Norm's Portal - Codes for spelling

"Beeeee" a Better Speller!

What if you could run some Python code that would process MP3s? This means you can save word sounds in MP3 format. You can run Python to hear the word, type the word correctly, and proceed to the next spelling word. You can learn how to spell as many words as you want. Not only can you learn new spelling words, but you can also hear how they are pronounced correctly.

To do this, you need to download the sound module to run with our Python code. For the sound module that I am using, the sound files need to be in MP3 format. You can record any sound. If it is not in MP3 format, then you can convert it to MP3. Unless you have an app that can record sounds and save them as MP3s, you need to convert them.

First, check out the spelling codes below. The codes can be copied and repeated for other words. Just replace the MP3 spelling sound files for every different word. Also, don’t forget to change the answer part of each code to reflect the word to spell (you type the word after listening to it).

Note: If you were to execute the codes below by themselves, Python would display errors. The playsound.py module and MP3 spelling sound files would be missing for Python to load.

from playsound import playsound #This line of codes must loaded before Python runs any MP3s.

print('')

print('Are you ready to spell? Let’s all be good spellers!')

print('')

print('Get ready to spell these two words!')

print('')

answer='Acknowledge'

yrans=''

while yrans != answer: #while loop function

print('')

playsound('Acknowledge.mp3')

print('To accept or admit the existence or truth of.')

yrans=input('1. Please spell the word you hear! ')

if yrans != answer: #if function

print('Try again')

print('Great Job!')

answer='Audience'

yrans=''

while yrans != answer:

print('')

playsound('Audience.mp3')

yrans=input('2. Please spell the word you hear! ')

if yrans != answer:

print('Try again')

print('Great Job!')

print('')

print('Imagine replicating this process to learn more spelling words!')

Here are the steps to get the above codes working

Step 1: Create a folder on the desktop. In this example, I’ll just name it "Spelling Words."

Step 2: Get the sound module. Go to the website below to download the playsound.py module. This is the module that can be used in Python to play sounds.

https://github.com/TaylorSMarks/playsound/blob/master/playsound.py

Once at the website, look to the right, then click on the arrow pointing down to download the raw file (see screenshot). It will automatically save playsound.py to the user profile in the Downloads folder. Next, you need to go to the Downloads folder. You can also access it by clicking on the “This PC” shortcut on the computer, which will then show Folders (the Downloads folder is located here), Devices, and Drives. Now copy and paste playsound.py to the folder name you created on the desktop. In my example, it will be Spelling Words.

Step 3: This part is probably the longest to implement. I hope I explained it well enough here for anyone to do it step by step. Once you get the hang of it, it will be much faster. It will be even faster when you and your friends can create the spelling sound files and share them with each other.

Creating sound files for spelling words

To do this, I use Voice Recorder. It comes free with Windows 10 and Windows 11. Type “voice recorder” in the Windows Search Bar, and you will see the voice recorder app show up. Do make a shortcut of this to your desktop to make it faster to find and run the next time around. Know where the microphone is on your laptop.

Here is what I literally do: I take my cell phone, type in a word on the browser, and let it pronounce the word to the computer microphone. I run Voice Recorder to record the sound. Windows saves it in M4A format. Once I stop recording, the sound file is saved to the default Windows location. To know the location of the saved M4A files, in Voice Recorder, click on the bottom right ellipsis to open file location. This is where all your recorded word sounds are saved. I always click on "Open File Location" and leave the folder open.

Here are the detailed steps for recording the sounds: First, I press the record button (the blue microphone) on the Voice Recorder app, then I quickly press on the cellphone to pronounce the word to the computer microphone. Next, I quickly stop the recording when the word is pronounced. I then click on the Trim button to make the recording as short as one second. Last, I click "Save" and choose "Update Original" after trimming it. This will replace the same file in the Open File Location. I use only the ones that are recorded correctly and trimmed. Some recordings may not be clear, be cut off, or be too long; those are deleted right away and redone. If the recorded sound is good, I would go ahead and rename the file to reflect the word that I want to learn how to spell. I keep it all organized in the same open folder.

Once I have a good batch of recorded words, I then use a free app (see the free Switch Audio File Converter below) to convert all the M4A sound files to MP3. Then I place all the MP3 spelling sound files in the Spelling Words folder (the one I created on the desktop).

Website for free sound converter: https://www.nch.com.au/switch/index.html

When at the website: Go to the "Get it Free" area. Click on "Download the free version here." When you finish downloading it, run it. During installation, please click "Certify for non-commercial or home use." It will be free and should never expire. Sometimes, when running the free app later, it will ask again if it is for non-commercial or home use. Always click for non-commercial or home use. The free app is fairly easy to use; please learn how to use it. The app is very useful for converting sound files to other formats. Please do not install any other NCH-advertised apps; those are not free and are not needed for what we are doing. NCH apps are very good apps, btw. But, in our case, we only need the free Switch Sound Converter to do the job.

Step 4. Now that you have converted all the M4a spelling sound files to MP3 format. Place them in the folder you created on your desktop. Again, for my example, it is Spelling Words.

Step 5: Time to start up Python. Find the idle shortcut and run it. Click File, then New File. Copy and paste the codes shown previously above.

Highlight "from playsound..." all the way to the end of "...spelling words!)'" and copy and paste it into the empty page of Python.

Then click "Run" and "Run Module." When asked to save, please browse to your desktop and save it to the folder you created at the beginning. In my example, it is Spelling Words. Do not save it in the default area that comes up. The codes will not run correctly. The playsound.py file and MP3 spelling word files are not there. You can save the codes under any name you want. For my example, I will name it Spelling1. Then the codes are executed. The codes should run correctly. You will hear the word, and then you will try to type it correctly. If you get it wrong, you can try again. The code loops until you get it correct. Then it moves on to the next word.

Note: Compare these codes to the ones in Learning State Capitals. You will definitely see a couple of differences.

This is what it looks like in my Spelling Words folder on my Desktop. It has all the necessary files to play the MP3 spelling sound files. Ignore the _pycache_ folder. Python creates it there, once you run and save the codes the first time. It is for importing a module, etc.

Repeat the sound recording process for each word you want to learn how to spell. Note how many words you have converted into MP3s. Repeat the codes above by copying and pasting them. Then make changes in the code for the new words to run correctly. Do this as many times as you want, and you will have lots of words to spell in one session. You can make other folders on your desktop and organize other spelling words in each of them to run your Python spelling codes.

As I have mentioned in my other sites about sharing codes, in this case with spelling words, the MP3 files are required to be copied along with the main Python code. The MP3 files can be shared via email as an attachment, a USB drive, or even through any shared Webdrive.

There could be other ways to implement sounds in Python. For me, this is currently the process I find achievable to implement. Finding a free sound converter app that does not have ads, expire, or ask for payments took some time. The free Switch Audio File Converter is a real blessing to have.

Whewww! After what has been said and done, please click below to view a short spelling screenshot video of my example! At this point in the video, Python Idle Shell is already executed, and Spelling1.py is already opened in the IDLE code window, which displays the codes. I then ran the module. I also mistyped the words to show what will happen.