80 two countries - speaking the MS Translator

[GoodTaste]

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The Lancet just retweeted: Global variation in postoperative mortality & complications after cancer surgery, published in The Lancet, 16K patients underwent surgery across 82 countries.Better postoperative care & facilities could significantly improve #cancer survival.
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I read aloud the above to Microsoft Translator and the result is as following:

(Click to enlarge)

It seems okay except "80 two countries" - I don't know what is the problem with MS translator to show "82 countries". I wonder whether you think the result is acceptable. If you are interested, please read the tweet to the translator and post your result here. I'm eager to know whether it shows differently when you native English speakers read it. Of course, non-native English speakers are welcome to post their results here.

Thread title edit: 80 two countries - speaking to the MS Translator

 

[teechar]

I wonder whether you think the result is acceptable.

No, it's not acceptable. This is a software/technical flaw.
Try saying "82" together/a little more quickly, followed by a pause, then say "countries". Let us know if that works for you.

 

[GoodTaste]

Thanks. But I meant the overall result about what shows in the pic:

I tried again reading both "89 countries" and "82 countries" with a quick enough speed. The former is okay, and the latter, MS T initially showed "82 countries" and automatically changed it into "80 two countries."

Please read the tweet yourself and see what is your result. (If you are on your laptop, the microphone would be embeded without the need to install one).

 

[jutfrank]

I've tested this for you and so far got the same results as you.

I also noticed that if you look at the screen as the app is listening, it starts off with '82' and then for some reason 'corrects' it to '80 two'. Speaking faster, with more fluency between eighty and two, doesn't yield different results. Neither does teechar's suggestion of putting more space after two. I've tried varying the intonation too. It's a problem with program, not you.

 

[GoodTaste]

Did you get "post operative" or "postoperative" or "post-operative"?

 

[Tdol]

Auto-translation software is not perfect, but it is making huge leaps. Don't look at the text for perfection. At least, not for a few years. A few years ago, results were mostly gibberish. They are getting good in major languages.

 

[jutfrank]

Did you get "post operative" or "postoperative" or "post-operative"?

I get post operative every time.

I must say the bot reading out is the text is very, very good. It's just like a real person—she sounds like she was brought up in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

 

[emsr2d2]

When I clicked on the link in post #1, I got a page where I could type in text to translate, but no option to use my voice. I wonder if it's not available for a Mac.

 

[jutfrank]

It's an app that you need to download. It's free. It's also fun to play around with, especially if you speak additional languages. I've just had a bilingual conversation with myself in German. It was very engaging.

It also serves as a very versatile teaching tool.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's an app that you need to download. It's free. It's also fun to play around with, and serves as a useful teaching tool.

Ah, OK. Thanks. I'll stick with Google Translate for my occasional needs.

 

[GoodTaste]

When I clicked on the link in post #1, I got a page where I could type in text to translate, but no option to use my voice. I wonder if it's not available for a Mac.

It is available because I used exactly a MacBook to post this thread.
Here's the steps to record your voice online (and the Translator will type out what you say):
Step 1: Click the link (or the link in the OP) and a page shows like this:

(Click the image to enlarge)
You don't see icons of microphone and loudspeaker on the page, right?
Step 2: Type "OK now" or any English word into the left textbox and the icons will emerge (Note that "Auto-detect" on the left upper corner of the textbox will become "English (detected)"):



Step 3: Click the icon of microphone and it shows "Listening", starting to record your voice and type it out for you:

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks for that. It seems odd that the microphone icon isn't visible straight away! I see the problem now. It's very odd that it initially transcribes "82" and then as it moves along it changes the "2" to "two". Definitely a glitch!

The problem seems to be the word "countries". I tried "I have eighty-two cats" and it correctly transcribed "I have 82 cats". It also got "I drink 82 cups of tea every week" correct. I tried various alternative nouns and none of them resulted in "80 two" except the one with "countries".
It makes the same error with "22/52/92 (etc) countries".

The error goes away once you get over a hundred. It transcribes "There are 132 countries in the world correctly" but the site's spoken version sounds like "There are one hundred and thirty ... two countries in the world".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

GoodTaste, your English is good enough that you can correct translation errors. I wouldn't be concerned about the quality of the translation. It's actually pretty impressive.

 

[GoesStation]

We're actually talking about transcription here, not translation.

 

[emsr2d2]

I must say the bot reading out is the text is very, very good. It's just like a real person—she sounds like she was brought up in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

Interesting. When I use it, she has a very clear American accent.

 

[GoodTaste]

New York Times wrote "If You’re Offered a Vaccine, Take It" and I read it to MS Translator, it insistently showed: "If you are offered a vaccine ticket."
(Click to enlarge)
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).

 

[emsr2d2]

It transcribed it correctly for me:


Make sure that you have a pause after "vaccine" and that you make the "a" in "take" long enough.

I tried it a couple more times. It got "take it" correct all three times. However, on my final two attempts, it struggled with how quickly I said "If you're offered". It gave me "If you're up for" the first time, and "If you offer" the second.

 

[GoodTaste]

I deliberately paused after saying "take" (and then saying "it"), it shows me correctly:


And yes, your way worked:

 

[emsr2d2]

I think the first one in your last post didn't work because you said "provided" instead of "offered". The software didn't recognise that string of words as a grammatical sentence so it did the best it could.

 

[jutfrank]

Interesting. When I use it, she has a very clear American accent.

Really? Interesting.

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