English Language Discussion Forums

#1 12-Sep-2005, 18:15

Hi there!

I read the first segment from this Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_ironing

I consider myself as a quite well-skilled person in English grammar. I'm a bit dubious about my pronunciation though. If someone could tell me; do I have an accent? What kind of English do I speak region-wise (I know that I have an influence of American English :p, more specific)?

Here's the sample: http://nlitement.ecwhost.com/misc/ae.mp3

Thanks in advance! =),
nlitement

**Tdol** · #2 13-Sep-2005, 02:28

You stress some words on the wrong syllable- you stressed the first syllable of 'canoe' and didn't use the schwa for the first syllable, so I didn't understand it the first time (I was listening without looking at the text first). Belnding words is another area you could work on- 'bronze statues', for instance, would normally run into each other in connected speech. However, it is very difficult to gauge someone's real pronunciation from reading- reading forces you to use words that you haven't chosen and it is hard to read a text naturally. You could try posting a piece f you speaking normally, rather than reading, to give a clearer picture.

nlitement · #3 13-Sep-2005, 15:21

Here it is:

http://nlitement.ecwhost.com/misc/speak.mp3

Transcription:

Quote:

OK, so, let's talk about something. I just had it in my mind; it's quite an old news. But, I think it's a pretty big thing. Well, you probably know somethingawful.com, the very popular website. It has a very, very large number of users. They've been donating to their forum users, like buying a kidney, through the -you know- donation funds they had there. Well, recently, you've probably all heard of: Katrina hurricane - struck New Orleans. And that's the place where something awful.com servers are located. No wait, they're not funding to get their servers back. It's just for the victims. So they opened a fund, in Paypal. Unfortunately, that's because they had no other choice, for that time. So, they got up to $30 000s [sic., by mistake :p] in under nine hours. After that, Paypal just closed their account. I mean, what the hell? $30 000 in 9 hours, lost, and that was for the sake of the victims. Ah man, anyways, I hope you have a nice day. Bye!

I first spoke it, then wrote it.

nlitement · #4 14-Sep-2005, 13:12

*bump*

--people are lazy :)

**Tdol** · #5 15-Sep-2005, 09:52

OK, the issue is stress IMO- you place too much stress on the wrong words sometimes. For example, at the end of the first sentence, you stress 'thing' rather than 'big', which is the more important word. Try to stress the words that carry the meaning or sense of a phrase.

nlitement · #6 15-Sep-2005, 13:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdol

OK, the issue is stress IMO- you place too much stress on the wrong words sometimes. For example, at the end of the first sentence, you stress 'thing' rather than 'big', which is the more important word. Try to stress the words that carry the meaning or sense of a phrase.

Well, :p let's try to fix it then. I'll re-record the same text today. Is the pure pronounciation itself good IYO?

nlitement · #7 15-Sep-2005, 15:16

Redone, the pronunciation is definately IMO in an objective view. Of course, since I'm not used to talk alot of AmE, I pronounce some words a bit weird, stress weird, and mess up. :p

Use the URL I mostfirst posted.

**Tdol** · #8 16-Sep-2005, 02:00

I'm moving this thread into the pronunciation area and am going to ask an AE speaker to drop by and comment on the AE.

Steven D · #9 16-Sep-2005, 03:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by nlitement

Hi there!

I read the first segment from this Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_ironing

I consider myself as a quite well-skilled person in English grammar. I'm a bit dubious about my pronunciation though. If someone could tell me; do I have an accent? What kind of English do I speak region-wise (I know that I have an influence of American English :p, more specific)?

Here's the sample: http://nlitement.ecwhost.com/misc/ae.mp3

Thanks in advance! =),
nlitement

I would say it sounds kind of midwestern.

Where did you learn to speak English?

nlitement · #10 16-Sep-2005, 06:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by X Mode

I would say it sounds kind of midwestern.

Where did you learn to speak English?

In Finland, but I'm of Russian descent. I watched cartoon network alot when I was small, and it just came out. My spelling really blew that time though and I pronounced quite bad. I was probably 11 years or so when it got better. Most Scandinavians get their pronunciation from Hollywood movies. I've noticed I learn pronunciation quite fast these days too. I can talk AuE for 2 min., after that, I choke. BrE goes well but the problem is that I sometimes start to talk AuE in the middle of it. I got my French pronunciation fluent in 1 year. My riksvensk pronunciation goes well too except for the syllable stressing order, which of course reveals my origin :p.