LeanneBennett.com

 

Speaking Siri's Language

I recently got an iPhone 4S. 

Now to be honest, I was perfectly happy with my iPhone 4. I saw the blurbs and bits about the 4S and, even though it was very nice, it didn't make me want to upgrade. Until...I saw...Siri. IN ACTION.

My husband got an iPhone 4S before I did. He was trading up from a 3GS, so it was definitely worth it for him. I looked at his phone and thought, "Yes, it's very much like mine." And then he started to play with Siri. 

I know that a lot of people are already thinking, 'Dweeb', but you don't understand. I NEED this thing.

As I've written previously, my commute is quite long. Even after my 'Geographical Cure' move closer, it's still a long way to work and back. And I quite often drop off and pick up my husband on the way to and from. Plus I have childcare to think about as well. This means I need to stay in touch, on the go, on the move, long before I arrive at my destination or points in between.

So I NEED Siri. 

And it is Siri I need. I've tried other voice recognition programs. Either they didn't work at all, or they didn't understand me, or they didn't work with my headset, or usually, any and all of the above.

So I got myself an iPhone 4S. And it's wonderful! And it has Siri.

So now I can text, email (although Siri refuses to read my emails to me because I have too many in my inbox -- my bad! However she will happily send an email.), call, look up contacts, set reminders and so forth all on the go. I can let my husband know when I'll be arriving, check on my boys to see if they've arrived home and are okay, let childcare know when I'm running late -- it's great!

There's just one problem. I'm too American for British Siri, and I'm too British for American Siri.

I started out with British Siri but he didn't get me at all. I was repeating myself 15 and 20 times, and still he'd say, "Leanne Bennett, I don't understand that." *sigh* Very disappointing.

So I mentioned this to my husband, and he replied, "Of course, he doesn't understand you. You should be using the American one." Oh! Okay.

So I changed to the American setting. Now admittedly, American Siri is much better, but she still misses here and there, sometimes several times in a row. And I've figured out why -- my pronunciation is often too proper for American Siri. (No offense to Americans, especially as I am one, but these folks over here have us beat, hands down, in the pronunciation game.)

Today, for example, I was trying to text my husband to say when I'd be picking him up: "5:40 p.m." 

Siri reads me my message back to me, saying something like: "I was for Jim."

I try again: "5:40 p.m."

Siri: "Hi 4GS."

Huh?

I try again: "5:40 p.m."

Siri: "I'm not sure what you said there."

I try a few more times and she misses a few more times. 

After calling her a few rude names, which I'm guessing she didn't hear, since she didn't answer, it hits me: I'm saying, "Five For-Tee Pee Em". This is my apparently posh-speak for 5:40. Fine. For me, at least. However, what Siri needed to hear was, "Five For-Dee Pee Em." Ameri-speak. Ahhhhhh, okay.

So I tried it.

And Siri immediately responds: "5:40 p.m." (pronouncing it 'For-Dee', just like I had) 

Hooray! She got it! So all I have to do is speak a little less carefully, and drop my end consonants where possible, I suppose.

Siri: "Shall I send it?"

Me: "Yes!"

Siri: "I'm sorry, Leanne Bennett, I didn't get that."

*sigh* -- Well nobody's perfect. But (when I speak 'properly' for her) Siri is pretty darn good. I just have to be careful to remember to speak her (American) language.

Filed under: 4s accent email iphone siri speech text voice
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