Good Pronunciation

[costas]

Is there such a thing as correct pronunciaton? That is a question many of my students ask me. I tend to believe that there are as many pronunciations or accents as there are speakers of the language

Are pronunciation and accent the same thing?

Cheers

[dduck]

Are pronunciation and accent the same thing?

Costas, where did you learn "Cheers". You're in Brazil, right?

I think these words aren't exactly the same but they're very closely related.

In general, how a child sounds a word is normally governed, not by choice, but simply by the language sounds surrounding him or her. Around puberty the sounds choices become fixed (they can be changed but only with a lot of work) usually identifying a person to a particular region by their pronunciation - we say they have an accent.

On the other hand, some people can't pronounce the 'r', e.g. Johnathan Ross, sound correctly, or like Shaun Connery, they say /sh/ instead of /s/. We can contrast certain individuals lack of ability with a social group's choice to make or not make a certain sound (e.g. southern English people are non-rhotic speakers).

Iain

[Estelle Angelinas]

I am of Greek origin but was born in the United States. I have an American accent, but I pronounce Greek words clearly and have the correct intonation. On the other hand, my children were born in Greece. They speak English clearly and pronounce the words correctly, but have a Greek accent. They are presently at university in England, when they speak to other students there, they can tell that they are from Greece by their accent. I believe that accents are fixed, but pronunciation can be improved . Still, what really matters is whether others can understand what you say or not. I actually can understand a foreigner speaking English better than an Englishman, especially if he comes from a part of England where they have a heavy accent. Like Wales for example. Thanks for listening.

[costas]

Hi

I actually can understand a foreigner speaking English better than an Englishman, especially if he comes from a part of England where they have a heavy accent. Like Wales for example. Thanks for listening.

It is often true, but it is not only because of the accent. Non-native speakers speak usually slower, we hardly use regional slang or phrasla verbs and our grammar is "standard" -comes from grammar books-.

Iain,

I live in Catalonia, not in Brazil. I learnt it in England and when I studien English at secondary school

See you

[magaly]

well a good pronunciation implies intelligibility; this means that our words have to be the most clearly possible, pronuncing every sound carefully in order not to confuse with other words.by the way intelligibility does not mean perfection.

Hi all,

I would like to know what "having a good pronunciation" means.

Cheers

[dduck]

well a good pronunciation implies intelligibility;

I'd just like to add, if you've heard Richard Burton in "World of the Worlds" you know what excellent pronunciation sounds like. I was also impressed by Andreas Katsulas's articulation in his Babylon 5 performances.

Iain

[wjserson]

I won't even try to touch what was just said. "Good pronounciation, defined by actors playing aliens" it's just to freaky. Next thing you're gonna say is that although Warf had a Klingon accent in Next Generation, his proficiency in English and his ability to speak English as a non-native speaker were superb.

(just a joke)

[Estelle Angelinas]

In my opinion Sean Connery has a good pronunciation. Really, though, we must remember that actors get a lot of practice. A really good actor or actress can imitate almost any accent. That is their job! So maybe, in the long run, all that matters is that you're understood. Sincerely, Costadina

[revel]

Hey there!

Two points on Actors and their pronunciation.

In the first place, those actors mentioned, as well as all actors, go through voice training, where they learn to interpret, pronounce, change accents, project etc. Thus, their voice is an instrument that they use in their art, and probably use in their daily lives as well, since the beautiful voice is a wonderful thing and if you have one, why not use it?

In the second place, actors pronouncing texts from plays or in movies are not improvising. They have repeated those texts numerous times. They have analysed those texts for their meaning, for the combination of sounds, for their importance in communicating the theme of the work in which they are performing. Their words must not only be understood on a syntactic level, but also on an emotional level and on an overal thematic level. What we hear from an actor in a play or a flim is the result of hours of study and practice and that contributes to it sounding so nice.

Naturally, these techniques can be applied to the ESL classroom, but in the end, all students need much more work on relaxing and improvising than on sounding like Richard Burton!

peace,
revel.

[shane12]

This site is good for Asian speakers:

http://www.aacfs.com/10pronunciationtip ... eakers.htm

take care,

Shane