An apparatus for voice synthesis includes: a word database for storing words and voices; a syllable database for storing syllables and voices; a processor for executing a process including: extracting a word from a document, generating a voice signal based on the extracted voice when the extracted word is included in the word database synthesizing a voice signal based on the extracted voice associated with the one or more syllables corresponding to the extracted word when the extracted word is not found in the word database; a speaker for producing a voice based on either of the generated and the synthesized voice signal; and a display for selectively displaying the extracted word when the voice based on the synthesized voice signal is produced by the speaker.