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Level 9

Road Pronunciation Problem

If you're like me and using navigation more often since the recent map feature to make suggestions about the directions you were given (BTW, if you don't know about that you should check it out), you've probably been noticing something a little strange.

 

Google can be really terrible at road pronunciation.

 

Don't get me wrong; it's hilarious hearing Google saying Bass (the fish) as Bass (the instrument) or completely butchering the names of popular roadways. But imagine if you were not familiar with the area and was given confusing information.

 

I've provided feedback through the Google Maps app about this problem and I'm opening a discussion here (since it looks like the other discussions about this got no where).

 

Have any of you discovered this problem as well? How would we even tell Google how something was mispronounced (microphone)?

8 comments
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Re: Road Pronunciation Problem

G'Day @RussellR short of recording all the road names individually this is always going to be challenging for computer speech as many road names are simply made up or aren't words that are in the local language.

 

It is good that you've send feedback through the App as this is the best way to do this.

 

I'm going to move this post to the General board as Lets Meet Up isn't really on topic.

 

Regards Paul

Level 9

Re: Road Pronunciation Problem

Thank you @PaulPavlinovich.

 

I guess the good thing is that the pronunciation tends to be good most of the time, but I think (at least) major roadways should be said correctly since Google Maps will lead a lot of people to these.

Level 9

Re: Road Pronunciation Problem

Well @PaulPavlinovich, guess what?

 

Apparently Google does offer a solution to this pronunciation problem (I haven't figured out how, but this article below says that it can fix it).

 

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/News-Updates/Try-the-new-Crowdsource-app-for-Android/ba-p/1090...

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Re: Road Pronunciation Problem

Hi  that is the CrowdSource app which helps teach the Google Machine Learning about images, sounds and translation. It won't directly do anything now, but the more people contribute the more services will improve. Sometimes when I'm bored I'll spend hours playing with CrowdSource :).

 

Regards Paul

Level 9

Re: Road Pronunciation Problem

@PaulPavlinovich Yeah, I actually just learned about the app three days ago, but I'm working on it when I'm bored too. Usually in combination with a good podcast. 😃

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Re: Road Pronunciation Problem

Which podcasts do you like most @RussellR?

Level 9

Re: Road Pronunciation Problem

Man, @PaulPavlinovich that's like picking my favorite child. LOL

 

It depends on mood really, but here's a list (not in any order):

 

  1. Going in Raw (wrestling)
  2. 99% Invisible (design)
  3. You're Not So Smart (psychology)
  4. Radiolab (because it's amazing)
  5. Stuff You Should Know (interesting stuff)
  6. Stuff You Missed in History Class (history)
  7. Hardcore History (super deep history)
  8. The Sporkful (Food)
  9. Picture This (photography)
  10. Planet Money (economics)
  11. This Week in Tech (tech)

Honorable mentions (listen occasionally)

 

  1. Stone Cold Podcast (wrestling)
  2. Idle Hands (gaming)
  3. Common Sense (opinionated politics)
  4. What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law (US government law)
  5. Car Talk (Funny car advice)
  6. This Week in Google (more tech)

Yeah, I realize that's quite a list. 😅

 

What do you listen to or what would you recommend?

 

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Re: Road Pronunciation Problem

Man that is quite a list @RussellR you listen to a lot of podcasts. I listen off and on to a couple of technology casts related to the industry I work in but that's about it 🙂