Let’s face it, the idea of learning an Asian language can be quite dizzying! In Asia, the world’s largest continent, a wide variety of languages and dialects from different language families are spoken. Although it can be a little intimidating, learning another language opens many doors in the professional field; as well as allows you to travel to places that other people can only dream of. With over 4.5 billion people living in Asia and some 2,300 languages spoken, it is clear that we cannot list all Asian languages. What we have done is order some of the most talked-about, from easiest to most difficult. If you have ever wondered which are The Easiest Asian Languages To Learn With Text-To-Speech, here we will try to give you the answer!
1. Indonesian or Malay
We group the official language of Indonesia with Malay because Indonesian is considered to be a dialect of Malay. Malay is not only spoken in Malaysia, but also has native speakers in Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore, to name a few countries. It is spoken by a total of 77 million people, no more and no less!
Why is it so easy compared to other Asian languages? Malay has no conjugations, plurals, genders… or verb tenses! If we add to this that modern Malay uses the Latin alphabet, it is easy to understand why it is considered one of the easiest Asian languages to learn.
2. Khmer
Khmer, or Cambodian, is the official language of Cambodia and belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group which also includes Vietnamese (ranked 14th on our list of easiest Asian languages to learn). What makes Khmer easier than other languages in its language family? First of all, Khmer is not a tonal language, unlike Vietnamese, so intonation does not affect meaning.
Like English, French, Spanish, or any other European language, Khmer follows the SVO (subject-verb-object) syntactic structure; as well as the logic that establishes the order of words is relatively similar to ours, so the grammar does not is excessively complex. On the contrary, you will have to learn the alphabet, but the good news is that each letter corresponds to a sound (not like in English, for example, in which a letter can be pronounced in different ways, depending on the word).
3. Thai
The vibrant neon lights of Bangkok at night, the tranquil Thai temples, the delicious (and cheap) street food, and some of the most spectacular beaches in the world; are all great reasons to learn Thai in Thailand. Let’s start with the alphabet: you will have to learn 44 consonant symbols and 15 vowel symbols; but at least they are the same for upper and lower case!
The Foreign Service Institute classifies Thai as a difficulty level IV language; the same category as Vietnamese and Hungarian, for example. According to this, you would need an average of 44 weeks of study to achieve a working knowledge of the language. Now you have an excuse to spend some time in Thailand!
Check Woord: The Easiest Asian Languages To Learn With Text-To-Speech
But first: What Is A Text Reader?
Text-To-Speech or TTS Converters are programs that automatically generate an artificial voice that reproduces the sound produced by a person speaking or reading any text out loud. They are systems that allow the conversion of texts into synthetic speech. Depending on the software we use, the audio quality will vary; we can get extremely realistic results, but there are also Saas of this kind that “talk” in a very robotic way. Therefore, it is important to choose the type of converter that best suits us. But, the truth is that there is a wide variety of TTS software today and choosing can be bothersome.
Woord is a free online TTS with a lot of helpful features. It’s available in more than 20 languages, including Indonesian, Thai, and Indonesian. You may convert your writing into professional speaking by using high-quality female, male or gender-neutral voices. It’s ideal for content creators since the quality of the pronunciation of this application is unique.
These features, as well as all of the languages, are available for free on the basic Woord plan; this way, you may check out the service before purchasing the premium version. The free version includes up to 20.000 characters every month, as well as professional voices, a chrome plugin, an SSML editor, and an MP3 download. Because the voices in this application are very realistic, you may adjust their speed and structure.
Here is an extra little help if you want to try it: How To Use Woord’s SSML Editor
Also published on Medium.