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Are women voices easier to understand? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7115 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes  2 sounds | Message 9 of 24 21 January 2006 at 6:04pm | IP Logged | ||
Is that the voice in the second level, the one with the old bloke's gravely voice? Actually by level three the decent male is still there will an even better sounding woman. Maybe you should have stayed with it! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6954 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 10 of 24 21 January 2006 at 6:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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My daughter was not quite enthusiasic about the method anyway, and since I felt the recordings were of dubious quality (the male voice seemed to sound very metallic and distorted somehow), I decided not to try convincing her to change her mind.
To try it out, I rented half of the first level from recordedbooks.com and listened to the first few lessons - it could be that the version sold nowadays by Pimsleur itself is good. Edited by frenkeld on 21 January 2006 at 6:32pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| seldnar Senior Member United States Joined 7143 days ago 189 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, French, Greek | Message 11 of 24 22 January 2006 at 6:35am | IP Logged | ||
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Years ago when I was in high school and big fan of the original Star Trek tv series, I remember reading a book about the making of the series. The computer's voice was always "female," they said, because the US military had studied automated speech in computers and determined that women's voices were easier to understand especially in a noisy environment. There was some talk about how the individual sounds were easier to distinguish when they occured in the upper frequencies rather than in lower frequencies where they tended to become muddled.
And, yes, I find women Mandarin speakers easier to understand than men. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| KingM Triglot Senior Member michaelwallaceauthor Joined 7202 days ago 275 posts - 300 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Russian | Message 12 of 24 22 January 2006 at 10:12am | IP Logged | ||
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That's interesting, but I think you're right. On a similar note, I always liked to listen to the Learn in Your Car Italian series because the woman had such a pleasant, dare I say sexy, voice.
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| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7232 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 13 of 24 23 January 2006 at 2:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have had problems pointed out to me when I talk. There are many times I was informed someone can't understand me, because I talk to fast and don't enunciate well. There was a Speech Pathologist I job shadowed and asked him some questions about such things. He informed me in his experience that boys are usually higher in ratio than girls who receive speech therapy. With training and practice anyone can improve to speak better. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| awb Groupie United States Joined 6885 days ago 46 posts - 48 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian | Message 14 of 24 04 February 2006 at 3:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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I didn't really think about it like this, but there are some behind-the-scenes stuff on the DVD of Der Untergang, and I tried to transcribe a few (short) interviews..I could probably get around 80% of the words (using subtitles and an online dictionary as well) of an interview if it was a male, but I did one for a female, and I got like 90% of the words she said. Never really thought about it more than that particular interview being under conditions in which one could hear more easily (less distractions, etc.).
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| lengua Senior Member United States polyglottery.wordpre Joined 6695 days ago 549 posts - 595 votes Studies: French, Italian, Spanish, German | Message 15 of 24 21 October 2006 at 10:13am | IP Logged | ||
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I definitely find female voices easier to understand than male ones in foregin languages.
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| unlocked87 Groupie United States Joined 6631 days ago 42 posts - 44 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 16 of 24 21 October 2006 at 12:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes! I was thinking about that right when I first started to learn German. I think it's because men have that "crackle?" in their voice once they hit puberty. It's not just that it's deeper; I hope you know what I mean by crackle.
It distorts the voice and sounds rough and less inviting. On the other hand a female voice is usually very fluid and welcoming. Sort of like a mother teaching you the language very sweetly. I know that sounds corny but that's how I describe it. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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