4 ms·

> And navigation on Android / Google Maps can't pronounce French names for streets/places while driving around in bilingual places in Canada. Honestly, I think

> And navigation on Android / Google Maps can't pronounce French names for streets/places while driving around in bilingual places in Canada. Honestly, I think this is the right approach, and I'm speaking as a bilingual French/English speaker. Google Maps doesn't know that you are bilingual. So it has two choices: pronounce words the "right" (i.e., native) way, or pronounce them the "English" way. If someone who is unused to hearing the native pronunciation, their understanding is going to be impeded. Google Maps tells you for example to turn onto Passage du Grand Cerf in a French accent, a non-Francophone is going to have a harder time finding that. (Now, okay, maybe you should have a way to say that you're bilingual and want to hear the French pronunciation, but I understand why they don't do it.)

iforgotpassword 2y ago
I agree. I would guess it might not be that difficult for Canadian people as they are all to some degree exposed and as such familiar with both languages' sounds. But I remember the first couple times I was in China a good decade ago, it was much easier for me take the older subway lines than the newer ones in Beijing. On the old lines, they had what sounded like a native English speaker do the announcements of the upcoming station, including the station name. On the newer ones it sounds like they just recorded the "we're arriving at" bit once and then spliced in the read-by-a-Chinese station name, which is much harder to understand as a foreigner. So on the new lines I was constantly staring at the displays.
cmrdporcupine 2y ago
Huh? No, when driving in Quebec or Ottawa etc, there might be an "English" way to pronounce the names (like the kind of thing my anglo self would use, bad pronounciation but making an attempt), but it doesn't do that... it actually just reads out this weird literal phonetic output as if it was an English word and it's unrecognizable to anybody from the area or anybody who grew up in Canada and has a basic idea of how these words are pronounced. Even, like, names ... Duplessis or Cartier or whatever... just completely unrecognizable. Or take the way it reads out the exits off the 401 in Toronto, reading the full bilingual sign (where there is one) with the English first and then the French part as if it was a continuation ... in English ("Sud" read out like you'd say that if it was an English word, hard D and everything.) Clearly, they should just drop the French part, but their system can't comprehend that a sign could be bilingual. Because America. Look, I don't speak French, I'm not bilingual, and it drives me nuts when I'm in QC or even just Ottawa etc. I literally can't tell what street it's talking about, it doesn't correspond with the sign. It's incoherent. What's mind boggling is that Google navigation is completely fine reading out Spanish words when I drive around California. C'mon.
xxs 2y ago
>Google Maps doesn't know that you are bilingual. But it does know, e.g. "Accept-Language" header. Of course, google resent that part and travelling across Europe results in having a different language every day.
- account42 2y ago
  Google outright ignores Accept-Language: en-US and randomly resets your cookies to use the local language based on your IP. They've been hiding the link to change back to English more and more too and have started to show local language search results above english ones (e.g. for Wikipedia) even with the interface set to English. I have nothing but the worst wishes for those responsible.
  - xxs 2y ago
    adding a param "hl=en" (your language) in the URI query is what it takes, it has been this way for around two decades (iirc)
scott_w 2y ago
> or pronounce them the "English" way. I'm not bilingual but I'm British and the most irritating thing driving through France is hearing Google/Siri butcher French words. It makes it basically impossible to navigate! I imagine most Brits would be able to hear a French word (spoken slowly enough) and recognise it written down.
account42 2y ago
There are plenty of English place names with surprising pronounciation too. I don't think out software should encourage us to stay ignorant of the proper pronounciation - it's not like the map software is the only place wehre you are ever going to encounter spoken place names. > If someone who is unused to hearing the native pronunciation, their understanding is going to be impeded Circular reasoning. If common software used the right pronounciation more people would be used to it.

iforgotpassword 2y ago

I agree. I would guess it might not be that difficult for Canadian people as they are all to some degree exposed and as such familiar with both languages' sounds. But I remember the first couple times I was in China a good decade ago, it was much easier for me take the older subway lines than the newer ones in Beijing. On the old lines, they had what sounded like a native English speaker do the announcements of the upcoming station, including the station name. On the newer ones it sounds like they just recorded the "we're arriving at" bit once and then spliced in the read-by-a-Chinese station name, which is much harder to understand as a foreigner. So on the new lines I was constantly staring at the displays.

cmrdporcupine 2y ago

Huh? No, when driving in Quebec or Ottawa etc, there might be an "English" way to pronounce the names (like the kind of thing my anglo self would use, bad pronounciation but making an attempt), but it doesn't do that... it actually just reads out this weird literal phonetic output as if it was an English word and it's unrecognizable to anybody from the area or anybody who grew up in Canada and has a basic idea of how these words are pronounced. Even, like, names ... Duplessis or Cartier or whatever... just completely unrecognizable. Or take the way it reads out the exits off the 401 in Toronto, reading the full bilingual sign (where there is one) with the English first and then the French part as if it was a continuation ... in English ("Sud" read out like you'd say that if it was an English word, hard D and everything.) Clearly, they should just drop the French part, but their system can't comprehend that a sign could be bilingual. Because America. Look, I don't speak French, I'm not bilingual, and it drives me nuts when I'm in QC or even just Ottawa etc. I literally can't tell what street it's talking about, it doesn't correspond with the sign. It's incoherent. What's mind boggling is that Google navigation is completely fine reading out Spanish words when I drive around California. C'mon.

xxs 2y ago

>Google Maps doesn't know that you are bilingual. But it does know, e.g. "Accept-Language" header. Of course, google resent that part and travelling across Europe results in having a different language every day.

account42 2y ago
Google outright ignores Accept-Language: en-US and randomly resets your cookies to use the local language based on your IP. They've been hiding the link to change back to English more and more too and have started to show local language search results above english ones (e.g. for Wikipedia) even with the interface set to English. I have nothing but the worst wishes for those responsible.
- xxs 2y ago
  adding a param "hl=en" (your language) in the URI query is what it takes, it has been this way for around two decades (iirc)

scott_w 2y ago

> or pronounce them the "English" way. I'm not bilingual but I'm British and the most irritating thing driving through France is hearing Google/Siri butcher French words. It makes it basically impossible to navigate! I imagine most Brits would be able to hear a French word (spoken slowly enough) and recognise it written down.

account42 2y ago

There are plenty of English place names with surprising pronounciation too. I don't think out software should encourage us to stay ignorant of the proper pronounciation - it's not like the map software is the only place wehre you are ever going to encounter spoken place names. > If someone who is unused to hearing the native pronunciation, their understanding is going to be impeded Circular reasoning. If common software used the right pronounciation more people would be used to it.