Task 3 – Voice to Text

“Today I took my dog to get a haircut for first time since the start of Corentine she has gotten pretty overgrown for the last what’s been.
Through three months I guess it’s only been March April May wow so it has been 3 4 months pretty much of Corentine so this is my dog Ellies first time getting your haircut in quite a few months and we usually like to leave her hair a little bit.
Fluffy on her ears and a little bit of extra for her on her tail just so it doesn’t look like a rat tail him since she is part have Annie’s multis and Pekingese she’s one of those small dogs I can look a little bit like a rat if she gets shaved right down so we try to leave a little bit of hair.
On her ears and tail to avoid this.
Mom took them 2 1/ 2 hours to cut her hair which was pretty crazy.
While we waited I went for breakfast with my parents at chorus.
Apparently chorus has been open for a week after everything shut down for the pandemic concert was interesting to see the sanitary measures in place knowing that cover 19 is still very much.
A factor so it was interesting to see that they still have the reusable menus but they had to be wiped down thoroughly before and just use them and they had a really.
Intensive ‘s sanitization process for the tables and such for people sitting down before people sat down.
And you could only sit at her table so all around the table that we sat out other people weren’t allowed to set him and it took them a few minutes to prepare a table just because it seemed like they were deep cleaning the table chairs menus everything we were going to touch which was awesome to see since my dad is immunocompromise time due to a kidney condition and diabetes so it was nice to see how seriously they were taking sanitation.
And it was also nice to get out for breakfast for first time in a few months that’s been something I’ve been missing is going out to eat but I was a little bit nervous about going out to eat without everything being completely back to normal but again I was super impressed with all of the precautions that they took at chorus.
I am so that took about an hour and a bit to have breakfast so I still have an hour and a half to kill so I went home.
In between and then went back to pick up my little ball dog she always smells so strongly of shampoo after her haircuts.
And she has to feels like she has a rubber face on everything in the house I don’t know if she’s trying to get her sent back or if she’s just maybe a little bit itchy from all of the fragrant lotions and shampoos they put on her but she rubbed her face on pretty much every inch of the living room and is now fast asleep after a busy day.
Of getting her haircut poor thing she’s so neurotic she gets really scared about getting a haircut so she shakes the whole way.
They’re in the car.
And they practically had to drag her into make a go inside but they said she was very patient which I’m not sure what that means if a dog is very patient getting their haircut but probably a good sign but now I am sitting in the sun in the 2 6 ° C heat which is pretty nice I am happy to live in such a beautiful area with a nice balcony outback or I can sunbathe on the weather is as nice as it is.”

Deviations of the Text from Written English

I used the app Transcribe for this activity, and the text produced by this app deviates from the conventions of written English in several ways. One of the key deviations is the lack of punctuation. There are no commas in the text, and periods are used sporadically and placed incorrectly. This creates both run-on sentences and sentence fragments throughout my story, making it difficult to read.

This story is also more of a “running narrative” rather than being as polished and formal as written English. For example, in the second pseudo-paragraph, I was trying to recall how long we have all been in lock-down due to COVID-19. I thought through this out loud, and so it made its way into my story’s text. If this were a written story, these types of thoughts and unnecessary details would be edited out so that only the final, revised thoughts remained. I was also far more colloquial with my word choice than I usually am in writing, thus creating a very informal sounding story.

What is “Wrong” in the Text? What is “Right”?

A number of things are “wrong” in this text. The app frequently picked up the wrong words, and this completely changed the meaning of some sentences, or even made the sentence nonsensical. Some examples of words that were incorrectly translated from voice to text were “Corentine” instead of “quarantine,” “have Annie’s” instead of “Havanese,” “chorus” instead of “Cora’s,” and “concert” instead of “so it.” There were several other word errors throughout, some small and some significant. It is interesting that the translator had an especially difficult time picking up less commonly used words and names, such as quarantine, Havanese, and Cora’s. The app was also very sensitive to enunciation issues. For example, when I said my dog feels like she has to “rub her face” on everything after a haircut, it translated to “rubber face.” A similar error was that the app put “sent” instead of “scent” when I said that my dog was “trying to get her scent back.” While these are not necessarily surprising mistakes, I was still taken aback by how frequently these types of errors occurred. These mistakes also interfered with the meaning of the text, such as in the case with “sent” vs. “scent.”

Some errors in the text seemed random, and I am still pondering how the app could have been so far off. For example, when I said “it took them 2 ½ hours to cut her hair,” it translated to “Mom took them 2 ½ hours to cut her hair.” This error could make the reader think that it was my Mom who cut my dog’s hair, when this is (thankfully!) not what happened.

Despite all of the errors in this voice-to-text story, the gist of the story was still mostly understandable. I took my dog for a haircut, went out for breakfast with my parents for the first time since everything shut down due to COVID-19, picked up my dog from the groomers, and sat in the sun. Smaller details were not clear due to incorrect words translations, such as where we went for breakfast, but the big picture remained intact.

Common “Mistakes”

The most common mistakes were with the word translation and period placement. A consistent mistake was that every time I said “um” it did not translate to um, but rather either “him” or “I am.” The seemingly random placements of these words sometimes made it difficult to decipher what I was trying to say.

Incorrect period placement also greatly interfered with both the flow and meaning of the text. Here is a prime example of an issue with period placement in my story:

What the app picked up: “she rubbed her face on pretty much every inch of the living room and is now fast asleep after a busy day.
Of getting her haircut poor thing she’s so neurotic she gets really scared about getting a haircut so she shakes the whole way.
They’re in the car.”

What I meant: “She rubbed her face on pretty much every inch of the living room and is now fast asleep after a busy day of getting her haircut. Poor thing, she’s so neurotic. She gets really scared about getting a haircut, so she shakes the whole way there in the car.”

I consider these issues “mistakes” because they are do not reflect what I meant or intended to say. For example, “she shakes the whole way. They’re in the car” is very different from “she shakes the whole way there in the car.” The errors here are with both punctuation and word translation, and this demonstrates how many of my thoughts could be misconstrued due to mistakes like these.

Scripted vs. Unscripted 

I think that a scripted story would have made a world of a difference. The app interpreted a pause as the end of my sentence, so it would place a period whenever I paused even just slightly. In reality, I was often just thinking of the next word to say or where I was going with my story. Therefore, I think that using a scripted story would eliminate many of the issues I experienced with period placement.

It also strikes me that sometimes the anecdotes we share verbally to our friends don’t always have a “point” beyond sharing our experiences with one another and staying up-to-date with their goings-on. When we write stories, however, we often expect there to be some sort of underlying message or “point” to the story that makes it worth reading. Much of the small talk we have with friends, or even strangers, is rather mundane overall. But, when we write or read a story, we often expect it to be a little more exciting, thoughtful, or witty. If I had scripted this story, I would have likely made the effort to spruce it up with humour or details that would make it more interesting.

Oral Storytelling vs. Written Storytelling 

Tying in with my previous comment about small talk sometimes being mundane, I think that tone of voice, voice intonation, and the way we tell a story greatly impacts others’ perception and enjoyment of our stories. When you strip a story of these factors and simply leave the words, it can leave a rather dry version of the story. Oral storytelling also often feels a touch more personal because it is less polished compared to written stories. Even if an oral story is scripted, it will likely still sound quite different from a written story due to word choice, flow, and structure. I have seen some fantastic storytellers in my life, and their stories would have lost a lot of their wonder and magic if they were reduced to mere written text.

Concluding Thoughts

As someone with minimal experience with voice-to-text apps, this activity was enlightening. I was shocked by the number of errors, big and small, in the translation of my story. I think this task is especially valuable for educators, as I know many who have tried using voice-to-text apps with students. While I have not yet used voice-to-text apps with any of my students, I imagine that it would be a natural solution for students who struggle with written output. However, it is imperative for educators to recognize the potential downfalls of these apps, and the many thing that can be “lost in translation.” While voice-to-text apps can be an excellent starting point, it is important to know that the final product often requires editing and revising to reflect what the student actually intends to say. For evaluation purposes, it is also crucial for the teacher to acknowledge that verbal output can sometimes differ greatly from written output. Therefore, grading standards and expectations may need to be altered to reflect these differences. I would definitely consider using voice-to-text apps with students in the future, and I am thankful that this activity opened my eyes to the many things that can go “right” and “wrong” with these apps.