It started with Mississippi.
I wanted my computer to spell MISSISSIPPI out loud, one letter at a time, while the letters moved on the screen.
That sounds simple.
It wasn't.
Timing human speech with animation turned into an adventure involving individual recorded letters, multiple voices, browser audio clocks, calibration, diagnostics, and an unreasonable amount of attention to fractions of a second.
But eventually Mississippi sounded right.
Then I realized something.
Why stop with Mississippi?
So Blue and I turned the experiment into a BluSup app called Spell.
See it. Hear it. Spell it.
You give Spell a word and it displays it across the screen. Press Play and the word is spelled aloud, one letter at a time, while each letter is visually emphasized.
There are three voices — Delta Woman, Mississippi Man and Playful Woman — plus Random, which can change speakers as the word is being spelled.
And because we can't leave anything alone, Spell kept growing.
We added lists.
Not complicated database-driven lists. Just simple text:
APPLE,BANANA,ICE CREAM,PEANUT BUTTER
Anybody with a text editor can make one.
Spell now includes lists for things like science, medicine, law, technology, school, business, animals, space, the U.S. states, and especially difficult words.
That last part changed the way I looked at the app.
This isn't just cute anymore.
Consider:
ASYNCHRONOUS
Could I spell that correctly the first time somebody asked me?
Probably not.
But what if I could look at the word, press a button, hear it spelled clearly while watching every letter, and then do it again?
And again?
Maybe choose another voice?
Pretty soon that intimidating collection of letters isn't quite so intimidating.
Try it:
Spell can also create personal lists that stay in your own browser. A parent, teacher, student — or an 80-year-old programmer who still remembers CR/LF — can create a list of words they want to learn and practice them immediately.
What began as an experiment in making MISSISSIPPI dance has become something I didn't really plan:
A very simple teaching tool.
No lectures.
No grades.
No artificial intelligence trying to explain why you should learn something.
Just:
See it.
Hear it.
Spell it.
Sometimes the best way to learn a difficult word is simply to let the computer patiently spell it for you a few times.
And unlike your third-grade teacher, Mississippi Man doesn't care how many times you make him repeat it.
BluSup Spell: https://blusup.com/spell/
I think we built something useful. 💙
This shared post is read-only. Sign in as owner to comment.