[MV] 't' sounds in UK English speakers affecting recognition?

[Edward Kotei Neequaye]

Hi there Erica....

I must say I have a similar problem with the the 't' in iListen. To be
honest I thought it was just me, I am off Scottish decent, however I have
been living in London for the past 15 years and via my traveling experiences
and dual heritage not to mention my wife's Caribbean culture, I have
developed a very eclectic tonal voice in my speach. However for the life of
me I can not get iListen to properly recognize "poin't'. (2 out of every 20
attempts are recognised)

I have done everything I can in terms of changing the tone, moving the mike
and so forth but the 't' just gets in my way. As a beta tester for some time
I often change my profile to see if it affects the programme software and it
has been like this for me from day one.

I have just loaded the new update and have noticed that the same problem
continues to exist. I am not sure what the solution is, however I will
endeavor to try and improve the overall accuracy by continually training and
learning new words.

As the  wise I Ching says "perseverance furthers"

Peace and many blessings

Edward

On 28/10/04 6:17 pm, "Erica Mackenzie" <macfiddler at iprimus.com.au> wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> Excuse the cross-posting; I wanted to reach as broad a spectrum of
> people as possible, as I'm aiming at a minority audience within the
> lists' membership. Also, this could apply to ViaVoice, and conceivably
> even Dragon's Naturally Speaking, as well as iListen.
> 
> I'm Australian by birth, although my parents were Canadian and Austrian.
> But as to accent, I'm about 60 - 80% RP UK English, depending on mood,
> thanks to the influence of a well-spoken, middle-class English husband
> whom I eloped with at age fifteen and eventually married. Seven years of
> intensive, eighteen hour a day 'training' does wonders with the young
> mind, especially a linguistically oriented one with a propensity for
> picking up accents :-).
> 
> One thing I've wondered is, does iListen have more trouble with
> well-spoken English speakers, and if so, is it because we pronounce our
> 'tees', instead of slurring them into the softer 'dees', as Americans
> and (proper 'Strine') Australians do. The sound the 't' makes is, I
> think, called a fricative, or something like that; I'm not sure if
> that's the proper word for it, but I wonder if these fricatives are
> causing some, at least, of the recognition trouble I'm having.
> 
> I had an American version of iListen on loan for some considerable time,
> and got quite good recognition with it (although not as good as with
> ViaVoice, unfortunately), even though I'd only read a fraction of the
> stories which I've read with this one (I've read all except the
> 'Dracula' one, which I can't face :-). The Canadian-ish accent I fed it
> was much smoother and more drawled than the English-ish accent -
> complete with 'tees' - which I'm inflicting on this version.
> 
> Amongst other things, I keep getting little words at the ends of
> phrases, clauses, sentences ... wherever I pause, and at the ends of
> words ending in, or containing 't' and sometimes other hard consonants,
> as far as I can tell from cursory observation. I place the mic to the
> side of my mouth, and below or above the level of my lips, and the
> regulation two fingers' width away. If I put if too far away, the signal
> drops out.
> 
> I've tried all sorts of combinations and positions, but I can't match
> the accuracy I had before, and I'm buggered if I'm going to buy an
> American version; speaking in American annoys the whole family (although
> they've no objection to listening to it on DVD or television :-) and
> hurts my facial muscles, not to mention making me feel like a complete
> prat ...
> 
> I'd be interested in MacSpeech's thoughts, as the Philips speech engine,
> if it's really made by Philips, a Dutch company, shouldn't necessarily
> have American proclivities ... not that I'd know - that might have been
> their intended market ... they wouldn't be the first Europeans to
> programme in American.
> 
> Any 't' pronouncing English people out there with similar experiences?
> (users of glottal stops, i.e. Cockneys, or whatever they're called these
> days, need not apply <g>)
> 
> best,
>  
> Erica Mackenzie
> QLD, AUSTRALIA
> 
> n.b. I suffer from a neurological auto-immune disorder which sometimes
> prevents me from using my computer for extended periods of time. I will get
> back to you when I can, if I can.
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