back to article Devs: Fancy a job teaching Siri to speak the Queen's English?

Apple looks set to give Siri a few language lessons after advertising for experts in a variety of hitherto non-fruity dialects. According to its job listings, Apple is looking to employ a number of Siri language engineers to help roll out its personal assistant across the world. "Come and join the team that teaches Siri how …

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  1. PCS

    Is the sudden rush by Apple to improve Siri's language understanding after all these years anything to do with the impending release of Cortana?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      After "All these years"

      How many years does it take to justify saying "all these years" ... I would have thought at least a few decades :-)

  2. Chairo
    Happy

    Do they accept applications from Giraffoids ?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A quick question.. why would Tagalog be "very weird" or any "weirder" than Thai for example?

    Both from a marketing perspective (the smart phone market is about the same size in both countries) or from a linguistic one these two examples are just as "weird" or "normal" depending how you want to look at it.

    Simple fact checking could avoid such bumpkin racial/cultural misconceptions creeping in !

    Or poke fun at things closer to home... try Siri in Welsh, Gaelic or Jordie for weird.

    1. Colin Brett
      Facepalm

      "Or poke fun at things closer to home... try Siri in Welsh, Gaelic or Jordie for weird."

      Jordie (*) ... Wasn't he the engineer in Star Trek: The Next Generation? Or did you mean Geordie? The dialect spoken in the Newcastle area.

      Colin

      (*) Yes, I know it was spelled Geordi

      1. fridaynightsmoke
        Coat

        Geordie LaForge

        I think they missed a trick there; they started with the Chief Engineer being Scottie on TOS, then they should have had an actual Geordie (complete with wye aye, etc) on TNG, and continue working their way south with each series, something like Scotty, Geordie, Yorkie, Brummy and Cockney. All being massively stereotypical, obviously.

      2. Sarah Balfour

        Gaelic - would that be Welsh, Irish, Scots, Manx, or Cornish…?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Speak the Queen's English

    Ah, you mean English with a German accent.

  5. Will Godfrey Silver badge

    Do we really want the Borg speaking to us in our own idiom?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Don't forget...

    ...the Yam Yam's....and if it could translate into English for me, that would be great.

    1. fridaynightsmoke
      Boffin

      Re: Don't forget...

      Yamyam translation guide: Commonly confused words and phrases

      Canapés: The small spherical seeds of the pod fruit Pisum sativum, sometimes in a mushy form, supplied canned.

      Warrduno: I am afraid that I do not possess that knowledge, or, this situation is dissatisfactory.

      Day: Did not.

  7. Elmer Phud

    which Queen's English?

    As Her Brendaness lives in London the Siri ought to be able to understand the local lingo.

    Oi, wotthefak are you up to, you carnt?

    Leaveit aaht fakkinmuppitt!

    1. Blane Bramble

      Re: which Queen's English?

      Don't forget:

      Yewwww Slaaaaag!

      1. Yugguy

        Re: which Queen's English?

        I do find most voice recognition systems don't understand Northern.

        But then, neither did most London bar staff.

  8. JulianB

    "this writer's Apple Map app has started giving directions in a Welsh accent"

    How does it do at pronouncing Welsh place names? My satnav causes much amusement once you get beyond, say, Cardiff or Swansea.

    1. frank ly

      Re: "this writer's Apple Map app has started giving directions in a Welsh accent"

      I'm sure they know Llaregyb about it.

      1. Robert Helpmann??
        Childcatcher

        Re: "this writer's Apple Map app has started giving directions in a Welsh accent"

        It couldn't possibly be as bad as Eve Myles trying to speak with an American accent... could it?

    2. Kubla Cant

      Re: "this writer's Apple Map app has started giving directions in a Welsh accent"

      I've had difficulty with anglophone satnavs - both Android and Garmin - when driving in Italy. All the names get an English pronunciation. "Viale Doglie", for example came out more like "vile doglead". Some of the more polysyllabic Italian names required so much re-interpretation that I missed the turning.

      It must be much worse in languages with more complicated pronunciation rules than Italian. If I go to Belgium, I wonder if it will give me directions to Wipers?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well it won't be the El Reg subhead writer!

    Spik propa lyk dis blud innit, ya get me?

    That should be "gets", not "get", don'cha know old bean? Pip pip!

  10. rjmx
    Coat

    The Queen's English?

    Now there's a surprise.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    There's a story about an American..

    who, whilst visiting the UK, regaled listeners with his misadventures in the quaint little town

    of, as he pronounced it, Loogieburoogie...

    (I leave it up to you, dear readers, to figure out where that is).

    Seriously, I'm waiting for the day Siri can handle any Scottish or Irish accent with any degree of competence, let alone handling some of the more, ahem, quirky dialectial issues..

    [Obligatory Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAz_UvnUeuU]

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: figure out where that is

      Loughborough, former home of the 80s-era computer games mag biz?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: figure out where that is

        Aye.

        It was only years later I found out that this was a common mispronunciation.

        This guy was from O'Fallon, Mo, worked for a large US medical supplies company, we told him he should visit that well known Scottish town Mulguy whilst he was up here peddling his wares.

  12. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Pint

    The rain in Spain/The water in Majorca

    some may remember the Heineken ad -

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz9_YfIQaz4

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVmU3iANbgk

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rain_in_Spain

  13. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Coat

    #IndianEnglish

    #BBCtrending: Is there a distinctive 'Indian English'? - 27 June 2014

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-28062387

    "That said, one tweet joked: "British messed our motherland we mess up their mothertongue #IndianEnglish""

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