Any question?

Have you any question about the SpeakingBuddy! software?

Feel free to e-mail your concerns: questions@speakingbuddy.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) What is SpeakingBuddy!?

SpeakingBuddy! is a software I developed for my wife's classroom. Further info can be read on the About page.

2) Is it free? Does it cost anything?

The SpeakingBuddy! software is being distributed totaly free of charge, and I intend to keep it free as long as possible. You can read more about it here.

If you are using it at your home, classroom or anywhere else, and it is being useful, just drop me a letter and say "thank you".

3) Why do I have to go to the Microsoft Agent website to download the animated characters and the Text-To-Speech engines? Can't you put all this stuff in the SpeakingBuddy! setup, making it available to download in a single file?

Unfortunately, I can't do that. The Microsoft Agent animated characters are copyrighted creations by Microsoft, and I don't have authorization to redistribute it along with the SpeakingBuddy! software, which is my copyrighted creation.

Microsoft imposes its own conditions for the use and distribution of these characters, and one of these conditions is that it CAN'T be distributed without a proper license.

And since it's extremely complicated to obtain this license (not to mention that I would have to renew it every year), I found it easier to distribute the way Microsoft suggests it to be done.

The same reasons applies to the other components used in the SpeakingBuddy! software, such as the Text-To-Speech engines.