JPH01265287A - Language training device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display the whole character string in synchronism with a reproduced voice by calculating a scroll speed from a reproduction time and the total number of characters after displaying the corresponding part of the character string for a certain time, and making a scroll display in character units when the character string is displayed correspondingly to the reproduced voice. CONSTITUTION:When a CPU outputs a display start command, a display character quantity calculating means 5 calculates the total number X of characters corresponding to the reproduced voice. Then the number Y of characters which can be displayed on a display at the same time is read out of an internal memory 5 and then X and Y are compared with each other. When Y<X, the CPU displays the corresponding part of the character string first and stands by for the certain time. Then a time arithmetic means 3 required for reproduction calculates the required time from the number of characters obtained by subtracting the number Y of simultaneously displayed characters and the required time and a scroll speed calculating means 8 calculates the scroll speed to scroll and display the character string on the display 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a language practice device that displays characters corresponding to sounds on a display as they play back sounds.

(Prior Art) In recent years, language practice devices to which digital recording technology is applied have been provided, for example, for practicing foreign language conversation. For example, this system uses a microphone to record the audio of a short sentence for practicing foreign language conversation, digitizes the resulting analog signal at a predetermined sampling frequency, and then transfers it to an IC.
Store it in memory in advance. When practicing conversation, the digital signals read from the IC memory are transferred to the A/D.
It converts and synthesizes analog audio signals, amplifies the analog audio signals, and reproduces them as audio.

With this configuration, it is possible to make it smaller and lighter than conventional tape recorders, and it is also possible to repeatedly play the same part or selectively play a desired part very easily and quickly, making it useful for learning foreign languages. It has the advantage of being optimal for

(Problem to be solved by the invention) By the way, in learning a foreign language, not only learning using the so-called ears but also learning to read using the eyes is an important element. Therefore, it is more desirable for this type of language practice device to be capable of not only reproducing a sentence by voice but also displaying a character string corresponding to the voice at the same time. However, until now, there has been no device equipped with such a function.

However, in reality, the display capacity of a display is limited (particularly in products that are miniaturized for portability). Further, the character string to be displayed varies depending on the length of the audio to be reproduced.

For this reason, with this type of language practice device, even if you simply try to display a string of characters that corresponds to a series of sounds being played on the display, it may not be possible to display all of the strings, or the strings may not be synchronized with the sounds that are being played. This may cause problems such as not being able to be removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to play a series of sounds and display a string of characters corresponding to the sounds, and to display the entire string in synchronization with the sounds for language learning. The goal is to provide a language practice tool that allows you to learn effectively.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) When the language training device of the present invention displays a character string corresponding to the reproduced audio in one line of the display, the language training device according to the present invention has a character string corresponding to the reproduced audio in series. If the total number of characters in the character string to be displayed exceeds the number of characters that can be displayed simultaneously on the display, the initial part of the character string is displayed on the display at the start of audio playback, and after a predetermined waiting time has elapsed, the display is A playback time calculation means configured to scroll and display a character string character by character and calculates a playback time based on audio data stored in an audio data storage unit, and corresponds to a series of sounds that are played back. The method is characterized in that it is provided with a scroll speed calculation means for calculating the scroll speed in the scroll display from the total number of characters in the character string displayed minus the number of characters that can be displayed simultaneously on the display and the required playback time. be.

Furthermore, the character string corresponding to the played audio can be displayed in multiple lines on the display, and in this case, the total number of lines of the character string to be displayed corresponding to the audio to be played in sequence is When the number of lines that can be displayed simultaneously is exceeded, first the initial part of the character string is displayed on the display in conjunction with the audio playback, and after a predetermined waiting time has elapsed, the character string is scrolled line by line. a reproduction time calculation means for calculating the reproduction time based on the audio data stored in the audio data storage unit; It is also possible to provide scroll speed calculation means for calculating the scroll speed in the scroll display from the number of lines obtained by subtracting the number of lines that can be simultaneously displayed on the display from the number of lines and the required reproduction time.

(Function) A character string corresponding to the played audio is displayed on the display. In this case, the display may be of a single-line display type or a multi-line display type. When using a one-line display type, the total number of characters in the string to be displayed depends on the number of characters that can be displayed simultaneously on the display (
- If the maximum number of characters that can be displayed at the time is exceeded, 1
It is scrolled and displayed at the character position. Also, when using a multi-line type, if the total number of lines of the character string to be displayed exceeds the number of lines that can be displayed simultaneously on the display (maximum number of lines that can be displayed when -), the character string It is scrolled and displayed in the middle of one line. Therefore, even when using a small display with a small display capacity, or even when reproducing a long sentence, the entire character string can be reliably displayed. In addition, since a playback time calculation means and a scroll speed calculation means are provided to determine the scroll speed when performing scroll display, the display can be synchronized with the playback audio regardless of the length of the character string. I can do it.

Furthermore, when displaying a character string on the display, the initial part of the character string is first displayed at the start of audio playback, and after a predetermined waiting time has elapsed, the character string is scrolled and displayed. Therefore, scrolling will start after the audio playback has progressed to a certain extent.

Therefore, unlike a system in which scrolling is started at the same time as audio reproduction, the display capacity inherent in the display can be used effectively, and the display of character strings can be made more elegant.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a language practice device for practicing English conversation will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

Although not shown, the main body of the language practice device includes a case suitable for carrying, a group of key switches for operation, such as a one-line LCD display, an earphone jack, and a case suitable for carrying.
Equipped with a volume knob etc. for adjusting the playback volume, and a CP inside.
USRAM, ROM.

It has a built-in group of electronic circuits such as a voice synthesis circuit and an amplifier circuit, which are made into IC chips. Additionally, an IC card with a built-in ROM chip can be removably attached to the main body as an external storage device, for example, and the ROM chip is configured with voice data storage and character data storage. . The audio data storage unit stores in advance audio data in which, for example, the audio of a plurality of short sentences for English conversation practice is recorded using a microphone, and the resulting analog signal is converted into a digital signal at a predetermined sampling frequency. There is. Further, the character data storage section stores in advance character data indicating character strings forming each of the above-mentioned short sentences.

On the other hand, the electronic circuit group inside the main body is controlled by the CPU.
The audio data is read from the audio data storage section of the ROM chip of the installed IC card, A/D converted by the audio synthesis circuit to synthesize an analog audio signal, and the analog audio signal is amplified by the amplifier circuit, and then The above-mentioned short sentences for English conversation practice are played back as audio in a series from earphones connected to an earphone jack. Also, at the same time,
After all, the electronic circuit group inside the main body is under the control of the CPU.
From the character data storage part of the ROM chip of the C card,
The character data of the character string corresponding to the audio to be played is read out, and based on this, the character string is displayed on the display.

Now, the functional blocks related to the display of such a character string are shown in FIG. 1, and will be described in detail below based on this.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an audio data storage section configured in the ROM chip of the IC card, and 2 an audio reproducing section.This audio reproducing section 2 is composed of the aforementioned CPU, an audio synthesis circuit, an amplification circuit, an earphone, etc., and stores audio data. It has a function of converting the audio data read from the unit 1 into an analog audio signal and reproducing it as audio.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a reproduction time calculation means, which is based on the amount of audio data for synthesizing the audio that is to be reproduced in series based on instructions from the CPU, out of the audio data stored in the audio data storage unit. It has a function of calculating the time required for the reproduction (hereinafter referred to as "required reproduction time").

4 is a character data storage section set in the ROM chip of the IC card; 5 is a display character number calculation means; this display character number calculation means 5 reproduces a series of characters based on the character data stored in the character data storage section 4; It has a function that calculates the total number of characters in a character string that corresponds to the voice that is about to be played.

Reference numeral 6 represents a one-line display type display provided on the main body, and reference numeral 7 represents an internal memory. This internal memory 7 stores the number of characters that the display 6 can display at one time, that is, the number of characters that can be displayed simultaneously, and a standby time t1 and a preliminary time t2, which will be described later. 8 is a scroll speed calculation means for calculating the scroll speed when scrolling display one character at a time on the display 6, as will become clear from the description below. Note that scroll display in units of one character as used herein means that when a character string is displayed in one line on the display 6, the first character of the displayed character string is erased at a predetermined time interval, and at the same time the character string is The next character is displayed at the end of the character string, so that the character string displayed in one line appears to move sequentially in one direction.

9 is a static display timer means, which is used to start audio playback (
(display start) until the waiting time t1 elapses,
It also has a function of keeping the display of the character string on the display 6 in a static state only for the preparatory time t2 from the end of audio reproduction (end of display).

Next, we will discuss the specific display mode of character strings in Figures 2 and 3.
This will be explained with reference to the figures. This should clarify the functional configuration of the scroll speed calculation means and the CPU.

When a display start command signal is output from the CPU, first, the display character number calculation means 5 calculates the total number of characters in the character string corresponding to the voice that is about to be reproduced (step a in FIG. 2). Here, for convenience of explanation, rWhatls old s
Telephone number? Assume that the audio corresponding to a sentence J is about to be played, and the total number of characters in this character string is X (including spaces). Next, the number Y of characters that can be displayed simultaneously on the display 6 is read out from the internal memory 7 (step b), and the sizes of X and Y are compared (step C). If the comparison result is X≦Y, the entire character string to be reproduced can be displayed on the display 6 at one time, so the CPU displays it on the display 6 for a predetermined period of time (step d).

On the other hand, when the comparison result is Y x X, the entire character string cannot be displayed at once, so the CPU first displays the initial displayable part of the entire character string to be displayed at the same time as audio playback starts. (Y characters) are displayed (step e).

Then, this display state is maintained until the standby time t1 has elapsed (step f), and the display is in a static state, and the standby time 1. After the lapse of , scrolling display in units of characters is started. For this purpose, first, the reproduction time calculation means 3 calculates the reproduction time T seconds required for reproduction of the English text (step g). Next, the scroll speed calculation means 8 calculates the number of characters z (-x-y) obtained by subtracting the number of characters that can be displayed simultaneously from the total number of characters X of the character string to be displayed (step h), and further calculates the number of characters Z as the scroll display time. t. Scroll speed V (”
Z/t o ) is calculated (step i). Here, the scroll display time is t. refers to the actual time for scrolling display. In this embodiment, during the entire period T during which character strings are displayed, the display is kept in a static state from the start of audio playback until the waiting time t1 has elapsed, and from the time the audio playback ends to a preliminary time t2. Therefore, the scroll display time to during which scroll display is actually performed is calculated as t, mT-t, -t2. Then, the CPU causes the display 6 to scroll the character string based on the scroll speed V calculated by the scroll speed calculation means 8 as described above. 1/ which is the reciprocal
Scroll one character every V seconds (step j
).

The state of such scrolling display is schematically shown in FIG. That is, at the same time as the start of audio playback,
The display starts as shown in FIG.
s his tale J is displayed first. and,
The display remains stationary until the standby time t1 elapses from the start of audio reproduction, and the scrolling display starts after the standby time t has elapsed. After 1/V seconds have passed since the start of the scroll display (t1+(1/V) seconds have passed since the start of the display), the first character rWJ is erased, as shown in FIG. Instead, one character "p" is added at the end. Thereafter, the display changes as shown in (D), (E), . . . each time 1/V seconds elapses. Then, from the end of audio playback, a preliminary time t2
, the last character of the character string to be displayed, "?", will be displayed on the display 6.
This state is maintained until the preliminary time t2 has elapsed. As a result, for the entire period T during which audio playback is performed, the waiting time is 1. The display of the character string is maintained in a static state until t1 has elapsed, and after that time t1 has elapsed,
When scrolling starts, the character strings to be displayed appear to move sequentially to the left side of the diagram, and when the preliminary time t2 has elapsed from the end of audio playback, the display of all character strings has ended, and the last character string has been displayed. The display state of is the preliminary time t
The audio reproduction ends while remaining in a stationary state until 2 elapses.

According to this embodiment, since the corresponding character string is displayed as the audio for foreign language conversation practice is played, it is possible to simultaneously learn by hearing and learning by sight. The learning efficiency is increased (increased).In addition, the character string display can be scrolled along with the audio playback, so it is a single-line type with a small display capacity to make it compact for portability. Even when the display 6 is used, all necessary character strings can be displayed.

In addition, this scrolling display does not start at the same time as the audio playback starts, but after a predetermined waiting time t has elapsed from the start of the audio playback.
The displayed string becomes much easier to read. In other words, if the scrolling display starts at the same time as the audio playback starts, if you look at the display 6 after hearing that the audio has been played, the beginning of the character string has already been moved from within the display 6 due to scrolling. Although it is expected that the sound will disappear, as in this embodiment, the predetermined waiting time 1. This is because if the scrolling display is started after the period of time has elapsed, even if the user looks at the display 6 after hearing that the audio has been played back, the character string will often still be displayed in a static state.

In particular, in this embodiment, the scrolling display is stopped from a predetermined predetermined time t2 before the end of audio playback (in this state, all character strings have been displayed), and the predetermined time is Since the display remains in a static state until t2 has elapsed, it is possible to synchronize the audio reproduction and reading even when the displayed character string is read in advance of the audio reproduction timing. Furthermore, in performing such a scroll display, a reproduction time calculation means 3 and a scroll speed calculation means 8 are provided to calculate a scroll speed that takes into account the waiting time t1 and preliminary time t2, and based on this, the scroll display is performed. This allows the audio playback and the scroll display to be reliably synchronized, and a synergistic effect of learning through the ears and mouth can be expected.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the first embodiment described above, which uses a one-line display type display 6, but uses a multi-line display type display, in which a display 6 that moves in one direction for each line is used. It can also be applied to a method of scrolling display in the middle of a line. This will be described as a second embodiment with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, the display \, for example, is of a two-line display type, and at the beginning of audio playback, only two lines, which are the number of lines that can be displayed, are displayed ((A) in the figure). and,
After a predetermined standby time has elapsed, the display is scrolled by one line from the state shown in FIG. 5A to the state shown in FIG. The scrolling speed V at this time is determined by the total number of lines of character strings (fourth
In the example shown in the figure, the number of lines (1) obtained by subtracting the number of lines that can be simultaneously displayed on the display (2 in this embodiment) from 3) is calculated by dividing the number of lines (1) by the required reproduction time T.

Then, from the display start point, the reciprocal of the scroll speed V (1
/V) (T in this example) has elapsed, the topmost line is deleted and the next line is added to display a medium scroll display of one line. With this, the first
As in the embodiment, the display of all character strings ends when the audio reproduction ends. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment only in the above-mentioned scroll display method, and is otherwise similar to the first embodiment, so a description of the same parts will be omitted.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings.
The objective can be achieved, and it can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist, such as applying it to a type of language practice device that displays Japanese characters while playing Japanese sounds. It is something that can be done.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the language practice device of the present invention, it is possible to play back a series of sounds and also display a character string corresponding to the sounds on the display, which is useful for language practice. Improves learning efficiency. Moreover, the display capacity of the display is at least large enough to display the entire character string, the display can be synchronized with the audio, and the scrolling display starts after a predetermined waiting time has elapsed from the start of audio playback. This has the effect that the character string displayed on the display can be easily read.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a functional block diagram, FIG. 2 is a flowchart when scrolling display is performed, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the display showing how scroll display is performed. Further, FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3 showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, 1 is an audio data storage section, 3 is a reproduction time calculation means, 4 is a character data storage section, 5 is a display O character number calculation means, 6. S is a display, and 8 is a scroll speed calculation means. Applicant Toshiba Corporation Figure 1-1nnQ-1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Reproducing the voice based on the voice data stored in the voice data storage unit, and displaying a character string corresponding to the voice to be reproduced based on the character data stored in the character data storage unit on the display. If the total number of characters in the character string to be displayed in response to a series of audio reproduction exceeds the number of characters that can be displayed simultaneously on the display, the character string is displayed in one line. the first part of the character string is displayed on the display, and after a predetermined waiting time has elapsed in this state, the character string is scrolled character by character, and is stored in the audio data storage unit. a reproduction time calculation means for calculating the reproduction time required based on the voice data that has been reproduced; and a number of characters obtained by subtracting the number of characters that can be displayed simultaneously on a display from the total number of characters of the character string that is displayed corresponding to the consecutively reproduced voice data. and scroll speed calculation means for calculating a scroll speed in the scroll display from the playback required time and the standby time. 2. To play back audio based on the audio data stored in the audio data storage unit, and to display character strings corresponding to the audio to be played back in multiple lines on the display based on the character data stored in the character data storage unit. If the total number of lines of character strings to be displayed in response to a series of audio reproduction exceeds the number of lines that can be displayed simultaneously on the display, the display will be displayed at the same time as the audio reproduction starts. The audio data stored in the audio data storage unit is configured to display an initial part of the character string, and after a predetermined waiting time elapses in that state, the character string is scrolled line by line. and a number of lines obtained by subtracting the number of lines that can be simultaneously displayed on a display from the total number of lines of the character string displayed corresponding to the audio that is played in a series. A language practice device comprising: scroll speed calculation means for calculating a scroll speed in the scroll display from the playback time and the standby time.