Prime Speaks with a Canadian Accent

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by stevepea, Apr 23, 2017.

Page 1 of 2
  1. stevepea

    stevepea Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2017
    533
    581
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Just a bit of fun humo(u)r for our friends north of the border.

    Got a Prius Prime, and somehow couldn't stop laughing as I listened to the in-car help recordings, as I always kid about this stuff with the Canadian part of our family.

    Seems the beloved Prius Prime was born in Japan.. but speaks with a Canadian accent.

    On the Touchscreen (at least on the 7" Plus version), hit APPS then SETUP then VOICE, then scroll down to where you see VOICE RECOGNITION TUTORIAL and start playing the many in-car help recordings. The Prime... speaks like a Canuck! Yes, not only "mo-bai-el" instead of "mo-bul" but all those "ou" sounds everywhere ("aboat" instead of "about", or "oatside" instead of "outside"). Trust me, I have family living in both the US and Canada, and use my ears for a living. The Prime learned its English.. in Canada (for its male "Help recordings" voice, anyway). At least it doesn't say "eh?" after each one... :)
     
    #1 stevepea, Apr 23, 2017
    bisco and HPrimeAdvanced like this.
  2. huskers

    huskers Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2005
    2,544
    2,487
    0
    Location:
    Nebraska
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Had a friend with a Garmin GPS that got stuck on the Bart Simpson voice. Crazy stuff.

    Oh, does it sound like Terrance and Phillip?
     
    #2 huskers, Apr 23, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2017
    stevepea likes this.
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    57,967
    39,994
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I lost a wallet once in Hawaii, and talking to a cop, he was asking how much roughly was in it. When I mentioned in addition to American cash there was $50~60 Canadian, he said "why am I not surprised...".

    Canadians, well Canadians west of the Rockies, have no accent, as far as I'm concerned. :whistle:
     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Apr 23, 2017
    stevepea and bisco like this.
  4. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2008
    2,311
    1,335
    0
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    First of all, I'll have to look up the voice-recognition tutorial you mentioned when my P.Prime finally arrives; sounds interesting...

    One American (nominally Virginian) who spoke a lot like a Canadian was Chris Kraft - the Apollo-era flight director.


    iPhone ? Pro
     
    #4 mr88cet, Apr 23, 2017
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    111,177
    50,607
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    eh?
     
    #5 bisco, Apr 23, 2017
    stevepea likes this.
  6. Since2002

    Since2002 Senior Lurker

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2011
    936
    1,098
    0
    Location:
    Duluth, GA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    A funny story related to voices. Of course Jack King was known as the "Voice of Apollo", being the launch commentator for the Moon missions, which I watched avidly growing up. But when I got older, I would see comedian Alan King on television and I thought it was the same person. Both had that gruff voice and to my California ears had a similar accent, Jack King being from Boston, Alan King from New York. But I was perplexed whenever I would read Alan King's bio as they never mentioned that prior to his comedy career he did voice work for NASA. I eventually figured out that the Apollo commentator was Jack King, not Alan King.

    I got to meet Jack King at an at Apollo commemorative event at KSC before he died, and I told him this story. He said that's a first, he never heard of anyone confusing him with Alan King.
     
    #6 Since2002, Apr 23, 2017
    stevepea and Mendel Leisk like this.
  7. davids45

    davids45 Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2016
    104
    132
    0
    Location:
    Chatswood, NSW
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius c
    Model:
    One
    G'day,

    So it's not just pre-schooler kids' TV? (Think Paw Patrol, for one, where it's 'aboot' not 'about' to my Okker ear.)

    At least it's not in Glaswegian.

    David S.
     
    #7 davids45, Apr 23, 2017
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    57,967
    39,994
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    There's also "familial" accents: one of my sons and I were in the same office for a while, and more than once someone came over to say "your son sounds just like you". Again, no idea what they're talking about, lol.
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Apr 23, 2017
  9. stevepea

    stevepea Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2017
    533
    581
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Of course, no one ever has an accent -- it's always the "other folks" who do! I remember visiting Sydney once and being told I had a really strong American accent (being from California?) And a few years later in South Africa, was told by someone he couldn't quite tell where I was from, because my accent didn't really sound American.

    davids45: Yes, you're absolutely right. A lot of voiceover work is done in Canada, and it really pops out at me whenever I watch or listen to TV/movies with actors (especially those I don't know at all) who are obviously Canadian.

    Just as there is this truth when watching any movie/TV show:
    If it's a night scene, and there's a road or highway with cars on it, the road WILL be wet!

    There is also this truth:
    Q: How do you know if a (US-produced) TV show/movie was actually filmed in Canada instead?
    A: There will be US flags and/or US Mailboxes EVERYWHERE in the background (often as the camera quickly pans past the "price per litre" signs at the petrol station) -- even though flags and mailboxes are never anywhere near that ubiquitous in real life, or around if the show was filmed in the US... :)
     
    #9 stevepea, Apr 24, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2017
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  10. huskers

    huskers Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2005
    2,544
    2,487
    0
    Location:
    Nebraska
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I know the car is trainable to your voice/accent. Can you change the system voice in the car and if so how? I looked in the manual and found lots of interesting things to try but nothing on if voice change is possible.
     
    #10 huskers, Apr 26, 2017
  11. 'LectroFuel

    'LectroFuel Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2016
    880
    673
    0
    Location:
    San Juan Capistrano, CA
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
    Model:
    N/A
    I liked when Waze had Jeremy Clarkson's voice:ROFLMAO:
     
    #11 'LectroFuel, Apr 29, 2017
  12. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    45,128
    16,360
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    "In 200 metres, turn right onto I-5 south, then POWA!!!!!" :p
     
    #12 Tideland Prius, Apr 29, 2017
    'LectroFuel and jtv like this.
  13. Gaëtan Lafrance

    Gaëtan Lafrance Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2013
    101
    77
    6
    Location:
    Montréal, Québec
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Technology
    En français, nous avons une jolie voie d'une '' semi-québécoise ''avec, lorsque nous utilisons destination sur le GPS, une française pour certaine indication.

    In french, we have a québécoise voice and , some time, a française voice for some indication wit the GPS.
    C'est drôle!
    Funny!
     
    #13 Gaëtan Lafrance, Aug 21, 2017
    stevepea and Tideland Prius like this.
  14. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    45,128
    16,360
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Better than the Gen 3. Both French and Spanish sound really robotic compared to the English voice commands.
     
    #14 Tideland Prius, Aug 22, 2017
  15. Flaming

    Flaming Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2017
    138
    122
    0
    Location:
    QC , Canada
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Technology
    I agree :) the french voice is uneven , You get some nice natural tone and suddenly you get a few robotic words like a old gps in the middle of the sentence. .. haha.
     
    #15 Flaming, Aug 22, 2017
    Gaëtan Lafrance likes this.
  16. stevepea

    stevepea Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2017
    533
    581
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Interesting, thanks for telling us! I guess Toyota decided to really do localization for their Canadian cars.

    Maybe for 2018, you'll be able to select between voices/accents.
    "LA Style": "Hey, like, you know, turn here, okaaaay?"
     
    #16 stevepea, Aug 23, 2017
  17. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2006
    5,963
    1,985
    0
    Location:
    Edmonton Alberta
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    I'm with Bisco. EH!
     
    #17 David Beale, Aug 24, 2017
  18. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    45,128
    16,360
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Then there's this (it's a comedy but yeah I've heard the real stuff and I have no idea what they're saying)

     
    #18 Tideland Prius, Aug 24, 2017
    stevepea likes this.
  19. stevepea

    stevepea Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2017
    533
    581
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Once in rural Scotland, I could understand the adults (who were probably keen enough to know they should speak slower and more standard with a non-local) but the kids, oh boy, every single 8-year old there sounded like they were from another planet, and I couldn't make out one word they were saying.

    I still remember a Tourism Canada TV ad years ago (for the US), just showing pictures of Canada, but with a VO of someone saying "Out and about in a Boat" over and over (in a typical Canuck accent).
     
    #19 stevepea, Aug 24, 2017
    Tideland Prius likes this.
  20. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2008
    2,927
    782
    0
    Location:
    IL
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Back in the day a few buddies of mine always jokingly switched Garmin GPSes to the Australian female voice because she "sounded hot".

    Anyone who has ever played the Mass Effect video game series (which is pretty good sci-fi) will know that in the future, most humans in space will speak with a Canadian accent.

    Isn't there a joke about Michael Bay never having shot a dry road in his moviemaking life?
     
    #20 a_gray_prius, Aug 27, 2017
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 2