Upon the release of the new iPad in February, almost everyone was disappointed when they found out that Siri was not introduced on this new Apple tablet computer. But even without Siri, the hype of selling old iPads and buying new ones is still big. For this writer, the new iPad’s Voice Dictation feature is great, and some might find it more interesting and useful than Siri.
If you just give the voice dictation feature a chance, you might find yourself using it more often. You see, this feature is supposed to learn from you as you use it. So the more you use it, the better it gets. Besides, you can correct it as time goes by, and I am pretty sure that you will be impressed by how well this feature gets along with you. Although the accuracy is not 100%, I can see that it will be sooner or later.
You might find it easier using the voice dictation feature than normal typing on the iPad, especially if you think that it hurts your joints typing on the hard screen, especially if you cannot afford a keyboard case. You will find this feature very efficient for taking long notes on your studies or the book you’re reading, or just writing down essays. You can even find it helpful when you want to send an e-mail or make a tweet in Twitter.
The great thing is, even though the Voice Dictation sometimes makes mistakes, I can assure you that you will only have to modify a few things in the final text.
If you just give the voice dictation feature a chance, you might find yourself using it more often. You see, this feature is supposed to learn from you as you use it. So the more you use it, the better it gets. Besides, you can correct it as time goes by, and I am pretty sure that you will be impressed by how well this feature gets along with you. Although the accuracy is not 100%, I can see that it will be sooner or later.
You might find it easier using the voice dictation feature than normal typing on the iPad, especially if you think that it hurts your joints typing on the hard screen, especially if you cannot afford a keyboard case. You will find this feature very efficient for taking long notes on your studies or the book you’re reading, or just writing down essays. You can even find it helpful when you want to send an e-mail or make a tweet in Twitter.
The great thing is, even though the Voice Dictation sometimes makes mistakes, I can assure you that you will only have to modify a few things in the final text.
Tips on Using the Voice Dictation
If you do not want to try the voice dictation because you think that it will be very frustrating to undergo the process of having to repeat your commands because the feature cannot understand you, well you might want to think twice. You see, dictating using this feature is much faster than typing sometimes. So here are some tips to use voice dictation.
If you do not want to try the voice dictation because you think that it will be very frustrating to undergo the process of having to repeat your commands because the feature cannot understand you, well you might want to think twice. You see, dictating using this feature is much faster than typing sometimes. So here are some tips to use voice dictation.
1) Speak Clearly and Slowly
Think of your iPad as a toddler. You have to “talk” to your iPad slowly and clearly in order for it to modify itself. Sometimes, if you speak quickly or run your words together, the Voice Dictation feature produces poor results. Obviously, if you remember to slow down and dictate to it clearly, you will get good results even if there are some low background noises around you like a stereo or TV playing.
Think of your iPad as a toddler. You have to “talk” to your iPad slowly and clearly in order for it to modify itself. Sometimes, if you speak quickly or run your words together, the Voice Dictation feature produces poor results. Obviously, if you remember to slow down and dictate to it clearly, you will get good results even if there are some low background noises around you like a stereo or TV playing.
2) Use Punctuation Commands
There are great commands that you should use if you want your iPad to type out your sentence correctly. Common punctuations are very easy to remember. For example: “I will go to the museum this afternoon comma then after that comma I will meet my boyfriend at the mall period.” The result will be: “I will go to the museum this afternoon, then after that, I will meet my boyfriend at the mall.”
There are great commands that you should use if you want your iPad to type out your sentence correctly. Common punctuations are very easy to remember. For example: “I will go to the museum this afternoon comma then after that comma I will meet my boyfriend at the mall period.” The result will be: “I will go to the museum this afternoon, then after that, I will meet my boyfriend at the mall.”
Here are some punctuation marks, with other commands, to remember for dictation.
a. question mark: ?
b. exclamation point: !
c. underscore: _
d. comma: ,
e. open parenthesis: (
f. close parenthesis: )
g. quote: “
h. end quote: “
i. colon: : slash: /
j. ampersand: &
k. percent sign: %
a. question mark: ?
b. exclamation point: !
c. underscore: _
d. comma: ,
e. open parenthesis: (
f. close parenthesis: )
g. quote: “
h. end quote: “
i. colon: : slash: /
j. ampersand: &
k. percent sign: %
3) Use Other Languages
The Voice Dictation feature supports languages other than the American English. If you install a keyboard for a supported language, then you can also dictate in that language. Here is the list of languages supported by the feature:
a. English (American, British, Australian, Canadian)
b. French (French, Canadian, Swiss)
c. German (German, Swiss)
d. Japanese
e. Spanish (American, Spanish, Mexican)
f. Italian (Italian, Swiss)
g. Mandarin (Taiwanese, Chinese)
h. Cantonese
i. Korean
4) Remember These Commands
a. caps on: caps lock on
b. caps off: caps lock off
c. cap: capitalize next word
d. new line: insert new text line
e. new paragraph: begin new paragraph
f. space bar: type a space
There are more dictation commands on the Apple Support page of the Apple’s website. Although the file there is titled as a document for Mac, the command syntax is just the same as the iPad.
The Voice Dictation feature supports languages other than the American English. If you install a keyboard for a supported language, then you can also dictate in that language. Here is the list of languages supported by the feature:
a. English (American, British, Australian, Canadian)
b. French (French, Canadian, Swiss)
c. German (German, Swiss)
d. Japanese
e. Spanish (American, Spanish, Mexican)
f. Italian (Italian, Swiss)
g. Mandarin (Taiwanese, Chinese)
h. Cantonese
i. Korean
4) Remember These Commands
a. caps on: caps lock on
b. caps off: caps lock off
c. cap: capitalize next word
d. new line: insert new text line
e. new paragraph: begin new paragraph
f. space bar: type a space
There are more dictation commands on the Apple Support page of the Apple’s website. Although the file there is titled as a document for Mac, the command syntax is just the same as the iPad.
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