Abstract: A method of recognizing speech commands includes generating a background acoustic model for a sound using a first sound sample, the background acoustic model characterized by a first precision metric. A foreground acoustic model is generated for the sound using a second sound sample, the foreground acoustic model characterized by a second precision metric. A third sound sample is received and decoded by assigning a weight to the third sound sample corresponding to a probability that the sound sample originated in a foreground using the foreground acoustic model and the background acoustic model. The method further includes determining if the weight meets predefined criteria for assigning the third sound sample to the foreground and, when the weight meets the predefined criteria, interpreting the third sound sample as a portion of a speech command. Otherwise, recognition of the third sound sample as a portion of a speech command is forgone.