Salem State College | Department of Foreign Languages | Language Resource Center

Voice Recording

Listening to your own voice when learning a language, and comparing your own pronunciation with that of a model, can be useful in improving your pronunciation. Traditional language laboratories allowed you to record your voice with the tape player you used to listen to the lab tapes.

The computers at the LRC, too, can record your voice (actually, all computers can). You need to connect a microphone to the computer. Ask the lab attendant to check out a microphone. Once you get it you need to plug it into the appropriate sound-card plug in the back of the computer. The mike's plug is pink and so is the whole that you need to plug it in. Unfortunately there are two pink plug-holes in the back of the computer. You want to plug it into the sound card, which is the lower one of the two.

Some of the software that you can use at the LRC allows you to record and listen to your own voice. (You will see the symbols for recording -- usually the picture of a microphone -- prominently displayed.)

When you just want to record and listen to yourself outside one of those programs, you can use the Windows Sound Recorder utility. You can start the SoundRecorder by doubleclicking on this icon on the Windows desktop:

(The program's path: C:\WINDOWS\SNDREC32.EXE)

(Note: The first time you use the Sound Recorder you may want to ask the lab attendant for assistance.)

This is what the Windows Sound Recorder looks like:

Click on the red button to start recording. Click on the square button to stop recording. Click on the play button to hear the recording.

If you want to save the recording for your instructor to listen to, go to the file menu in the menu bar and select Save:

The Save dialog open up in the directory of your computer's hard drive. There you should see a link to the Voice Recording Repository (J:\voice). Click on it and you will be in the J:\voice directory of the server. Give your file a FULLY DESCRITIVE name, containing your name, class number and your professor's name, e.g. Joan Smith FRE101-03 assignment 4 Oct 4 20004 for Prof Blood, and click OK.

After you save a voice recording, please inform your instructor about it by sending them anemail message (most professors can be written to from here).

(Note: The first time you use the Sound Recorder you may want to ask the lab attendant for assistance.)

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Salem State College | Department of Foreign Languages | Language Resource Center

Page URL: www.lrc.salemstate.edu/voicerecording.htm

Last updated: March 5, 2005