80 two countries - speaking the MS Translator

[jutfrank]

I wonder whether you guys can get the correct version - "take it" (When I read "take it or leave it", it correctly shows "take it", of course).

It correctly transcribed take it for me every time I tried.

(Also with provided.)

 

[GoodTaste]

Really? Interesting.

GoodTaste, do you know if there are settings where you can change the voice of the speaker?

The web version doesn't seem to have the options - it just sticks to US International Version of English.

 

[GoodTaste]

I wonder whether you native speakers make the Translator recognize your voice correctly when you read aloud "Richard Dawkins' motto: In Science We Trust."

The best result I got is "Richard Dawkins motto: In Science We Trust." That is, I deliberately left out "'s" in "Dawkins's" - according to the grammatical rule, "s's" should be pronounced as "/ziz/". But the translator refuses to recognize me.

 

[jutfrank]

I get: Richard Dawkins is motto in science we trust.

 

[GoesStation]

I wonder whether you native speakers make the Translator recognize your voice correctly when you read aloud "Richard Dawkins' motto: In Science We Trust."

The best result I got is "Richard Dawkins motto: In Science We Trust." That is, I deliberately left out "'s" in "Dawkins's" - according to the grammatical rule, "s's" should be pronounced as "/ziz/". But the translator refuses to recognize me.

You're expecting too much from a speech-to-text engine. Be happy with the amazingly good results they often produce.

 

[Tdol]

But if we compare this to where they were ten years ago, we're complaining about individual words, when they were turning written texts into utter gibberish. They will get there. The rate of improvement has been astonishing.

 

[GoesStation]

But if we compare this to where they were ten years ago, we're complaining about individual words, when they were turning written texts into utter gibberish. They will get there. The rate of improvement has been astonishing.

We're really talking about speech recognition here, by an engine that happens to be embedded in a translator. Both have improved dramatically. I'm confident in predicting that automated translation will never be as good as human translation. Machines would have to acquire the emotional response that makes a human know that one version is right and another clumsy or ludicrous. But the neural networks that Google uses do a terrific job of approaching human capabilites.

 

[GoodTaste]

Please read "Reconstruction of the oocyte transcriptional network with transcription factors"* to the Translator. It appears to be easy except the word "oocyte". See how many times you have to take before "oocyte" be correctly spelt out.
The best result I got is:
(Click to enlarge)
I've tried several times and got the same result as above. I pronounced it as ['əʊəsaɪt]. I am eager to see the result of yours.

* It is the title of a paper published in Nature on 16 December, 2020 by Japanese scientists about reversing the aging process.

 

[GoesStation]

I'd be astonished if a speech-to-text engine got the rare, technical word "oocyte" right unless it was one used in medical transcriptions.

 

[jutfrank]

It correctly transcribed oocyte for me the first time and every subsequent time.

 

[GoodTaste]

What is your pronunciation? How did you stress the sound?

 

[jutfrank]

As you wrote it phonetically in post #28.

It might have something to do with your linking to the following word transcription, perhaps.

 

[GoodTaste]

I am thinking of the possibility that it is coincident that you are excellent at pronouncing "oocyte", wondering whether other members could do the same as you did.

OK. Let's move along.

I have difficulty in making "the finest cause in all the world" recognisable to the translator when reading aloud to it. The context:

"Man's dearest possession is life, and it is given to him to live but once. He must live so as to feel no torturing regrets for years without purpose; never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past; so live that, dying, he can say, all my life, all my strength were given to the finest cause in all the world - the fight for the liberation of Mankind.

The core of the problem is how to pronounce "finest", the rest of the phrase appears to be relatively easy.

Does the translator get it correctly when you read "the finest cause in all the world"?

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, no problem at all. What are you getting instead of finest?

My suspicions are growing that your errors are due to trying to pronounce the final /t/ sounds of words. You should not attempt to pronounce a /t/ at the end of finest.

 

[GoodTaste]

My suspicions are growing that your errors are due to trying to pronounce the final /t/ sounds of words. You should not attempt to pronounce a /t/ at the end of finest.

Great! I got "the finest cause" at once with your idea of leaving out "t".

Before this, I got "finished"... ;-)

 

[jutfrank]

Good.

Try the same with oocyte. Try realising the final sound as a stop, linking to the /t/ only when you begin transcription.

 

[GoesStation]

I got "the finest cause" at once with your idea of leaving out the "t".

Before this, I got "finished"... ;-)

That's a sign that you aren't pronouncing the I in finest correctly. That vowel and the Is in finished are significantly different. Listen to samples of the two words at forvo.com to hear the difference.

 

[GoodTaste]

That's a sign that you aren't pronouncing the I in finest correctly. That vowel and the Is in finished are significantly different. Listen to samples of the two words at forvo.com to hear the difference.

The AI logic of the Translator should be factored in - because it always gets me correctly when I say "I'm fine. Thank you very much", which means I get the I in finest correctly. It is the same to the difference between "s" and "sh". "Same", "share", "see", "sheep" - all these could be accurately sounded.

 

[GoodTaste]

Let's move on.

For the past three weeks, a group of Trump supporters and QAnon believers met online, swapped theories and eagerly awaited the conspiracy’s violent climax. I was listening in. This is what they sounded like. (NYTimes)

I pronounced the above well enough except "QAnon", which, according to a YouTube video, sounds as "Q - A - non" and my iPhone gets me correctly as "QAnon". But the MS Translator bascially rejects me.

Do the translator get you when you read "QAnon" to it?

 

[Tdol]

And which is scarier? MS Translator getting or not getting the name right?