I read on a Reddit post where the topic starter (OP) commented that 1.25X (Clozemaster text-to-speech speed setting) is the speed native speakers talk. He said once you’ve trained the ear sufficiently, to increase it from 1.0X to 1.25X.
I’d be curious on any of your opinions on this.
After you have become more and more proficient in the target language(s) you are studying, are you increasing the CM TTS speed settings?
Hi Springpaper. I’m still at 1x as Giorgio e Carla know my limits but I occasionally pop up to 1.25 just to try. Listening will always be tricky and yet so easy face-to-face in Italy. You’ve now encouraged me to speed up to 1.25 so thanks for an interesting and encouraging post! A dopo…
I’ve tried 1.25X a few times, but not ready for that yet. 1.0X seems fast enough to me (shoulders shrugging). Some posters in that Reddit thread thought 1.0X was fast enough.
Listening mode has made a huge difference for me in a short time (less than a month). I listened a lot before, but…in vocab, text input mode (multiple choice for new sentences). I figured I got plenty of listening. However, I soon realized it’s just not the same as listen mode. Not seeing the sentence until after its heard makes the mind focus more, I’m guessing. I then type out the whole sentence (transcribe) now. A co-worker stressed I do that (he’s from Puerto Rico and can now speak English fluently). He said he learned English by listening and writing down what he heard. (I think he’s right…for me it’s working like magic, although, I know everyone learns differently. There’s no one absolute correct way to learn a language).
Veeery interesting. Another part I enjoy is the “Listening” in beta (native voices). The one with the headphone symbol. At first you think “What?! Totally impossible!” but after writing the answers down (I have pages!) the next time round I hear just that bit more, and so on. Some of the voices seem inaudible but they’re “real” and when you get used to the inflection, tone etc, it comes clear - I celebrate loudly particularly if I don’t need to look at my notes!
Ps. They mostly seem to be at 1x speed.
I definitely increased it, quite from the start, to 1.25 x. I think I might’ve had it set even higher before, which was generally fine, but I didn’t like that you couldn’t then easily one-off slow things down for an individual sentence when you needed to (e.g. even now in “Listening” + “Transcribe” mode, you don’t get the “playback at half speed” or other options, you can only use the shortcut key combination to play back at the same speed (unless there’s also a shortcut combination for playing back at half speed, in which case, I might try to increase the speed again).
Sei molto bravo, sindaco! Devo riprovare. A che velocità parla Fantozzi il fantastico?
Parlare va ancora a passo di lumaca 
I do agree on “listening + transcribe” mode there is a need to have a “playback at half speed” or some other degree to slow down the very fast sentence you hear for the first time. It is rarely needed, but when it is needed, it is a headache to go back and reset the whole set just to listen to one fast or garbled sentence. And then go back and reset it again.
Ho capito. Per me è lo stesso perché il cervello ha bisogno di tempo per risolverlo! Posso “read out loud” con veloce, senza problema, ma in conversazione, boh sono una lumaca piuttosto veloce;-)
Edit: Have just switched to 1.25x but on tablet both G and C are distorted tho seem to be speaking at 1x so I’m happy. (Praps my much used Samsung is the prob. Mind you, Backfeed Betty at 1.25x aaaagggh!). A dopo…
Bumped it up to 1.25X today and it’s going well.
Then I went briefly in English from Español to hear the English spoken and it seems 1.25X sounds like a realistic speed.
So, I’ll stay at 1.25X from now on…
It’s going well for me in listening mode. Its an area I’ve struggled with and I’m getting better (though still need to work on it a lot). When I started a new Common Words collection, I went back to 1.0 speed. I’ll change it back to 1.25X when I feel I’m ready for it.
The transcribe feature is awesome to use, however, I’ve decided to go back to listen / text input mode for now. I’m a fast typer…with one finger at a time lol. I decided it was more important to see more sentences each day. Going back to text input has significantly increased the number of sentences seen / played each day.
Tomorrow will be 120 days on Clozemaster and the progress I’ve made learning Spanish is remarkable. For me, it’s my main language learning program…
An analogy I’ll use is spectators watching a boxing or wrestling match. You can stay on the sidelines, observe everything while watching carefully - but until you actually step in the ring, you won’t ‘understand’ how the game really works.
With Clozemaster I’m in the ring, battling it out. Learning by doing. Seeing words and phrases in context in real life sentences. Figuring it out a little more each day…
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post @Springpaper, and a big High 5 on achieving 120 days with Clozemaster!