How to Use Dictation in Mountain Lion
How to Use Dictation in Mountain Lion
With Mountain Lion, you can now dictate your text. While this isn't exactly Siri functionality we're talking about, Dictation is a step in the right direction for Mac users who don’t have the mobility or typing skills required to compose long emails or documents. The best part is that the new Dictation feature require third-party software manufacturers to make the function available. It works seamlessly with almost every application, including Microsoft Word.
1. Enabling Dictation
You can enable the new Dictation feature in Mountain Lion by navigating to System Preferences > Dictation & Speech > Dictation. Select the “On†radio button.
Here, you can also select the Shortcut key that you wish to use to activate Dictation. By default, Dictation can be activated by pressing the “Fn (Function)†key twice. While in the Dictation preference pane, you can also select the language that you will be speaking.
Just as with iOS, any time you use the Dictation feature, your recorded voice will be sent to Apple’s servers in order to convert what you say into text.
2. Using Dictation to Type
To use Dictation, open any application that has a text input area and position your cursor in that text area. Press the Shortcut key twice (by default, it’s the Function key).
A small microphone icon will appear below the cursor. Begin talking. When you have finished talking and are ready to transcribe your words, either press the shortcut key again, or click the “Done†button below the microphone. After a few seconds, your voice will be transcribed into text.
Shortcut Words
Dictation includes many voice “shortcuts†that allows you to manipulate the text and insert symbols while you are speaking. Here’s a list of those shortcuts that you can use:
- “new line†is like pressing Return on your keyboard
- “new paragraph†creates a new paragraph
- “cap†capitalizes the next spoken word
- “caps on/off†capitalizes the spoken section of text
- “all caps†makes the next spoken word all caps
- “all caps on/off†makes the spoken section of text all caps
- “no caps†makes the next spoken word lower case
- “no caps on/off†makes the spoken section of text lower case
- “space bar†prevents a hyphen from appearing in a normally hyphenated word
- “no space†prevents a space between words
- “no space on/off†to prevent a section of text from having spaces between words
- “period†or “full stop†places a period at the end of a sentence
- “dot†places a period anywhere, including between words
- “point†places a point between numbers, not between words
- “ellipsis†or “dot dot dot†places an ellipsis in your writing
- “comma†places a comma
- “double comma†places a double comma (,,)
- “quote†or “quotation mark†places a quote mark (“)
- “quote ... end quote†places quotation marks around the text spoken between
- “apostrophe†places an apostrophe (‘)
- “exclamation point†places an exclamation point (!)
- “inverted exclamation point†places an inverted exclamation point (¡)
- “question mark†places a question mark (?)
- “inverted question mark†places an inverted question mark (¿)
- “ampersand†places an ampersand sign (&)
- “asterisk†places an asterisk (*)
- “open parenthesis†opens a set of parenthesis “(“
- “close parenthesis†closes a set of parenthesis “)â€
- “open bracket†opens a set of brackets “[“
- “close bracket†closes a set of brackets “]â€
- “open brace†opens a set of braces “{“
- “close brace†closes a set of braces “}â€
- “dash†places a dash (-) with spaces before and after
- “hyphen†places a hyphen between words without a space
- “em dash†places an em dash (--)
- “underscore†places an underscore (_)
- “percent sign†places a percent sign (%)
- “copyright sign†places a copyright symbol
- “registered sign†places a registered trademark symbol
- “section sign†places a section sign
- “dollar sign†places a dollar sign ($)
- “cent sign†place a cent sign (¢)
- “degree sign†places a degree symbol (º)
- “caret†places a caret (^)
- “at sign†places an at symbol (@)
- “pound sign†places a pound symbol (#)
- “greater than sign†places a greater than symbol (>)
- “less than sign†places a less than symbol (<)
- “forward slash†places a forward slash (/)
- “back slash†places a back slash (\)
- “vertical bar†places a pipe (|)
- “smiley†or “smile face†places a “:-)â€
- “frowny†or “frown face†places a “:-(“
- “winky†or “wink face†places a “;-)â€
- “e g†places a “e.g.â€
- “i e†places a “i.e.â€
Cory Bohon is a freelance technology writer, indie Mac and iOS developer, and amateur photographer. Follow this article's author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.
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