Tuesday, March 19, 2024

How to change Amazon Alexa’s voice

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Amazon Alexa is always there for you, answering your questions, notifying you when the prime rib is done roasting, and informing you of the weather. But perhaps you’re getting tired of hearing that same old voice coming from your Amazon Echo device and think it’s time for a change. Luckily for you, you can indeed change Alexa’s voice to that of another English-language regional accent. And while you can’t switch to a male voice or a different voice entirely, you can change Alexa’s language as well.

Want to hear Alexa speaking English in an Australian accent? You can make that happen. Interested to know what a Canadian accent sounds like coming from Alexa? No problem. But here’s a fair warning: changing Alexa’s voice will also make it a little harder for the device to understand your voice if you don’t speak in the particular accent in question. So unless you can do a perfect United Kingdom accent that would make Benedict Cumberbatch and the Queen of England proud, Alexa may be confused when you say “waw-tur” instead of “wah-tuh” while asking the device how much water there is in an Olympic swimming pool.

Still want to change Amazon Alexa’s voice so that she speaks with a regional accent? Here’s how to do it.

How to change Alexa’s accent

1. Open the Alexa app

Grab the device you use to control Alexa’s settings, whether it’s your smartphone or tablet. Tap on the Alexa app icon to open up the app. Then, go ahead and click the gear icon, which will lead you to settings. Wait until the list of connected devices pops up on the screen, then choose the device for which you’d like to change Alexa’s voice.

2. Select your language

Once you’ve chosen the device you want to configure, scroll down until you see Language, and give that word a tap. You’ll see a drop-down box with a list of accents. These are the English-language accents you can choose at this time: United States, Canada, India, Australia, and United Kingdom.

3. Save changes

Feel free to spend some time playing around with the different accents until you find the one in which you want Alexa to speak. When you’ve made your choice, hit Save Changes. Now, go ahead and ask Alexa a whole bunch of questions just to hear her answering in an awesome accent.

How to change Alexa’s language

So now you know how to change Alexa’s voice so that she speaks in a regional accent. What if you want to change the language Alexa speaks altogether? If you live in a country where English is not the primary language, or you’re learning a second language and want to get all the practice you can get, you can set Alexa’s default language to German, French (France or Canada), Italian, Spanish (Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia), Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Russian, or Dutch.

This way, Alexa will always answer your questions in your language of choice. Keep in mind that when you select a new language for your Amazon Echo device, all the text in your app will also change. The device menus, keyboard, and default dictionary will be changed to the language you select. The User Guide, as well as downloaded content on your Kindle, will remain in their original language. Want to hear what Alexa sounds like speaking fluent Portuguese or perfect Dutch? Here’s how to change the language settings on your Amazon Echo.

1. Open the Alexa app

Get your hands on the device you use to control Alexa’s settings, and open up the Alexa app. Tap the Menu icon (it looks like three dots arranged vertically), and hit Settings. When a list of connected devices pops up, choose the one in question.

2. Select language and dictionaries

From here, you have to option to control Language, Keyboard, and Dictionaries. The Language button lets you select a different default language. The Keyboard function allows you to choose a region-specific layout for the keyboard that will make typing easier. And finally, the Dictionaries setting gives you the ability to choose a default dictionary for whatever language you select for Alexa.

How to enable skills to get celebrity voices to talk to you

What if you want to have a famous celebrity speaking to you from Alexa? Thanks to Alexa Skills, you can have people like Gordon Ramsay, the famous foul-mouthed TV chef, speaking to you from the device. But take note: Ramsay’s famous voice won’t be replacing the default voice altogether. Instead, there will be predetermined phrases spoken by the chef, featuring his penchant for harshly criticizing perfectly edible food. Here’s how to get Ramsay to criticize your cooking skills. You can use these steps to enable skills with other celebrities as well.

1.Open the Alexa app

Once again, open up the Alexa app, and tap Menu.

2. Select the skill

Select the Skills button. From there, type in Gordon Ramsay to search for his voice. Select the first skill that pops up (it should be from Ground Control, otherwise it’s probably not the one you want). Then, sit back and enjoy being mocked by one of the most famous chefs on the planet. Note: many skills you can also activate simply by asking Alexa to enable them, although you’ll need to know which one you want in order to make the request.

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