Book of Mormon audio in Italian and Greek

[Franz]

hello there,

Not sure where to post this and I have not visited the forum since lockdown..so please bear with me!

I like studying the Book of Mormon in different languages. I noticed that while the Gospel app in the audio version gives us a real reader for the Spanish version, the Italian and Greek use a text to speech voice which doesn't stop to breathe and of course it sounds... quite awful! (sorry!)

Has the church any plan to have those recorded by native speakers?
Also, is there anyone who could suggest if there is any website or YouTube video where people discuss LDS scriptures and topics in Italian and/or Greek?

As a disclaimer, I am Anglo-Italian and served in Greece, and I wish to keep my languages sharp for my forthcoming senior mission in 8 years or so.

Many thanks!

[BrianEdwards]

I like studying the Book of Mormon in different languages. I noticed that while the Gospel app in the audio version gives us a real reader for the Spanish version, the Italian and Greek use a text to speech voice which doesn't stop to breathe and of course it sounds... quite awful! (sorry!)

Has the church any plan to have those recorded by native speakers?
Also, is there anyone who could suggest if there is any website or YouTube video where people discuss LDS scriptures and topics in Italian and/or Greek?

Welcome back!

I don't suppose anyone here in the Forum has insight into the Church's plans or timelines for adding in additional languages, we're all pretty much regular church members with no real insider knowledge. I'm sure the Church is already dedicating a large number of resources for publishing materials in all the different languages, and those efforts may have priority since text-to-speech is a sufficient, albeit limited, existing alternative. I'd also note that when I bring up Italian as my language, the text-to-speech icon allows me to select options such as speech rate and pitch. There's also an option for choosing the "Preferred engine", which I have no understanding of, but maybe it's a way for somebody to add in a speech engine that does an improved job with a particular language?

[Franz]

Thanks Brian,

I can indeed change the speed on my iPad (not managed on the Iphone) but it's truly a mechanical reading with which is very difficult to feel the spirit. I could not find a preferred engine button! Perhaps an AI app will solve the issue.

Thanks anyway!

Franz