Interactive Audio Thread No 7 - Hilo de audio interactivo 7 The eye of the Peacock Mantis Shrimp / El ojo del camarón mantis
For those of you who have not yet participated in our audio thread this link will give you instructions on how to record and upload an audio file
The aim of this thread is to practice speaking the language which we are learning and be corrected by native speakers. I shall be correcting the English recordings and Lazarus will correct the Spanish versions.
(PD due to the popularity of this thread and the number of participants Cogumela has kindly jumped in to help get through all the Spanish recordings which is a massive task - a special thanks to you too Cogu! 
If you are a native speaker and feel that you could help on any upcoming audio threads please PM me as I'm starting to think that each thread could do with an army of reviewers! )
As there are so many English speakers joining in, this is a very labour intensive job for the Spanish speaker - as you know Julián has worked very hard on these threads and now Lazarus has kindly agreed to do this one - so please recognize and appreciate the time and effort that goes into such feedback - apply it and make the most of it and please show your appreciation by your comments and votes for Lazarus on this thread and Julián on the others.
Please feel free to add a second recording incorporating any suggestions which you are given to show your improvement
Read the following information slowly and clearly and upload it along with your name, the country where you live and your level in the language you have recorded in.
Name:
Country of residence:
Level of Spanish:
The Eye of the Peacock Mantis Shrimp
The peacock mantis shrimp, found on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, is equipped with the most complex eyesight in the animal kingdom. It can perceive polarized light and process it in ways that humans cannot do.
Unlike other creatures, this mantis shrimp not only sees polarized light in both its straight-line and corkscrew forms but is also able to convert the light from the one form to the other. DVD players work in a similar way, but while the DVD player only converts red light - or in higher-resolution players, blue light - the shrimp's eye can convert light in all colours of the spectrum. What's particularly exciting is how beautifully simple it is. It works much, much better than any attempts that we've made to construct a device. What do you think? Is the remarkable eye of the peacock mantis a product of chance or was it designed?
(excerpt from the November 2010 'Awake' magazine)
Para todos aquellos que aun no han participado en nuestro hilo de audio, este hilo les dará las instrucciones para grabar y subir un archivo de audio.
El propósito de este hilo es practicar, hablando el lenguaje que estamos aprendiendo y siendo corregidos por los nativos en dicho idioma. Yo estaré corrigiendo las grabaciones en español y Kiwi estará corrigiendo las grabaciones en inglés.
Por favor, sientanse libres de agregar una segunda grabación incorporando algunas de las sugerencias que se te dieron para mostrar tu mejora 
.
Lee la siguiente información lenta y claramente, despues sube el archivo. Recuerda que el formato en el comentario debe ser de la siguiente manera:
Nombre:
País de residencia:
Nivel de inglés:
El ojo del camarón mantis
El camarón mantis, un crustáceo que habita en la Gran Barrera de Arrecifes de Australia, está dotado de la vista más compleja de todo el reino animal. Es capaz de percibir la luz polarizada y procesarla de muchas maneras que el ojo humano no puede hacer.
A diferencia de otras criaturas, este camarón no solo percibe la luz polarizada en ambas formas, línea recta y espiral, sino que es capaz de convertirlas de un tipo a otro. Los aparatos de DVD funcionan de una manera parecida. Pero mientras que un DVD estándar solo convierte la luz roja - o en aparatos de mayor resolución, la luz azul -, el ojo del camarón mantis puede convertir luz de todos los colores del espectro visible. Resulta particularmente emocionante lo sencillísimo que es. Funciona mucho mejor que ninguno de los prototipos que hemos construido. ¿Qué piensa? ¿Es el extraordinario ojo del camarón mantis producto de la casualidad, o del diseño?
De la revista ¡Despertad! Noviembre 2010
New audio exercise and You Tube links to help with your Spanish pronunciation Click here
Reference Link to all interactive audio threads so far Ref to Audio Threads
75 Answers
I feel most uneasy in front of a microphone, and I get so tense, that my intonation suffers from it, and sound more monotonous than normal, and sometimes even silly. But I though maybe someone wants to hear me nevertheless:
http://www.2shared.com/audio/SYGBnobJ/Camarn_mantis.html
My accent is from the south of Spain, although I personally don't use "seseo" (even though it is very easy to do). The pronunciation is not as fast and casual as when I speak with other natives from my city, but it is not artificially slow either.
And just for a laugh, why not in English too?
http://www.2shared.com/audio/Jf9UpbMt/Shrimp.html
Although my pronunciation is far from good, and I still fear the mic, at least the warm-up in Spanish will hopefully result in a more relaxed intonation (I hope).
Nombre: Ira
País de residencia: Texas (EEUU)
Nivel de español: Chapucero
Name: Ira
Country of residence: Texas (USA)
Level of English: Native speaker
Name: Patch
Country of residence: England
Level of Spanish: Intermediate
Edit
I added my English version too.
@swampy:
It sounds reasonably clear, and you are clearly making an effort to pronounce the vowels right, which makes your Spanish much easier to understand that those who don't try, but I've got the impression that you have given up on your Spanish R sounds. The trilled R is not easy, but the tap R is not difficult: the American English D is practically our tap R.
Like I said to others, the D/T problem is something that only natives seem to notice. I still find it difficult to force myself to raise the tongue to make an alveolar D or T.
As you get more practice and you can read with less effort, you probably want to work on joining successive vowels (synaloepha), because you (and anyone who is not fluent) make stops where you should have joined sounds. E.g. "extraordinario" does not sound like extra-ordinario, but extraor-dinario, with the A and the O pronounced together. You do this correctly in "de un tipo", where you say "deún tipo" (as it should be), but you say "que... es", instead of "quees" (failing to join two E).
@Ira
There are long fragments where it is almost impossible to tell that Spanish is not your first language. Your intonation sounds like a Mexican; very impressive.
There only a few things that give away your origins. The most obvious one is that your D is American, not Spanish. The Spanish D and T are dental (i.e. the tip of you tongue must touch your teeth, even the lower one), while the English one is alveolar (i.e. the tip of the tongue is above the upper gums). In some words, the D is simply a bit foreign, but your "todo" (everything) sounds nearly like a perfect "toro" (bull), "dotado" is almost like "rotado", "diferencia" as "riferencia", DVD as "deberé", and "del" sounds strange.
Your first R in "camarón" sounds too hard, but in subsequent occasions it sounds fine.
If you read a text without a single D, you could probably fool any native.
@rabbitwho:
I like that "Ya veremos..." It makes you sound really fluent. The whole recording is clear and easy to understand, so I'll just comment on things that can be improved:
The way you pronounce "mantis" sounds like "mantes" to my ears. You must pronounce the vowels with the clarity and definiteness that characterizes Spanish vowels.
As you are probably well aware, your R and RR sounds need improving. The R in "camarón" is too hard, and the RR in "arrecife" should be trilled, although the latter is not so bad. None of those sounds are so worrying that prevent me from easily understanding what you are saying.
Like most foreigners who are not fluent, there are pauses where there should be none. When a word ends in a vowel sound and the next begins with another, it is natural (even in formal Spanish) to join the sounds as if they belong to the same syllable, making the speech more fluent. A sudden stop there is only admissible when a teacher wants to artificially show the students where a word ends and another one starts, but it sounds weird in normal speech. An example is "...que el DVD...", where the -e of "que" and the -e of "el" should have been joined into "queel DVD", and even fused into "quel DVD". Your stop there is not natural. Another example is "todo el reino", where "todo" and "reino" should have blended into "todoel". Another example: "que habita", which should sound like "queabita".
The "y" in "mayor" does not sound like any variety of Spanish I am familiar with. This seems to be a difficult sound for English speakers, but there are at least two main sounds used by natives to try to imitate.
Your "d" sounds hard all the time, and I can tell it is not touching the teeth, as it should in Spanish (but not in English). In "La barrera de", that D should be as soft as TH in "thus".
Don't worry about "sencillísimo"; it seems to be designed to target most of your weaknesses.
Remember that "gracias" should be followed by "por", not "para" (unless this "para" indicates who gets the thanks).
I think I speak for everyone and would just like to finish this thread by saying a huge thank you to Lazarus and Cogumela for all the time and effort and invaluable help that they have put into this thread - muchísimas gracias amigos!
I was extremely reluctant to post a recording with my voice for several reasons:
(1) Mics terrify me, and I sound stiff and artificial, and I make all sort of mistakes, even in my own native language: Spanish
(2) My English is far from good, no matter what people say. I know it is good enough to communicate effectively and get understood, but I have refused to teach English to other Spanish speakers for many years, on the grounds that they shouldn't learn from my mistakes, even though I can describe phonetically how to accurately pronounce words in both languages.
(3) I hope I don't have to listen to myself, because I hate it. According to other people, some of them professional musicians, I have a "talented" ear for music (their words, not mine), and yet, I am crap at playing instruments. However, I am a genius when it comes to detecting an instrument slightly out of tune, or someone mispronouncing anything; all of it useless. Bad for me. Every time I sing, I find all sorts of problems, and when I try to play an instrument, I am very sensitive to synchronisation, harmony and other problems, so I end up hating myself. When it comes to languages, both my musical ear and my grammar analyser get automatically activated, so when I try to speak any language, included my own, I get the harshest score ever. I hardly ever find anyone who can find more fault in me than myself. Luckily for me, I have refused to listen to my own recording; otherwise, I would have found even more defects than the ones Kiwi pointed to me.
My advice: do not be like me.
@Kiwi:
The first thing that caught my attention is that your flap R is far too hard. You sound like "camaRón", "apaRato", "pRoducto", and even "gRan"; however, in other words, like "espiral" or "parecida", your R is very good . You definitely want to easy down on those R. And again, like everyone so far, you have a perfect Spanish flap R in your English D, because you sound like "dotaro" (->dotado), "toro" (->todo), "puere" (->puede), "polarizara" (->polarizada). If you are unsure about how to pronounce the R, try your native D sound, which is perfect for the job. For the Spanish D, you have to practice touching your upper teeth with the tip of your tongue, roughly a couple of cm (nearly an inch) lower than usual. And remember that the D has a much softer version where you don't even touch your teeth.
You sound very fluent and clear, with the vowels nicely sharp and clear, and you don't over-pronounce any B where it should be soft (even though it could be slightly softer sometimes). I bet that a text without the letters D and R, you'd almost fool a native speaker into believing you are one too. The only other thing that gives away your native language is that you don't join words when they are "linked" by vowels. Two examples: in "o en...", it should sound like "oen", not "o... ... en", and "de uve de" should sound like "deúve de", linking the "e" and the "u".
So far, different people have different strengths and levels, but interestingly, almost everyone shares the same pitfalls.
Sneakin' in to post this - lots happening at home but this is such great practice.
Sally, English, native. (England)
Spanish, Intermediate (attempting Spanish with differenciation z/c/s)
Camarón mantis Peacock Mantis Shrimp
To me, by the way, this sentence seems a bit odd:
"It can perceive polarized light and process it in ways that humans cannot do."
I think it should end with 'cannot', the 'do' being clumsy and unecessary here. Any other opinions on this?
Thanks again, MC.
Hiya, does it matter what site it's on? I put it on Audioboo because you can sign in automatically if you have a twitter account, if that's not okay I can move it.
I also accidentally said my nationality instead of my country of residence. Vivo en Girona, no puedo estar seguro de mi País de residencia!
Nombre: Rebecca
País de residencia; España!
Nivel de Español: Intermedio?
Nivel de Inglés: fluido
http://audioboo.fm/boos/459239-el-ojo-del-camaron-mantis
I can't seem to do a rolled R after an I so everyone always thinks I'm saying I'm from Holand rather than Ireland. Of course I don't mind until people start speaking dutch to me.
Oh I hate hearing my own voice, it sounds like all of this stuff about the poor shrimp is all part of some evil plan I have for taking over the world.
Thanks you guys for doing this, especially Lazarus, it's really great practice, I read it a good 3 times, would have done more if it wasn't almost 12 at night and 30 degrees!
Attempt 2, trying to take into account the things Lazarus said but not quite managing to! http://audioboo.fm/boos/463333-el-ojo-del-camaron-mantis-2
I'm giving you some work, Kiwi
Congrats for this thread, Kiwi and Laz. Impressive work!
@Feliz77:
Sorry, last time I checked I couldn't see any Spanish.
Many of the flap R, e.g. "camaRón", "maneRas", "apaRatos", "polaRizadas" are far too hard. See other comments, because this seems to be a very common phenomenon. However, in "conve(r)tir", the R is almost not pronounced. Your trilled RR, which is supposed to be the difficult sound, is fine, though.
Some comments about isolated words: you put the stress in "crustáceo" and "mantis" on the wrong syllable, and a in few words like "la" (before "vista"), "diferencia", "manera", "resulta" or "" you relax your vowels too much and they sound indistinct.
It gives the impression that you are making a big effort to read all those words, but overall it is rather clear.
@Ken:
I hope you are reading all my previous comments, because most remarks are true for most people whose first language is English, especially the infamous D. Five seconds into your recording, I noticed something you might want to correct: your L. If I am not mistaken, you are pressing the lower part of your tongue against your alveolar ridge (just below the tip), curling your tongue a bit into a concave shape, while in Spanish it should be the upper part of the tongue, a bit more in the direction of a convex shape (just slightly). I am reasonably familiar with this sound, because it is the standard Catalan L (a language spoken in Spain). The difference in sound is, to my ears, very significant.
I hope I don't sound too negative, but check your "percibIr", because your last "i" is pronounced as a schwa, a kind of neutral, indistinct sound that very often appears in English whenever a vowel is not stressed. A similar thing happens in two vowels in "convErtIrlas", In Spanish vowels have to be very sharp and distinct to be clear. Keep an eye on the stress, because "espiral" has the stress on the last syllable, unlike in English.
Some very good parts are "El camarón mantis..." (except the L, as I said), "línea recta", "lo sencillísimo que es". Despite the schwa used in "particularmente", it is surprising to see how easily and fast you can pronounce that word. I like your intonation: it has a certain appeal that makes you listen to what you are saying.
@Ray:
Like in all reviews I have done so far, including some exceptionally good ones, your D is not Spanish, and your "todo" also sounds like a nearly perfect "toro" (bull). See my comments above.
The R is not an easy sound, but since your D is so close to our flap R, this sound should not be so much of an issue. The RR is harder to get, but it is not essential. For example, in "mayor resolución", even though that R is not very trilled, the phrase sounds practically like native to me.
On the positive side, your vowels (which is what makes it easy to understand someone) are very clear most of the time, although sometimes you relax them a bit, like in some "los".
"Vista más compleja" sounds pretty good, "ambas formas" sounds almost perfect (the B could be a bit softer), and there are many other parts where the pronunciation is very clear, although with too many pauses. Once you gain a bit of fluency and speed, you will sound a lot better than you imagine. Keep an eye on things like "ojo humano", where the last "o" of "ojo" and the first "u" sound of "humano" are normally concatenated; your pause there seems a bit out of place. I have commented about this in other posts here.
