Task 3 – Text to Speech

Okay so I have chosen to tell you a story about my trip to Blue Streak up many years ago I was given an opportunity to go on a trip with my family and I had just turned 21 the only other trips I’ve ever taken have been one time to Mexico and a couple of times into the United States but this has been my first really long trip umm I have two sisters and two step siblings that went on the trip with me as well as my parents and it was a very long all day Journey we left A few days before Christmas we landed in the airport at San Jose Costa Rica we were staying on the Pacific side of Costa Rica but because we landed so late at night we had to find an hotel and instead of staying in San Jose we journeyed a little bit outside of the big city to place called LOL so now my stepfather had been there before and he had friends that recommended a hotel it is very late probably close to midnight and we are all tired from our long journey so we really just wanted to have a quick trip to our hotel so we can fall asleep we passed by many well-known hotel chains like Best Western Motel 8 the Delta but we weren’t staying in any of those we are staying in one called the LOL in and it just so happened that there was too LOL in our driver took us to the wrong one at first we were all ready to get out because we’re excited to be finally there and our dad went in to check to see if our reservation was there well so it turned out it wasn’t so we had to go to the other one when we pulled up to the other LOL in our driver told us all to stay in the vehicle and he was going to lock the doors and the men were to go out and check in when he came back with my dad and brother he hold us that our job would be to grab our bags really quick and get into the hotel and then the door would close right away this worried us why did we have to get in so fast we’ll down the street there was like a little Cantina in in front of the Cantina there was many local men hanging out having some drinks as soon as we stepped out of our vehicle we grabbed her bags and walked briskly into the hotel will these men saw us and started shouting right away and they started coming up the street the hotel manager came and shuttled Us in and then close the door so we never gave them a thought but thought it was weird that we were quickly rushed in upon entering the hotel we are given our room and all of us siblings are staying in one room and it had a mismatch of single beds and double beds and multiple dressers and on the wall was a giant mural of large nude women bathing in a waterfall needless to say this left a big impact on our impressions of Costa Rica we felt a little worried we ended up pushing the dressers in front of the door and then we all fell asleep the next morning our hotel manager came to tell us that the gentleman that had been at the Cantina had offered her lots of goods and money to be able to have access to our persons and our belongings they knocked on the door all night but we didn’t have any clue of until the next day when she tells us this we spent 2 weeks in Costa Rica and there was some Ups and downs during our stay our grandmother had her necklace stolen while she was riding in the taxi our sister had her running shoes stolen while outside of her condo and we had one minor car accident because the roads are quite narrow so it’s hard to tell who has the right of way sometimes I say this not as a warning but that I would definitely go and stay in Costa Rica again because it was beautiful and adventurous and nothing like I’ve seen before and most of the people were very lovely  

THOUGHTS and OBSERVATIONS  

I actually cringe when I read the unedited story. It is a story I have told before, which is why I picked it. I thought it was familiar enough to come out more effortless. But, I will say (I feel) that I told it awkwardly. Perhaps it’s the stage fright of getting recorded, but my speech was halting and unsure.  

• How does the text deviate from conventions of written English? 

Well, there is no punctuation to be had. I have looked into it more, and while I told the story, I could have indicated punctuation, but the dictation I used was just straightforward, microphone on or off, when done speaking. In speech, we do pause and emphasize the phrases we say, but none of that is evident. Joining words, like, so umm, fill the pauses in between thoughts, which I would never have in written work. 

• What is “wrong” in the text? What is “right”? And what are the most common “mistakes” in the text and why do you consider them “mistakes”? 

Much of this story is incorrect, but I tried to keep it as authentic as I could, so I did not practice. I know some apps require practice (Siri) to fully understand styles of speech. The main story is there, but perhaps it’s because I know what the story is that it makes sense to me. If it was a student’s work, I would have them do some major revision. Well known geographical locations or businesses were recognized (other than Blue Streak, which is supposed to be Costa Rica), but other places like Alajuela (the hotel we stayed in) was not. The dictation chose LOL, which is a common abbreviation in texting, but not in speech. There are a few homophones as well, in = Inn, too = two, we’ll = well. I am not so familiar with other languages, but I know that because languages belong in family groups that homophones are not just an English characteristic. This week’s videos and readings (and week 4) told us that when developing written languages, there are many that have tried and failed. Historically, the percentage of communities with oral language largely outweighs the communities with both oral and written language, but it is the ones that write them down that have managed to survive.  

• What if you had “scripted” the story? What difference might that have made? 

Had I been able to write down my thoughts on paper, I would have organized them in more of a story format: beginning, middle, end; characters, background, setting. It feels too rambling, and I would love to edit much of it because of the missing punctuation, and the thoughts I would have liked to include.  

• In what ways does oral storytelling differ from written storytelling? 

I think oral story telling gets to the point faster, without all the details. I think often people tell stories as an effort to entertain, but also dominating the listeners attention. I know that is often the case amongst friends. In fact, when I have talked a lot, I feel bad about taking up all the time we have together. I think in oral storytelling you are given the thoughts, and opinions of the storyteller. They indicate emotion in their voice, and in their gestures. In written form, an author can portray these things, but I think you as the reader get more choice in the matter.