Speech Recognition

Basic navigation on MS can be done by voice command instead of your mouse.  You can also dictate text by using your own voice.  Speech Recognition will have to be installed if you haven't already done so.

How to install Speech Recognition

1. Click the Tools menu.
2. Click Speech and following instructions for installation. 

Once Speech Recognition has been installed you must train it to recognize your voice and your commands.  You can do this by: 

1. Click Control Panel.
2. With windows in Classic view, double click Speech.
3. In Category view click Sounds, Speech, and audio devices.
4. Click Speech.
5. Follow directions to train Speech Recognition.

* On some computers, double click Speech then Train Profile button. Then follow directions.

In order to use Speech Recognition, you will need to use the Language bar.  If your Microsoft Word does not show the Language bar you will need to display it.

To display language tool bar

1. Click start.
2. Click Control Panel.
   With control panel in classic view, double click Regional and language Options.
3. In category view, click Date, Time, Language and regional Options.
4. Click Regional and Language Options.
5. Click Languages tab.
6. Click Details.
7. Click the Language Bar in the Text Services And Input Languages box.
8. Click Show The Language Bar On The Desktop.
9. Click OK on all open dialog boxes.

The language bar will now be displayed on your desktop. 

Hide language tool bar

You can hide the tool bar when it is not in use by clicking the minimize button at the far right on the language tool bar. 

Restore language tool bar

To restore the language tool bar, click the language indicator button in the status area.  (The letters EN inside a small box.)

Listening to your written work

Once you have finished your article, you will want to proof read it.  The speech option is a handy tool once you have checked your spelling.  Hearing your text read aloud helps to find errors, errant words, and punctuation mistakes.

To use speech

1. Display the language tool bar.
2. Click Speak and Microsoft Word will begin to reading aloud your article.

 

Microsoft Word offers a neat feature that will translate your Microsoft Word document into a variety of languages. It is as simple as load, select the language and translate. Now, not being able to speak all of these languages myself, I can not tell you whether or not it does an adequate job or not, but it looks pretty good on the screen. So keeping that information in mind, make sure you proof read any documents that have been translated before you email them or send them to your colleagues, friends or business associates.

Here are the exact steps you will need to take in order to accomplish this task. Once you read how it is done, you will be amazed as to how easy the process can be. You can also take Microsoft Word documents in another language and translate them into your own native tongue.

The first thing you need to do is open up Microsoft Word. When Microsoft Word appears on the screen it will default to a blank document. It doesn't make much sense to show you how to translate a blank document, so we will need to load a document with plenty of text on it first. So go ahead and open a Microsoft Word document that you have previously created. If you do not have one, go to Wikipedia and copy some text into the blank template that was loaded when you first opened Microsoft Word. It doesn't matter what the information is in the document, the important thing is to actually have something to translate.

At the top of the screen you will see menu options labeled, “File”, “Edit”, “View”, “Insert”, and so on. Click the menu option labeled, “Tools”. Below that a submenu will appear. Choose the option on the submenu that says, “Language”. From there another submenu will appear and you will want to choose the option that says, “Translate”.

On the right side of your screen you should now see a window that says “Translation”. The “from” box will default to your current language. Select the language you want to translate your document into by selecting a language in the “To” box. Once you have chosen the “To” language, click on the green arrow.

A window will appear with your translated documented. Simply copy and paste this translated text into a new Microsoft Word document and whoala! Your job here is done!

As you can see it is a very easy process that takes less than a few seconds. However these few seconds can help you immensely when trying to communicate with colleagues in a global marketplace.