TASK 3: Speech to Text- The Fishing Trip that Wasn’t

Here is the unedited version of the story that I recorded using Google Docs’ Speech to Text Function.

The Fishing Trip That Wasn’t

Today I’m going to talk about the fishing trip that wasn’t. When I leave the concession one I was given the opportunity to go on a fishing trip up the river. this was for a fishing derby where the first prize was a brand new laptop. my friend Tommy and his cousin whose Name Escapes me asked if I wanted to go on this trip with them. I’m always excited to have opportunities to spend out on the land and was very happy to be able to go and do this.  we left the Szechuan at approximately 4 in the morning and when we left it was already starting to smell. The temperature was around 2 degrees Celsius and it was very windy. we took the small boat up the albeni river against the current. it was such an incredibly beautiful place to get the chance to visit. 

I didn’t want Tommy or his cousin to think that I was weak. I didn’t complain about the cold. I didn’t complain about the rain. I tried to just be content and happy that I was going to be spending the day fishing. we were out on the water for almost 14 hours. Tommy and his cousin both caught several fish. the only thing I caught was a cold. when we got back to the Szechuan I  I found out that the fishing derby had been cancelled at about 5 in the morning. Since there was no way to find the soap we had spent the entire day on the river in the freezing cold with no chance of winning any new laptop or any other price. I don’t feel bad about my choice to go on the river. Even though it was cold and raining and miserable I still really enjoyed myself. getting to be out on the land is a great opportunity. and now I have a great story about the fishing trip that wasn’t.

I feel that this text deviated from the conventions of formal written English for a variety of reasons. I never submit work that I haven’t edited thoroughly, so this is a clear deviation from my regular academic pursuits. There are several grammatical errors. I also needed to say “period” at the end of each of my sentences which served to disrupt the flow of my writing.

I think the general concept of the story is apparent in the text I have provided, however many errors result from more challenging words. Szechuan should in fact be “Kashechewan” and Albeni should be “Albany”. These are not common words so it’s understandable that the speech to text function would not work well with this. There are numerous capitalization errors, and also some funny word mistakes (“smell” should in fact be “snow”).

I think if I had taken the time to script this story I would have been able to be a little more clear and concise in my writing. I feel like I left out some important details, I also feel that not being able to edit the post is another limiting factor.

Oral tradition and oral storytelling doesn’t seem to necessarily translate into strong written work. I feel that there is an immediacy of oral storytelling. You can’t rewrite or edit a story you are telling. I also feel that the textual features of a well-told story are sometimes lost when you try to write it down.