Read messages aloud in Hausa

You will build: a script that reads a file of messages and saves each one as a small Opus file, skipping any message already spoken. Run it again after editing the list: only new or changed messages cost anything. You will need: Python 3.9+, pip install namu-ai (Python library), and NAMU_API_KEY set.

Write the messages

One message per line, in messages.txt:

messages.txt

Ina kwana? Yau za a yi zafi sosai, don haka ku sha ruwa da yawa.
Damina ta kama. Lokaci ya yi da manoma su fara shuka gero da dawa.
Kar ki manta, gobe da safe ki kawo jaririnki asibiti don allurar rigakafi.

Speak each message once

The file name is a fingerprint of the voice and the text, so the same message is never generated twice:

speak_all.py

import hashlib
from pathlib import Path

from namu import Namu, NamuError

client = Namu()
out = Path("audio")
out.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
VOICE = "nadia"

for line in Path("messages.txt").read_text(encoding="utf-8").splitlines():
    text = line.strip()
    if not text:
        continue
    name = hashlib.sha256(f"{VOICE}:{text}".encode()).hexdigest()[:16] + ".ogg"
    target = out / name
    if target.exists():
        print("kept   ", name)
        continue
    try:
        target.write_bytes(client.speech(text, voice=VOICE, format="opus"))
        print("spoken ", name, "←", text[:40])
    except NamuError as e:
        print("failed ", e.type, "←", text[:40])

Run it

python speak_all.py

Each file is a few dozen kilobytes: light enough to send over WhatsApp or play on 2G.

Make it yours

Zarma: set VOICE = "mouhamad"; he speaks Zarma unless told otherwise.
MP3 for old phones: format="mp3" and .mp3 names.
Serve the files from your own storage or a CDN; never call the API once per listener.

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