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The tickling method | ||
Tags: Pronunciation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6374 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes  Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 1 of 32 19 February 2010 at 5:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I stumbled across a rather strange pronunciation technique a while ago, and promised I'd write about it here.
If you're having trouble pronouncing a sound in your target language, try having someone tickle you as you repeat after a native speaker. I don't know why it works, but it works scarily well. 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6381 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 2 of 32 19 February 2010 at 5:56pm | IP Logged | |||||
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This is perhaps one of the strangest things I've read on this forum (not to imply it doesn't work). I wonder, though, how are you supposed to pronounce something correctly if you're laughing like a madman (or woman, as the case may be)?
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Iolanthe Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5576 days ago 410 posts - 482 votes Speaks: English*, DutchC1 Studies: Turkish, French | Message 3 of 32 19 February 2010 at 5:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I just got someone to do this and it worked. This may be due to the fact that I reeeaaally wanted to it work because it's so silly.
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| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6517 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 4 of 32 19 February 2010 at 6:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Curses! I'm not ticklish!
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| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5520 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 5 of 32 19 February 2010 at 6:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I guess it gives me another reason to look for a girlfriend :D Edited by datsunking1 on 19 February 2010 at 6:10pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5946 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 6 of 32 19 February 2010 at 9:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Several possibilities:
1) It may not be better pronunciation, it may just sound more foreign because it's different from your "home" language sound. 2) Tickling may relax you a bit, and one of the enemies of good pronunciation is excess tension. (A small amount of alcohol is claimed by some to have the same effect. No comment. >hic<) 3) While you're being tickled and laughing, your mouth shape changes. This may be enough to help overcome the "muscle memory" that supports your normal accent. What I mean is: you can't speak in your normal voice while being tickled, and that's your "default" muscle use. Without being able to fall back on the default, maybe the brain lets you do whatever you want. 9 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Faraday Senior Member United States Joined 6053 days ago 129 posts - 256 votes Speaks: German* | Message 7 of 32 19 February 2010 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
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If you think tickling works well, you should try the punching method. I also think the
tickling may be related to tonic muscle or nerve stimulation that's been short circuited. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6374 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 8 of 32 19 February 2010 at 10:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
It's better, as confirmed by native speakers. I don't generally have my 'home' accent in other languages anyhow - I tend to use an accent which is quite foreign but hard to place.
That's probably a factor. Sheer distraction seems to be important; sufficiently vividly imagining tickling works too. Actual laughter isn't necessary, but one has to be pretty close. Edited by Volte on 19 February 2010 at 10:51pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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