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Pronunciation remembering difficulties | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| Kai Newbie United States Joined 3752 days ago 8 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Icelandic, Greek, Indonesian, Hawaiian, Welsh, French | Message 1 of 5 08 February 2015 at 3:37am | IP Logged |
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I have trouble remembering how to pronounce a word even in my native language (English)
and I'm wondering if anyone else has this problem and maybe has some tips? I'm always pronouncing words in English wrong and obviously I have to listen to how they're pronounced a lot when learning other languages (unless they're phonetic) or I forget. As an example, a couple of days ago I said 'debacle' and my brother corrected the pronunciation (after I spelled it to him, I messed it up so much he had no idea what I said). I quickly forgot how to pronounce it though and had to listen to it several times before I could remember it. We'll see if it sticks this time. I think for me it helps if I break it down in my head e.g. duh-bah-cull. Weird thing is, I have excellent memory on spelling. Even when I was like 6 years old I always aced spelling tests. So I'm not sure why I can't remember how to pronounce words. Long A's and short A's especially mess me up - my family joke that even though I have a 50/50 chance of picking the correct one I always pick the wrong one. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| chiara-sai Triglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 3497 days ago 54 posts - 146 votes  Speaks: Italian*, EnglishC2, French Studies: German, Japanese | Message 2 of 5 08 February 2015 at 9:54am | IP Logged |
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I have the same problem with English As, although it’s not my native language. However I did have a similar
problem in Italian in the past, in that I was getting the stress wrong on a lot of words. They were usually words that I only encountered in the written language. Do you read a lot or tend to use a lot of literary words when you speak? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6386 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 3 of 5 08 February 2015 at 2:20pm | IP Logged |
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I think your visual memory is exactly the reason. Many need to pronounce the word to themselves in order to remember it.
And well, you'd have a 50/50 chance if you were just choosing randomly. But when you're trying to guess it, the probability drops ;) It might help to look up the rules online? It's not 100% regular but not as random as native speakers might think. And since you're a keen language learner, IPA should be a worthwhile investment. Also, with debacle, were you relying on words like debate? Similar words often fail to provide the correct patterns. And the pronunciation of vowels is generally tied with what follows them. Edited by Serpent on 08 February 2015 at 2:21pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| DaisyMaisy Senior Member United States Joined 5169 days ago 115 posts - 178 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish Studies: Swedish, Finnish | Message 4 of 5 08 February 2015 at 9:28pm | IP Logged |
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English spelling is so off kilter it's no wonder being a good speller doesn't help with words like debacle. Do you find you have this difficulty with more phonetically spelled languages?
I think if you make it a point to use the word in conversation you will probably find it sticking in your head better. Or just avoid it :). I prounounced "concomitant" wrong for so long it just bugs me to say it correctly. I make it a point to never say it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4233 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 5 of 5 09 February 2015 at 4:18am | IP Logged |
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Remembering Chinese phrases is as difficult as you can get. You read a newspaper and come across an
unfamiliar character. The dictionary will give you the phonetics. Although the number of sounds and tones (similar to French & Spanish accents) are limited, but newspapers are not written in phonetics so the next time you come across the same character, you are on your own. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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