Emacspeak, Speechd-el, speech dispatcher, and foreign language support

[Fernando Botelho]

Hi everyone,

I need to make what might be called a strategic decision, and for that, it
would be nice to have suggestions from people with much more Emacs
experience than myself.

My requirements are:

* The ability to use Emacs very efficiently;
* The ability to work in multiple languages;
* the ability to use free software synthesizers like eSpeak and eFlite;
* The ability to install Emacs and other needed software without having to
spend weeks or months programming in TCL, etc.

Considering the above, can anyone tell me whether I should go for Emacspeak
or Speechd-el?

I ask because I read online that since Emacspeak cannot handle Unicode, it
is not especially suited for foreign language support.  Since I will not be
able to do modifications to its code or other sophisticated programming, it
looks to me at first glance like Speechd-el might be a better route to take
given its smooth operation with speech dispatcher.

However, would I be giving up too much? Would tools like the G-client
designed to work with Google properties be no longer usable?

Your suggestions are most welcome,

Fernando