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Sounding unnatural | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4445 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes  Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 9 of 14 12 March 2013 at 1:02am | IP Logged |
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Apparently in the Chinese community sounding unnatural has never been a problem as long
as you can be understood. There are so many regions in China so if your Cantonese or Mandarin sounds a bit off from another speaker, the person you're talking to simply assumes you are from another part of the country and would ask politely which region you're from. Nowadays Mandarin is taught in schools throughout China that the younger generation would have no problem being understood anywhere in the country. Edited by shk00design on 12 March 2013 at 1:02am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Alanjazz Triglot Groupie United States Joined 4816 days ago 65 posts - 129 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese | Message 10 of 14 16 March 2013 at 4:05pm | IP Logged |
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In the past, I felt terrible about my French, which was like a better-pronounced Google translator. I hadn't learned
many turns of phrase and it sounded like an English speaker who had enough French vocabulary to translate their ideas. This may have to do with starting out in French at age 19 with no background. After a lot more practice and exposure, my French is much better but could always be more idiomatic and native-sounding. I think that sounding natural is one of the hardest elements of foreign language learning, because it combines cultural knowledge/references, idioms/expressions and correct use all at once. I think that sounding unnatural is a necessary period in foreign language learning, as you adapt to new vocabulary and grammar, and if you don't at any stage in the beginning, it is out of extraordinary luck/learning a set phrase. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 6126 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 11 of 14 16 March 2013 at 5:23pm | IP Logged |
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I totally sound like a dork in Japanese. I have been trying, though I'm crazy busy, to get out and hang with Japanese speakers, though I find often if I say anything weird or baffling people switch to English. I can sit for hours and say absolutely nothing and listen, maybe this okay. Somehow, around Japanese people saying nothing somehow seems normal. That sometimes there's also a bunch of Japanese guys sitting there also saying absolutely nothing while the more talkative ones go on.
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| Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4704 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian | Message 12 of 14 16 March 2013 at 11:09pm | IP Logged |
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Sort of. I definitely feel more nervous about how I sound when there is no real "need"
for me to speak a foreign language. This happens a lot with Dutch, since most people my age understand English well. It feels like they're doing me a favor by listening, so there's pressure to be, like, extra good for them. On the other hand, all the worry goes out the window when speaking with my grandma. She needs me to speak Dutch in order for us to communicate, so it's almost like I'm doing her the favor. Because all she cares about is that we communicate, it's not bad if I make mistakes. In fact, it's good, because it's proof of my continued efforts to learn her language and bring us closer together. What I'm trying to say is that being picky about sounding unnatural is a luxury. Something that comes from overthinking and maybe over-intellectualizing language study. Edit: A typo Edited by Hekje on 17 March 2013 at 2:54pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4669 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 13 of 14 16 March 2013 at 11:21pm | IP Logged |
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I tend to sound unnatural when I read texts aloud, even in my own language :(
I have to focus really hard on reading in order to sound good (and I don't get the meaning of the text since I focus on the way I pronounce words and not on the content :( ). (Brazilian) Portuguese and (Argentinian) Spanish are languages I'm most comfortable with. Even in my own language, consonant clusters can be overwhelming...Since I'm not a very verbal person (I don't talk much; I prefer writing and reading, consonant clusters and shwa's give me hard time). When I read complex texts (or literature) in English, I speak either slow (overpronouncing) or fast and unclear/muffled. When I talk, I tend to sound more natural, because you can always insert a pause, or use fillers, or choose words you like better... Edited by Medulin on 16 March 2013 at 11:32pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 6126 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 14 of 14 18 March 2013 at 3:12am | IP Logged |
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For me in Japanese I'm much better reading aloud than I am speaking spontaneously. I don't think my pronunciation is so far off, maybe this the result of some exposure as a child, but my worse problems have to do with unnatural phrasing. I don't feel so silly, but I think more like Japanese takes off about 25 IQ points and I'm just kind of boring to talk to. I'm always a little bit in a fog when people are talking, and I never get jokes or pick up subtext, so everyone laughs and I sit there staring blankly.
I guess maybe I just have to toughen up a little bit and work through it. I'm making more money these days, I think within a year or so I might be financially able to hire a tutor or something like this. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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