you want to check and click the Spellcheck Icon (ABC).  You can click the suggested words (or arrow down the list) in the Spelling or Synonym window to hear each suggestion pronounced. 

You can enable right-click spell checking by clicking the Configuration Icon (wrench), and going to the Options Tab.

Finding Synonyms

You can also see the synonyms associated with each suggested word to help determine the meaning of a word.  Click on the word on the left and then on Find Synonyms.  You can choose to replace a misspelled word with its synonym instead of its corrected spelling. 

Saving Your Custom Settings

The Save icon saves (or loads) your personalized options.  This will save you from having to reset all your options every time.

Creating an mp3 Version of the Text

To transform the text into a sound file, select the text and click the Sound Icon on the WordTalk toolbar (speaker).  

.wav produces slightly better quality but a much larger file. 

.mp3 format is compatible with .mp3 players and iPods. 

The easiest way to transfer a file to a student's iPod is to give the file to the student on a USB stick and let them add it to their own copy of iTunes at home.

About .txt

.txt format files have no graphics and very simple formatting.  However, many of the public domain books are available in this format.  Since Word can read .txt format files, you can bring files of this type into Word in order to use WordTalk. 

How to Open a .txt File in Word

To open a .txt file in Word, use the Open command, but in the Open Dialogue box, change the File type to All Files.  Then Word will be able to see the .txt format and not just the .doc or .docx files.