Voice to Text Story: Travels Through Japan
One of my favourite stories and a topic that is really important to me is travelling and exploring new places before my daughter was born every year my husband and I would pick a new place to visit somewhere in the world that neither of us have been. My favourite place I’ve ever visited is Japan. Not only do I love the food but the culture and beauty of the country with something I’ve never experienced before in all the places I’ve travelled. I absolutely loved trying there different types of ramen sushi Japanese barbecue and all of the new flavours and tastes I’ve never had before in Canada. I also loved having the chance to go biking around the different cities and exploring the beautiful sights that Japan had to offer. One of the things I’m most proud of is my husband and I hike to the top of Mount Fuji. it was something I wasn’t sure if I could accomplish I am not a mountain climber by any means but it was something I’ve always wanted to do. I was able to climb Mount Fuji from the bay station to the top and down again in 4 hours. I was so proud of myself and my husband and I really enjoy the experience together. it was incredible seeing the view from the top as we had a sunny day which doesn’t happen very often apparently on Mount Fuji it was incredible to see the volcano and watch all the people hike up the mountain together as a group. the experience also made me laugh because we are at quite a high altitude compared to Japan. so when we were hiking it wasn’t hard to hike at all, I didn’t feel overly tired at any point and my husband who is a marathon runner and triathlete was practically jogging up the mountain. At one point in the hike I met up with some American Marines who were in shock that I was hiking up Mount Fuji without a backpack and essential climbing gear or oxygen of any kind. I thought these were supposed to be the men and women who can save our lives no matter what however some of them could barely make it up to the next station which made me laugh they even commented how they saw some guy practically running up Mount Fuji! That guy happened to be my husband!
Reflection Questions
1. How does the text deviate from the conventions of written English?
As a teacher, I quickly became conscious that the oral text deviates from the conventions of written English. For example, there is a lot of punctuation missing, such as commas and periods, and there are incredibly long, run-on sentences occurring throughout the spoken story. So, naturally, I automatically wanted to make edits; however, for this assignment, I didn’t.
2. What is “wrong” in the text? What is “right”?
Wrong:
The written text has minimal punctuation, and a few words do not have the correct grammar or spelling. The apparent mistakes caused me part way through my story to attempt to say the words ‘period’, ‘comma’ or ‘exclamation mark’, but the verbal directions were not always successful, which caused more frustration. In addition, the lack of punctuation could make it confusing for a reader; however, the main structure of the story is still intact.
Right
The story itself has the correct ideas, and the majority of the information I wanted to share is there on the document. In addition, I was impressed with Google Docs speech to text and how accurately it typed my story. Finally, although some emotion was woven through the story, the overall premise of what I was trying to share verbally was present.
3. What are the most common “mistakes” in the text and why do you consider them “mistakes”?
The most blatant mistake in the text would be the lack of punctuation and the run-on sentences. Although in spoken form, this clearly wouldn’t be a mistake because I would naturally add inflection and emotion and pauses to my story. However, when it was translated to text, I had to consciously attempt to add the punction, which wasn’t always effective and caused me to disconnect momentarily from my story.
4. What if you had “scripted” the story? What difference might that have made?
Even if I had scripted the story, I feel the same problems of the lack of punctuation and run-on sentences would still be present unless I had verbally corrected them each time. When I told my story, I felt happy just speaking authentically about my travel memories, whereas if I had scripted the story, I might have overthought what I was trying to say.
5. In what ways does oral storytelling differ from written storytelling?
Ong’s (2002) work highlights this comparison between oral culture versus literate language and discusses the impact that writing has had on society. In turn, Ong (2002) may argue that myself (coming from a literate society), may find it challenging to understand how an oral culture communicates and thinks (Ong, 2002, p.14). I appreciated Ong’s (2002) chapter, as it caused me to compare how I perceive oral storytelling versus written storytelling critically. I decided that a fundamental component of oral storytelling is the connection to the emotion that one has the ability to share. When someone shares a story orally, that person can add their own inflection and connection, which allows for the authentic sense and story to be present. When the oral narrative is shared, the next person may convey the exact details but add their own inflection to the story. For example, when my family shares stories from the past, pieces of the story may perhaps be missing or not quite precisely what happened; but hearing the laughter or emotion that is present can’t be forgotten by the listener. In contrast, written storytelling can capture the exact details and be accurately passed on through text, even translated into other languages. However, the meaning or genuine feeling cannot always be translated accurately with written text.
References:
Ong, W. J. (2002). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. Routledge.
