diff --git a/epicyon.py b/epicyon.py
index 2c46383ea..201194eb0 100644
--- a/epicyon.py
+++ b/epicyon.py
@@ -1959,13 +1959,13 @@ if args.speaker:
                         espeak.synth(html.unescape(nameStr))
                     elif args.screenreader == 'picospeaker':
                         speakerLang = 'en-GB'
-                        if args.language == 'fr':
+                        if args.language.startswith('fr'):
                             speakerLang = 'fr-FR'
-                        elif args.language == 'es':
+                        elif args.language.startswith('es'):
                             speakerLang = 'es-ES'
-                        elif args.language == 'de':
+                        elif args.language.startswith('de'):
                             speakerLang = 'de-DE'
-                        elif args.language == 'it':
+                        elif args.language.startswith('it'):
                             speakerLang = 'it-IT'
                         speakerCmd = 'picospeaker ' + \
                             '-l ' + speakerLang + \
diff --git a/inbox.py b/inbox.py
index 6559db0ac..cf8bae050 100644
--- a/inbox.py
+++ b/inbox.py
@@ -2167,6 +2167,7 @@ def _updateSpeaker(baseDir: str, nickname: str, domain: str,
     detectedLinks = []
     content = urllib.parse.unquote_plus(postJsonObject['object']['content'])
     content = html.unescape(content)
+    content = content.replace('<p>', '').replace('</p>', ' ')
     content = removeHtml(htmlReplaceQuoteMarks(content))
     content = speakerReplaceLinks(content, translate, detectedLinks)
     content = speakerPronounce(baseDir, content, translate)