[LINUX] Simple Voice Recorder for TOEFL Speaking Test

 Since I will take TOEFL iBT several months hence, I need to prepare for the speaking part, which I can't get good marks. It'll be the first time for me to take TOEFL iBT tests. I've ever taken TOEIC once before, though.
 Anyway, to practice speaking, I need to record my voice and listen to my (poor) English. As I have no voice recorders, I made a simple python code to record my voice. It's useless for most of those who take TOEFL because it's designed for linux users, but I decided to share this program.

	# Simple Voice Recorder for TOELF Speaking Test
	# Usage:
	# python record.py [output.wav]
	# Requirement:
	# Python 2, arecord (often pre-installed on linux)
	# What does this program do?
	# First, this program will wait 15 seconds, which is the same length given in the TEFL test for preparing your answer.
	# Second, arecord will begin to record your voice for 45 seconds in which you need to answer the question.
	# After that, the recorded voice will be saved as a wav file.
	# Optionally, you can listen to the recorded voice after your answer.
	import subprocess
	from subprocess import Popen
	import os
	from os import path
	import time
	import sys
	if len(sys.argv) < 2:
	print("Output filepath required.")
	exit(1)
	pre_limit = 15
	limit = 45
	output = sys.argv[1]
	cmd = "arecord -d {0} -f cd {1}".format(limit, output)
	if path.exists(output):
	print("Output file already exists.")
	exit(1)
	print("Prepare for your answer in {0} seconds.".format(pre_limit))
	for i in range(pre_limit):
	print("{0} seconds left".format(pre_limit-i))
	time.sleep(1)
	print("Answer the question...")
	proc = Popen(cmd, shell=True)
	for i in range(limit):
	time.sleep(1)
	if i == 0: print("START")
	print("{0} seconds left".format(limit - i))
	print("END")
	proc.wait()
	time.sleep(1)
	# If you want to listen to the recorded voice,
	# comment out the following line and change 'vlc' into the program name of your sound player.
	#os.system("vlc ./".format(output))

view raw record.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

This code can only be run on linux. Also, you need to install python and arecord in advance. Both of them are usually pre-installed in linux. To make this code work, you have to give one argument that indicates the output file name. As it's written on the top of the code, after running this program, you will have 15 seconds to prepare for your answer. In the 15 seconds, you need to come up with what to answer, consider its reasons and some examples. It's too short, isn't it? Well, next you will have 45 seconds to answer the question. You can optionally start sound player to listen to the recorded voice, by commenting out the last line of the code. (You need VLC media player in this case.)
Since this code was written in 10 minutes, it may contain some bugs.
Anyway, I hope it will help someone....