MDBG Chinese Reader

Voices

MDBG Chinese Reader uses a powerful text-speech technology to generate Mandarin pronunciations for over 100,000 words and phrases in the MDBG Chinese-English dictionary.

Voice Samples

Comparing Voices

Sample Chinese voices

With AutoPronounce enabled, point or highlight Chinese text and MDBG Chinese Reader reads the words aloud in Mandarin Chinese. Listen to the three voice samples for the text above:

HanHan

HuiHui

Microsoft Simplified

As you listen, follow the Pinyin phonetics. From the HighlightScan window, click on the words to hear them pronounced; right-click and choose Pronounce from the menu.

Available Chinese Voices

MDBG Chinese Reader support higher quality Bing voices with the Professional and Standard editions. From the Settings menu, choose your favorite voice for hearing all pronunciations.

Professional Edition: Bing HuiHui and Bing HanHan voices
Standard Edition: Bing HuiHui voice
Free Edition: Microsoft Simplified

Since Microsoft Bing voices are a web service, a web connection is always required. For those who want high quality Chinese voices with rate control, MDBG Premium Voices are available in both Mandarin and Cantonese.

About Chinese Voices

MDBG also supports text-speech voices that are compliant with Speech API (SAPI) standards.

The Microsoft Simplified Chinese is a basic voice that's available for all editions of Chinese Reader. This male voice is generated locally from your computer; no web connection is required.

Third-party SAPI (Speech API) voices are also supported on the Chinese Reader Professional and Standard editions. For example Microsoft Lili, including with Windows 7/Vista Ultimate Editions, is a supported SAPI voice.

MDBG Premium Voices provide high-quality Mandarin and Cantonese voices that may be used offline; no web connection is required (unlike Bing voices).

Tip: To disable AutoPronounce, un-check the box in Settings.