How to use qt-speech in Kubuntu 18.04 (cli / Okular)

In Kubuntu 18.04 Okular can read any selection text, or the whole document by default.

That is great, it is using qtspeech5 but

1. How do I set the language?
2. How can I use it from the CLI?

Can't find any setting in system-settings for speech.

Solution 1:

Okular

As for now (also in 19.04) Okular rely on libflite1 which supports only English via only one available qtspeech5-flite-plugin.

CLI

• There is jovie and in tray you can configure it and select language. You can use it from command line like qdbus org.kde.kttsd "/KSpeech" say "Hello World." 0.

Accessibility

• Another possibility is orca which is configured from: System Settings → Accessibility → Screen reader → Launch Orca Configurator.

CLI with Google's TTS (online)

Install with sudo apt install python-pip sox libsox-fmt-mp3 and then pip install gTTS.

Usage: ~/.local/bin$ ./gtts-cli Hello\ World | play -t mp3 -