Introduction
As a Hebrew-language analyst, you are crucial in ensuring that a virtual assistant provides accurate, natural-sounding directions to users in Israel. This guide will walk you through the key objectives, common issues to watch for, and best practices for evaluating Hebrew language routing video tasks.
Evaluation Objective.
Your main task is carefully reviewing each provided route video’s first three minutes and identifying pronunciation issues in the virtual assistant’s spoken guidance. Pronunciation issues are incorrect or unnatural pronunciations of words or phrases that could negatively impact user experience.
It’s important to note that we only evaluate the first 3 minutes of each video. While issues may be present later, your analysis should focus solely on this initial segment.
What Counts as a Pronunciation Issue?
Pronunciation issues can take many forms, such as:
As you listen, pay close attention to each word and phrase. Some issues may be subtle, so don’t hesitate to replay sections if needed. Assess pronunciation based on the accent expected of native Hebrew speakers in Israel.
What’s Not a Pronunciation Issue?
Specific problems, while noteworthy, should not be logged as pronunciation issues in Q1 or Q2:
If you identify any pronunciation issues, select “Yes” for Q1 (Are there any pronunciation issues in the first 3 minutes of the video?). Use Q2 to detail each issue, including:
For the affected token, include only the problematic word or phrase, not a complete description. List all timestamps under a single entry if the same issue appears multiple times.
Through our analysis of Hebrew videos, we’ve identified some frequent pronunciation mistake patterns to watch out for:
Explanation: The correct pronunciation and spelling of the street name is “Sderot Rothschild” (ְשׂ ֵדרוֹת רוֹ ְט ִשׁי ְלד ). However, “Sederot Rothschild” (ֶשֵׂדרוֹת רוֹ ְט ִשׁי ְלד) has an incorrect vowel sound under the first letter (ֶשׂ instead of ְשׂ ).
Explanation: Emphasis should be on the second syllable of “Menachem” (me-NA- chem), and “בגין” should be pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable BE-gin.
Explanation: The imperative form “פנה” should be “P’ne” (with a shorter “e” vowel sound), not “Pana,” which would be the masculine singular past tense.
Explanation: The mistake in this example involves incorrectly reading an abbreviation as regular words. In Hebrew, the street name “Rechov Kakal” (ְרחוֹב ָק ָק”ל) contains an abbreviation, “Kakal” (ָק ָק”ל), which stands for “Keren Kayemet LeYisrael” (Jewish National Fund). The correct way to read this abbreviation is by pronouncing its expanded form or by using the abbreviation itself.
However, the incorrect version, “Rechov Kuf-Kuf-Lamed” (ְרחוֹב קוּף-קוּף- ָל ֶמד), treats each letter of the abbreviation as a separate word. In this case, the letters “Kuf” (ק) and “Lamed” (ל) are read out as whole words, which is incorrect and nonsensical.
Explanation: In this case, the correct form of the street name is “Rechov Achad Ha’am” (ְרחוֹב אַַחד ָה ָעם), where “Achad” (אַ ַחד) means “one” or “a person.” However, the assistant’s inner representation mistakenly interprets it as “1 Ha’am” (1 ָהָעם), leading to the incorrect pronunciation of “Achat Ha’am” (ָהָעם אַ ַחת), as if it were a numeral followed by a feminine noun.
This mistake is a numerical issue because the assistant fails to understand the context and format of the word “Achad” (אַ ַחד) and instead treats it as the numeral “1”. The pronunciation of the number itself is correct (“Achat” for the feminine form), but the error lies in misinterpreting the word as a numeral rather than its textual meaning.
It is not considered a sound issue because the pronunciation of the number “Achat” (אַ ַחת) is correct, and the error is not due to general mispronunciation or incorrect tone. The problem arises from the assistant’s failure to understand the number format and context of the word “Achad” (אַ ַחד) in the street name.
Navigation guidance often contains words borrowed from other languages, like English street names. In these cases, the aim is to have a natural pronunciation that local Hebrew speakers can understand. For example, “Lincoln Street” (ְרחוֹב ִלינְקוֹ ְלן) should be said in a way that’s clear to Israelis, even if it’s not a perfect English pronunciation. When in doubt, favor the pronunciation that is least likely to confuse Hebrew-speaking users.