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English pronunciation, feedback needed =)

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12 messages over 2 pages: 1 2 
fairyfountain
Senior Member
Zimbabwe
Joined 6136 days ago
254 posts - 248 votes 
5 sounds

 
 Message 9 of 12
23 June 2009 at 11:30pm | IP Logged 
By the way, I just found a page about the Michigan accent, and it's pretty darn scary but the guys nails it on the head. I do virtually all the things that he says are "Michiganey". *shrugs*
Now, the main question is, how the heck did I pick all these bad habits up. Well, you tell me, cause I don't know. I'm French, darn!

    *

   
Quote:
   A's are somewhere in between a short ă for the rest of the country, and a short ĕ. It's not "ahh" like what the doctor asks you to say... more like "aeh", with an emphasis on the "eh". Hold your nose shut if you need assistance.
> do that
    *

   
Quote:
    G's in verbs are usually silent. Notable exception: "tornado warning". [quote/] not all the time, no
    *

Quote:
R's are always hard, and sound like a growl to a lot of people. Just think of a pirate. ARRRrrrr.
I think so.
    [/QUOTE]

   
Quote:
    T's, when in the middle of a word and not supported by another consonant, are generally pronounced like a D (this is common in the US, but especially so in Michigan). "Little" becomes "liddle", "catatonic" becomes "cadatonic". When coupled with an "N", they get dropped like the useless energy-wasting consonants that they are: "cantaloupe" becomes "canalope", and "consonant" becomes "cahnsineh" (DON'T SAY THAT T!).
> yup all the way
[/QUOTE]
Quote:
Think a
Think about it: we rarely, if ever, make the "tuh" sound of a T... as we finish a word that ends in a "t", we don't actually say the "t"... instead we just stop all breath with our lungs. For example, "apartment" becomes "aparh' meh'" (Say it really fast, and DON'T SAY THOSE Ts!). There... now you've goddih'!
Many Michigan folks have written, insisting they don't do this. But "I don' talk tha' way!"
Quote:
Think a
>
I totally do that. It's so noticeable that I have to force myself to pronounce my T's during exams, otherwise I get points off.

Now, the big question: should I focus on sounding more standard first, or should I go for a native-sounding Michigan accent? I mean, that's quite a lot of bad habits, so something tells me it'd be really hard to change my whole vowel system and watch my T's and R's on top of the non-native thing. *sighs*



Edited by fairyfountain on 23 June 2009 at 11:32pm
1 person has voted this message useful



Recht
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5809 days ago
241 posts - 270 votes 
Speaks: English*, GermanB1

 
 Message 10 of 12
23 June 2009 at 11:51pm | IP Logged 
fairyfountain wrote:

Now, the big question: should I focus on sounding more standard first, or should I go
for a native-sounding Michigan accent? I mean, that's quite a lot of bad habits, so
something tells me it'd be really hard to change my whole vowel system and watch my T's
and R's on top of the non-native thing. *sighs*



I think you would be doing yourself a disservice to attempt to pick up the
dialectically lazy pronunciations of a specific group. By this I mean for instance
dropping the "g" in "running", etc. If you want to keep your "a" sound pronunciation,
that's fine. My pronunciation is not completely "standard" myself. However there is a
difference between vowel sounds and dropping or merging consonants.

When asked "what are you trying to do?" I would respond "I'm tryinda fix this bike".
Now, I learned the proper "I'm trying to fix this bike" long ago, and later adopted a
shorter version to feel more comfortable in. I wouldn't use this tone in a business
world, nor would I write it in a paper.

For now, I'd focus on standard English, and if you want to keep the Michigan
pronunciation, you can still speak standard. Later on, you can become more
"comfortable" and take shortcuts. Does this make sense?
1 person has voted this message useful



fairyfountain
Senior Member
Zimbabwe
Joined 6136 days ago
254 posts - 248 votes 
5 sounds

 
 Message 11 of 12
24 June 2009 at 1:18am | IP Logged 
Quote:

"what are you trying to do?" I would respond "I'm tryinda fix this bike".

I would answer "I'm tryinoo fix this bike" lol. No better.
It pretty much makes sense. I just had a Southerner help me with the A sound. She laughed and mimicked me quite a lot too, lol - she said that my twang was just reeeeally strong on some words.
Now, I can hear how Northern my accent sounds. I couldn't notice it before. I worked on A-heavy tongue twisters with her, and I'll work with her in the future - she sounds pretty neutral, and only has a bit of a Southern thing going when it comes to the sound "o" in go (she makes it sound slightly Britishy).
She's an excellent role-model, and she was pretty hard on me, so I'm happy =)
I still can't say Washington without a bit of a twang, but I can hear the twang now, so that good. And also slightly cringeworthy, I have to admit. I really want to get rid of it now - I'm sorry to say, but it doesn't sound that hm... beautiful? :p
I mean, I still think it sounds quite pretty, but I can see how it can grate on people's ears, and my goal is to sound more neutral, yeah.
1 person has voted this message useful



fairyfountain
Senior Member
Zimbabwe
Joined 6136 days ago
254 posts - 248 votes 
5 sounds

 
 Message 12 of 12
24 June 2009 at 3:32am | IP Logged 
I deleted my sound file, I'll post another one tomorrow (AFTER I'm done with my "war of the A's"). Thanks again for your feedbacks, that really helped guys!


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