11.5

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Marine Corps, Library of Congress, Babe Ruth, Accounts Payable, George

Washington, Johnson & Johnson, Division I, LAN Server…

These help the software resolve spelling and capitalization ambiguities: if the Vocabulary didn’t contain the

phrase Mother Teresa, dictating it would probably produce the transcription "mother Theresa"—because the

word mother is usually not capitalized, and because Theresa is the more common spelling of the name. Having

the phrase in its Vocabulary helps Dragon know that the words “Mother” and “Teresa” are likely to occur

together, and hence helps Dragon choose the desired capitalization and spelling.

Also, recognizing long sounds is easier than very short sounds. A and the are acoustically very similar, as are in

and an. Longer words, like “chrysanthemum”, contain more acoustic information.

We strongly recommend adding personal “multi-words”; this will later save you time since you will not have to

adjust their spelling and capitalization after transcription.

Exercise 1: In the Vocabulary Editor, search for a few familiar names such as your own first and last names,

your town, company, colleagues or relatives; if necessary, add them using the Add button.

TIP When adding names of people, consider nicknames and diminutives as well as formal names, particularly

for names that are very short or that can be spelled different ways: for instance, one might add Liz Hansen,

Elizabeth McGee Hansen, Jennifer B. Addams, Jennifer Addams, Jenny Addams, Jenn Addams, Judge Addams,

Scooter Addams…

This idea applies to more than just names. Whenever you add an item to the Vocabulary, think of its possible

variations: singular/plural for nouns, present/past/gerund for verbs… Remember, if something is not in the

Vocabulary, the software cannot recognize it, so don’t hesitate to add items even if you think you will not

dictate them very often!

Exercise 2: Open a word processor (such as DragonPad, available from the DragonBar’s Tools menu or from the

command “open DragonPad”) and start a list of Vocabulary entries relevant to you; some suggestions

are below. (Soon you will learn how to import these entries all at once.)

 jargon and phrases specific to your profession (such as distro, site visit and non-State)

 names of places, facilities or organizations (such as Building 52, or County Adoption Center)

 names of products (such as MicroPore tape or Latex Exterior Semi-Gloss)

 acronyms, part numbers, codes (such as FICA, 501c(3) or RX-70y)

 names of people (coworkers, clients, friends, relatives…) including full combinations for names

that could be spelled differently (Kristin, Gene, Steven, McGregor, Wolfe…) or are very short (Kip, Kit,

Dee…) since this helps Dragon resolve acoustic ambiguities.

TIP If you are using Dragon for work, your employer may be able to give you some lists that could save you

time, particularly if they are already in electronic form: lists of staff or clients, departments, units or divisions,

products, trademarks, building names, as well as glossaries of terms and acronyms. Starting from such lists

doesn’t just save time; it may also help add these items with their official, correct spelling!

The importance of Spoken Forms

Radio programs often tell their listeners “let us know how to pronounce your name” because some names could

be pronounced in several ways and some are not pronounced “the way they are written” (due to silent letters,

for instance). This is true for more than just names. Acronyms are often pronounced letter by letter, but not