NG ENGLISH — Edit Teacher Alvin is at a new school!!!!!!! 2 comments E & G International Language Center Maryknoll Road, Davao City, Philippines Phone : 091 7713 3029 e-mail : Infoattoeng-ryugaku.Com Hi from EnG Language center, this is Teacher Alvin, do you remember the Pronunciation King. You remember from C.I.P. but now I am teaching here at EnG Language Center. Come and join me and the staff here, to learn “English” we teach all parts of the English Language, and you will 100% enjoy the fun of learning English here, we have the ocean next to us and what a great place to enjoy the sun and fun while you’re here learning “English” Love to see all my old and new students again, and I want you to come here and learn “English” Love and miss all of you everyday. Teacher Alvin Posted June 11, 2013 by Teacher Alvin in LEARNING ENGLISH — Edit Tagged with Arts, Davao City, Education, English as a foreign or second language, English language, Learning, Philippine, Teacher Alvin Abstract Leave a comment Abstract One of the problems in text-to-speech (TTS) systems and speech-to-text (STT) systems is pronunciation estimation of unknown words. In this paper, we propose a method for extracting unknown words and their pronunciations from similar sets of Japanese text data and speech data. Out-of-vocabulary words are extracted from text with a stochastic model and pronunciations hypotheses are generated. These entries are verified by conducting automatic speech recognition on audio data. In this work, we use news articles and broadcast TV news covering similar topics. Most extracted pairs turned out to be correct according to a human judges. We also tested the TTS frontend enhanced with these entries on other web news articles, and observed an improvement in the pronunciation estimation accuracy of 9.2% (relative). The proposed method can be used to realize a spoken language processing system that acquires and updates its lexicon automatically. 1. Introduction Recent advances in spoken language processing (SLP) techniques have given rise to a number of practical applications. One of these applications is text-to-speech (TTS), which converts written text into speech. One of the largest obstacles in a TTS system is the existence of unknown words. Usually TTS systems are equipped with a module which estimates a pronunciation of unknown words from their spelling. However, the accuracy of this module is not sufficiently high, especially in languages which use ideograms such as Japanese and Chinese. Unknown words or out-of-vocabulary words are also problematic in speech-to-text (STT) systems. In this paper, we propose a method for extracting unknown words and their pronunciations automatically from comparable sets of text data and speech data. The main idea is to compare a collection of text data and a collection of speech data talking about the same topics. Our method is summarized as follows: 1. Extract unknown word candidates from the text data. 2. Enumerate possible pronunciations for each word candidate. 3. Search for pronunciations in the speech data. The search is executed by using an automatic speech recognizer (ASR). Unless the searched pronunciation is very long, a possible pronunciations may be matched not only with correct words but also at incorrect positions in speech data. Thus, when we search for a possible pronunciation of an unknown word candidate, it is strongly required to check its context. This context can be calculated from sentences in text data. In some languages such as Japanese, the target language of this research, words are not separated by a whitespace. Thus first of all, word boundaries must be identified by an automatic word segmenter. However, an automatic word segmenters tend to make errors at unknown words and output incorrect word boundaries. So we regard a text as a stochastically segmented corpus (SSC) [1] in which sentences are segmented into word sequences stochastically, not determinatively as in ordinary methods. The ASR system searches for all possible pronunciations of unknown word candidates in speech data, representing contexts with a word n-gram model estimated from an SSC. In the experiment, we extract word-pronunciation pairs from broadcast TV news and web news articles in the same period. Evaluation is done using a different set of web news articles. 2. Language Model for TTS Front-end The method we propose in this paper for extracting unknown words and their pronunciations uses an ASR coupled with a language model (LM) describing the contexts of the unknown word candidates. In this section, we explain a TTS front-end based on n-gram modeling. 2.1. Text-to-Speech Front-end In the stochastic approach for pronunciation estimation [2], a sentence is regarded as a sequence of pairs u consisting of spelling of a word w and a phoneme sequence y, that is u = w,y[1] 1 . Using an n-gram model based on this unit, Mu,n, the probability of a unit sequenceu = (u 1u 2 ···u h), is calculated as: Mu,n(u) = h Y+1 i=1 P(ui|u i−1 i−n+1), where ui (i ≤ 0) and u h+1 is a special symbol BT (boundary token). Given a character sequence x as an input sentence, the front-end outputs uˆ, a sequence of units with the highest probability, under the constraint that the concatenation of the spellings is equal to the input sentence: uˆ = argmax x=w1 w2···wh Mu,n(u 1u 2 ···u h), (1) where wi is the spelling of the pair ui. 2.2. Pronunciation Estimation for Unknown Word In order to handle unknown words, a special symbol UU is introduced to represent all units outside of vocabulary U, a set of word-pronunciation pairs. When a UU is predicted by Mu,n, a 1 In the original paper [2] the unit is a quadruplet of spelling of a word, its part-of-speech, its phoneme sequence, and its accent sequence. 1. Decompose the spelling into a character sequence and generate all possible pronunciations for the characters from the dictionary ex.) 守 (mo ri, ma mo, shu), 屋 (o ku, ya) 2. List all pronunciations of the word candidate by taking one possible pronunciation for each character ex.) mo ri o ku, mo ri ya, ma mo o ku, ma mo ya, shu o ku, shu ya 3. For each possible pronunciation, calculate the joint probability in which the candidate word has the pronunciation using the n-gram model based on word-pronunciation pairs expressed by Equation (2). ex.) P(mo ri o ku,守屋) = 0.65 P(mo ri ya,守屋) = 0.12 . . . Note that in this example the correct pronunciation of the word “守屋” is “mo ri ya,” the second probable one, thus the TTS front-end fails to produce a correct pronunciation of this word. 4.3. Searching for Pronunciation in Speech The last step is to check if these hypothesized pronunciations for word candidates are observed in speech data. Since speech data have no clear word boundary information and contain pronunciation fluctuations and noises, a pronunciation may match at improper position as well. For example, let us assume that speech data contain the pronunciation of a word “memorial park” as follows: ··· me mo ri a ru pa a ku···. A pronunciation “mo ri ya” for a word candidate “守屋” may matches by mistake at the position of “mo ri a” when the pronunciation of the word “memorial park” is fluctuated. Therefore it is important to check the contexts of word candidates when we search for pronunciations in speech data. So we propose to use an ASR system coupled with an LM estimated from our pseudo-SSC. The following is the processes to count the frequencies of candidate pairs of word and pronunciation appearing at phonetically and linguistically proper positions in speech data. 1. Prepare an ASR system with a proper acoustic model for the speech data. 2. Add extracted word candidates to the vocabulary of the ASR system. 3. Re-estimate an LM of the ASR system from the pseudoSSC used for word candidate extraction. 4. Execute speech recognition on the speech data talking about comparable topics to the text data. 5. Count the frequencies of word-pronunciation pairs in the ASR system results. As a result of the above processes, we expect to obtain correct word-pronunciation pairs with their frequencies from text data and speech data. 5. Evaluation As an evaluation of our method for extracting wordpronunciation pairs, we measured pronunciation estimation accuracies of a TTS front-end with and without extracted pairs. 5.1. Experiment Conditions We prepared an annotated corpus composed of articles extracted from newspapers and example sentences in a dictionary of daily conversation. Each sentence in the corpus is segmented into words and each word is annotated with a phoneme sequence. Table 1 shows the corpus size. The ME-model for WBP estimation and a stochastic TTS front-end are built from this corpus. Our method uses text data and speech data to extract word-pronunciation pairs. The text data we used are composed of two sources: one is newspapers, which is different from the corpus for building the ME-model, the other is web news articles crawled 4 times a day for 68 days (02/11/2007 - 08/01/2008). Table 2 shows the corpus size. We extracted word-pronunciation pairs from the text data. As for speech data we recorded 30 minute TV news for 34 days (05/12/2007 - 08/01/2008). Then we tested the TTS front-end on the web news articles of 250 sentences on the day after the above period (09/01/2008). 5.2. Parameters and Other Features We used the pseudo-SSCs derived from the text data for building an LM of the ASR, too. So we conducted preliminary experiments in which we calculated the perplexities of LMs built from N pseudo-SSCs by changing the multiplier N. The result showed that the LM built from 10 pseudo-SSCs had a similar perplexity to the LM built from the SSC. Thus we set N to 10. 20 TOEIC Tips Set a goal So, you’ve decided to take the TOEIC test. Congratulations! The first thing you should do is set a goal. If you are taking the test in order to apply for a job, find out what proficiency level is required. Choose a goal that is achievable. If you aim too high, you will be disappointed. Remember, you can take the test as often as you want if you don’t mind paying the fee. Understand the test Before you start studying for the test, make sure you understand the format of each section. You will be tested on your listening and reading comprehension skills. By doing model or practice tests, you will become very familiar with the TOEIC. The test should become “second nature” to you before you attempt the real thing. Make a study plan Procrastination is one of the key reasons students fail the TOEIC test. You may book your TOEIC test months in advance. However, the day you decide to take the TOEIC test should be the day you start to study. You will have to decide whether or not you are going to teach yourself the TOEIC with reliable resources or whether you are going to take a TOEIC preparation class. In order to get the best results, you should do both. If you cannot afford to take a TOEIC class, make sure to choose a TOEIC textbook that has explanatory answers. You will also want to have a teacher or tutor that you can go to from time to time with questions. If you choose a TOEIC class, make sure that you trust your teacher and feel comfortable in his or her class. Take a class with a friend and make a commitment to study together in and outside of class. Studying at the same time every day is a great way to improve your score. Write down your study plan and sign it! Divide study time appropriately Each section is worth a certain amount of points. Don’t spend too much time studying one section. Many students make the mistake of studying the section that they enjoy the most. This is the section you should spend the least amount of time on. You might want to divide your study week by focusing on a certain section each day. Remember, if Sunday is your day to practice Part VII (40 questions on the test), you might have to study twice as long as you would on Monday when you focus on Part I (20 questions on the test). Build a strong vocabulary Another reason students fail the TOEIC test is that they have a very limited vocabulary. The day you decide to take the TOEIC test you should make yourself a blank dictionary. Use a notebook (an address book works great because it is divided into letters) and keep track of all of the new words you learn along the way. It is not useful to study vocabulary lists. You will only remember words that you have seen in context. For each entry, write the word and use it in a sentence. At the end of each week you should write a short letter or composition using as many of the words as you can. This might also be the time to stop using your translation dictionary. Electric dictionaries make things too simple! You will not remember the word if it doesn’t take any effort to understand it. Keep in mind that the TOEIC test has a business theme. You should study vocabulary from topics such as travel, banking, health, restaurants, offices, etc. You will also want to learn everyday idiomatic expressions. Isolate your weak points After you have been studying the TOEIC for a while, you will find out which parts give you the most trouble. You might want to change how you divide your time. There are certain grammar points that many students have trouble with. If you are taking a TOEIC class, ask your teacher to bring in extra homework help on problems like these. If you are studying by yourself, find a good reference book in the library and look up your question. There may also be help on the Internet. For example, type “gerunds” into a search engine and you will probably find a useful exercise. Eliminate distractors In every TOEIC question, there are at least two distractors (wrong answers that the test writer uses to trick you). It is much easier to choose the correct answer when you have only two to choose from. (The third choice is often impossible and easy to spot.) There are many types of distractors such as, similar sounds, homonyms, repeated words, etc. As you study, make yourself a list of distractors. When you come across them you will be able to eliminate them more easily. Trust your instincts Sometimes an answer will jump out at you as either correct or incorrect. If you have been studying hard, chances are that your brain is telling you which choice to pick. Don’t change your answers after following your instinct. If you do decide to change an answer, make sure that you erase very carefully. A machine will be marking your test. Be sure to use a pencil and fill in your circle choice completely. Bring extra pencils, erasers, and a pencil sharpener! Don’t try to translate Translating vocabulary and sentences wastes a lot of time. It is very rare that students have extra time during the TOEIC test. If you don’t know a word, look at the context of the sentence and the words around it. You will not be allowed to use a dictionary when you take the test. Guess as a last resort On test day, if you don’t know the answer, and you have eliminated all of the distractors you can, don’t leave the space blank. There is a good chance you will not have time to go back to this question. You still have a 25% chance of getting the answer right if you guess. If you are sure that one or two of the answers are incorrect, your guess is even more likely to be correct! Be aware of time management When you are doing practice tests, you should always be aware of the time. Never allow yourself an open ended study session. You will have to learn to work efficiently. On test day, you should be especially careful in the Reading section. You will have 75 minutes to complete Parts V, VI and VII. Many students spend too long on section V or VI because they find these the most difficult. Don’t spend more than 30 minutes on the first two parts. Part VII will take you at least 40 minutes, and it is worth a lot of points, especially if you find it an easier section. Listen quickly When you are studying for the TOEIC test, do not get in the habit of rewinding the tape. On test day you won’t have any control over the speed of the listening section. You will not even have time to think for very long between questions. Make sure that you do not get behind during the real test. If you do not know the answer, take your best guess. Then continue to follow along. Don’t look back at questions when you are waiting for another question to start. Practise reading aloud Reading out loud will help your listening and reading comprehension skills. In order to comprehend English more quickly, it is important that you understand the rhythm of the language. Read from textbooks, pamphlets, newspapers, and even children’s novels. You might want to tape yourself and listen to how you sound. Use mass media One of the best ways to prepare for the TOEIC test is to study real English. Watch television, listen to radio reports, and read newspapers and magazines. Pay special attention to ads, letters, weather and traffic reports, coupons, and special announcements. Do this with a friend, and write out questions for each other to answer. This is a great way to practice your wh-questions. It is also a great way to learn common idiomatic expressions. Use free web sites There are many web sites that offer free model tests and samples. Type TOEIC into your search engine and start practising! Surfing the web is a great way to practise your reading and listening. If you are interested in a certain topic, such as snowboarding, type that into a search engine. You might want to reserve an hour a day for Internet studying. Just make sure to study English and don’t get caught wasting hours playing games! Teach a native English speaker your language If you can’t afford a tutor, you might know a native English speaker who would be interested in learning your first language. Tell him you will teach him for free for one hour a week! You will have to use English to teach him, and you will learn many new English words and expressions at each session. Forcing yourself to teach someone a language will help you to understand English grammatical rules as well. Do anything you can to speak with native English speakers. Keep an English journal Keeping a journal doesn’t have to be an account of your daily activities. You can write anything in a journal, such as how your studying is coming along, what your new favourite word is and why, or which teacher you admire. If you are studying TOEIC with a friend, make a list of writing topics for each other. You might decide to write a paragraph three times a week. Get your friend to try to find your mistakes. Finding your partner’s writing errors is great practice for Part V and VI. Ask questions Never hesitate to ask lots of questions. In a TOEIC class, all of the students will benefit from your question. If you don’t understand something, such as conditionals, you may lose ten points on a TOEIC exam. A teacher is not always available, but students are everywhere! Sometimes other students can help you with a grammar problem even better than a teacher. Manage your stress If you are feeling stressed about taking the TOEIC you may be studying too hard or expecting too much of yourself. Like everything else in life, balance is the key. Remind yourself that you will try to do your best. Before the test, take deep breaths and remember that you can always improve your score in a few months time. In between the listening and reading section, take a few deep breaths again to get focused. Don’t cram You should never cram (study extremely hard in a short period of time) the night or even week before the TOEIC test. There is so much to learn when you study the TOEIC. The last week should be for reviewing and practising rather than learning new things. Make sure to get plenty of sleep the night before the test. On the day of the test, have a good meal and relax for a few hours before going to the testing centre. Plan to reward yourself when the test is over! Posted May 28, 2013 by Teacher Alvin in LEARNING ENGLISH — Edit Tagged with Graphics Interchange Format, Oxford English Dictionary, Pronunciation, Speech synthesis, Speech Technology, Steve Wilhite, TTS, United States Non-English Proficient with ESL and TOEIC Training Leave a comment Come to the Philippines and ‘LEARN” TOEIC/ESL the “English” ‘you” “NEED” “Teacher” “Alvin” Non-English Proficient Teacher Modeled Instruction 1.6 Uses prior knowledge/context clues for vocabulary _ Listen to, role play, act out in cooperative groups _ Provide a variety of multicultural literature to read, discuss, and role play _ Venn diagrams _ Art _ Drama _ Readers’ Theatre _ Author Study Limited English Proficient Teacher Guided Instruction 1.6 Uses context clues to determine word meaning. _ Provide a variety of multi-cultural literature to read, discuss, and role play _ Venn diagrams _ Art _ Drama _ Readers’ Theatre _ Author Study Fully English Proficient Independent with Teacher as Monitor 1.6 Uses dictionaries and glossaries to determine the meanings and other features of unknown words. _ Provide a variety of multicultural literature to read, discuss, and role play _ Compare and contrast using Venn diagrams* _ Change the point of view of a story by writing it from another character’s point of view Ex.: In “The Three Little Pigs,” tell the story from the wolf’s point of view Non-English Proficient Teacher Modeled Instruction 2.1 Uses, with teacher assistance, prereading strategies that aid comprehension such as accessing prior knowledge, predicting, previewing, and setting a purpose. _ Introduce a new book using a book walk* and brainstorm what students know about the topic _ Ask questions about the words in context to elicit appropriate responses during the students’ reading, i.e.; - Meaning: Does it make sense? - Structure: Does it sound right? - Visual: Does that look right? _ Draw attention to pictures for added meaning before and during reading _ Ask students to locate known words prior to reading Limited English Proficient Teacher Guided Instruction 2.1 Identifies pre-reading strategies that aid comprehension such as accessing prior knowledge, predicting, previewing, drawing conclusions, locating known and unknown words, and setting a purpose. _ Draw on prior knowledge/personal experience _ Preview and set purposes to make predictions and improve comprehension Fully English Proficient Independent with Teacher as Monitor 2.1 Uses pre-reading strategies such as accessing prior knowledge (schema), predicting, previewing, and setting a purpose to make reasonable predictions and to improve comprehension. _ Anticipatory guide (true-false pretest) _ Is my prediction right? _ Use graphic organizers such as K-W-L* chart Fully English Proficient Independent with Teacher as Monitor 2.2 Uses self-correcting strategies such as self-questioning; reading ahead and then rereading a word, phrase or sentence, and rereading to gain meaning from text. _ Provide opportunities for students to self correct - For example: student reads the word “road” instead of “street,” and then the teacher will say, “It makes sense and sounds right, but does it look right?” - Ask the students to “Try that again.” - Student will reread for clarification without teacher prompting Non-English Proficient Teacher Modeled Instruction 2.2 Uses, with teacher assistance, the three-cueing systems (contextual, structural, and visual clues), selfmonitoring, cross checking and selfcorrecting strategies such as rereading, substituting (replacing a known word), and reading on. _ Use books with simple and predictable text to model language structure _ Ask questions about words in context to elicit appropriate responses during the students’ reading, i.e.; -Meaning: Does it make sense? -Structure: Does it sound right? - Visual: Does it look right? _ Discuss book cover: “What do you think the story will be about?” _ Share pictures – do a book walk. Elicit responses from print, story, and experiences _ Give students time and opportunities to correct errors Limited English Proficient Teacher Guided Instruction 2.2 Identifies self-correcting strategies such as self-questioning, selfmonitoring, cross-checking, reading ahead, and rereading. _ Use self-monitoring, crosschecking, reading ahead, and selfcorrecting strategies to gain meaning _ Guide students through threecueing systems _ Guide the students in developing the use of meaning, structural and visual cues to self-correct by: - Making logical word substitutions - Recognizing and self-correcting, errors and (miscues) Non-English Proficient Teacher Modeled Instruction 2.3 Demonstrates reading skills that contribute to comprehension including recalling details of the text while reading, drawing conclusions and distinguishing between realism and fantasy. _ Have students draw and label pictures related to a story topic or own experiences _ Have students identify real and make believe through “read aloud.” Limited English Proficient Teacher Guided Instruction 2.3 Restates facts and details in order to recall the main idea of the text while reading. _ Have students use the context of the read aloud to draw inferences _ Revisit text to scan and skim for information and recall major points _ Use George Gonzales techniques such as “Fact and Opinion” and the “Summary Glove Fully English Proficient Independent with Teacher as Monitor 2.3 Recalls essential points in text while reading; make and revise predictions about coming information. _ Develop comprehension by asking literal, inferential, and interpretive questions _ Use Directed Reading-Thinking Activities (DRTA)* _ Use literature discussion groups (literature circles) _ Use summarizing and paraphrasing techniques フィリピン留学、ダバオE&G英語学校です。マンツーマン英会話授業、綺麗な施設と美味しい食事で充実な留学生活サポート フィリピン留学ダバオE&G英語学校 E&G英語学校 E&Gの特徴 コース紹介 施設・周辺環境 コミュニティ 登録・費用 ブログ お問い合せ 6月 13, 2012Davao(ダバオ) 紹介 Davao(ダバオ) 紹介 ダバオ（Davao）はフィリピン南部ミンダナオ島に南から切れ込んだダバオ湾に面した港湾都市で、メトロ・マニラ、セブに次ぐフィリピン第3位の都市である。人口は約200万人。.. 1234 新着情報 E&G News [グループ授業] Pronunciation(発音) [グループ授業] Pronunciation(発音) [学校内紹介 その①] Teacher’s room 大公開～！ [学校内紹介 その①] Teacher’s room 大公開～！ フィリピン留学フェア2013にE&Gも参加しました！ フィリピン留学フェア2013にE&Gも参加しました！ 安全なダバオE&Gで格安英語留学 Davao(ダバオ) 紹介 Davao(ダバオ) 紹介 なぜE&Gなのか。 なぜE&Gなのか。 ご挨拶 ご挨拶 留学体験談 [学校内紹介 その①] Teacher’s room 大公開～！ [学校内紹介 その①] Teacher’s room 大公開～！ [グループ授業] プレゼンテーション& スピーチ [グループ授業] プレゼンテーション& スピーチ KITTY CATHS SALON＆SPA（ネイルサロン） KITTY CATHS SALON＆SPA（ネイルサロン） 旅行・アクティビティ情報 エデン・ネイチャー・パーク&リゾート(Eden Nature Park & Resort) エデン・ネイチャー・パーク&リゾート(Eden Nature Park & Resort) ダバオのJack’s Ridge ダバオのJack’s Ridge Davao People’s Park Davao People’s Park スタッフ日記 E&G Blog [グループ授業] Pronunciation(発音) [グループ授業] Pronunciation(発音) エデン・ネイチャー・パーク&リゾート(Eden Nature Park & Resort) エデン・ネイチャー・パーク&リゾート(Eden Nature Park & Resort) [グループ授業] プレゼンテーション& スピーチ [グループ授業] プレゼンテーション& スピーチ DAVAO E&Gは日本人学生を積極的に受け入れています。海が見える英語学校E&Gは充実したマンツーマン授業、個々に合わせたカリキュラム、安い留学費用など英語留学先として十分メリットがあります。また、綺麗な環境、美味しい食事と厳しい生活管理で皆さんの留学生活をサポートします。お気軽にお問い合せください。 今すぐお問い合せ：無料留学相談受付中 優秀な講師陣と格安留学費用 フィリピンで最も安全な街に選ばれたダバオの海辺に位置しているE&G英語学校は合理的に格安料金を実現、留学費用を抑えることができます。 優秀な講師陣、フレンドリーなスタッフなど最適の環境を揃っています。 特に学生個々の実力向上のためのカスタマイズされたカリキュラムを提供しており、このため、一日4時間のマンツーマン授業と4時間の小グループレッスンを提供しています。 詳細を見る＞ 新着記事 [グループ授業] Pronunciation(発音) エデン・ネイチャー・パーク&リゾート(Eden Nature Park & Resort) [学校内紹介 その①] Teacher’s room 大公開～！ フィリピン留学フェア2013にE&Gも参加しました！ [グループ授業] プレゼンテーション& スピーチ E&G Davao 2013 Posted May 24, 2013 by Teacher Alvin in LEARNING ENGLISH — Edit Tagged with Arts, Education, English as a second or foreign language, English language, Language Arts, Philippines, ProficientTeacher Guided Instruction, Reading Non-English Proficient Leave a comment 박강욱
Posted on: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 10:39:30 +0000