A speech recognizing apparatus includes a speech start instructing section 3 for instructing to start
speech recognition; a
speech input section 1 for receiving uttered speech and converting to a speech
signal; a speech recognizing section 2 for recognizing the speech on the basis of the speech
signal; an
utterance start time detecting section 4 for detecting duration from the time when the speech start instructing section instructs to the time when the
speech input section delivers the speech
signal; an
utterance timing deciding section 5 for deciding
utterance timing indicating whether the utterance start is quick or slow by comparing the duration detected by the utterance
start time detecting section with a prescribed threshold; an
interaction control section 6 for determining a content, which is to be shown when exhibiting a recognition result of the speech recognizing section, in accordance with the utterance timing decided; a
system response generating section 7 for generating a
system response on the basis of the determined content to be shown; and an output section 8 and 9 for outputting the
system response generated.