my pronunciation of esto Y eso

Question

ok no i have a speech impediment ( stammer/stutter) its a slight one but in english i can subsutute words for words i dont kno but these words i have trouble with the E sound in the beginning of the word. wat i do to get around it is put a Y in front of it....now is this harder to understand or about the same when i say it to myslef it doesnt make a different but for those who speak spanish well say it to urselves wtih YESTO or YESTE YESTA tell me if this is presentable .

Answer 1

to be honest. it does sound weird. but i guess if y ou point when you say it, you would be understood. If someone ask why you say that then you can always explain your situation.

Answer 2

Well, as a general rule, the more relevant context that you supply in your sentence/conversation the more likely your listener is to understand you (and, perhaps, not even notice _small_ errors). As Kashmir said, in the case of demonstrative pronouns (esto, eso, etc.), gesturing can help. Providing more explicit detail/description may help. For example "este libro" vs just "esto" or "esa cosa roja" vs just "eso". As your vocabulary and grammar improve you'll undoubtedly learn other ways "work around" problematic words (as you say you do in English). The basic situation is pretty much the same as the problem of what to say if you don't know a particular word. You try to use a synonym or substitute some phrase that conveys the meaning.

Answer 3

You may be surprised at what happens as you learn more Spanish. Some speech impediments seem to have a situational component. As an example, some men (it's rare for a woman to stutter) have an impediment when talking in a normal voice, but not when whispering or singing.

I'm not a neuroanatomist, but I do know something about the brain. Our "native" language resides in our right brain. When we learn a new language, it typically resides in our left brain. I think with lots of use it migrates toward the right side.

You may have a couple of neurons that aren't firing at the right time in your right brain (in the language area). Your Spanish language may just naturally use other neurons.

Strokes sometimes affect the language center of the brain, causing the loss of language. If the native language is sign language, that is lost. In other words, if I understand it correctly, language difficulties usually aren't a problem with motor skills, but rather neurologic.

I've learned a little about this, because I sometimes have some of the same difficulties--depending on the stress level of the situation. I can conduct a four hour training session in Spanish and not have any problems, then find I can barely talk to my friend (also in Spanish) about how the session went.

You'll probably also find that most people will do their best to understand you and will try to help you where they can. Let them know if the "help" is not helpful.

Answer 4

I have been thinking...actually I would simply not use the words, sounds too weird. and yeso is a different word.

Answer 5

A discussion of the neurological differences is fascinating but, In a more purely linguist context, I would be inclined to say that "People hear what they want/expect to hear.". I've had experiences (usually after being for a while in a Spanish speaking country) when someone (suddenly) said something to me in English and it sounded like total gibberish. The problem being, that I was expecting them to say something in Spanish!. It took me a second to realize that it wasn't Spanish, it was English and my brain had to "back up" and reinterpret everything before I could make sense of what they had said.

From the opposite perspective, I've had experiences in Japan when I said something to a total stranger (asking directions or some such), what I said was perfectly correct Japanese (you'll have to trust me on this) but the person's reaction was one of total incomprehension. My take on the situation is that she (it was a woman) was thinking, in effect, "This person is a foreigner, therefor he can't be speaking Japanese therefore I can't possibly understand what he's saying!"

I've had a similar experience but when I was with a Japanese friend: We were asking a stranger for some information. I asked a question; the person looked at me with total incomprehension (as though I just landed from Mars). My friend then repeated the question (exactly as I had phrased it) and the person answered. Actually, this went on for some time. I would say something; the person would look blank; my friend would say the _same_ thing and the person would answer. Believe me, my grammar is only so so but my pronunciation is very good. The real problem was that this person's brain processes _refused_ to admit the possibility that I was speaking Japanese (since one look was enough to see that I wasn't_Japanese!) and, therefor, whatever I said, couldn't be Japanese, and therefor, it should be ignored.

Conversely, when you're speaking to someone, they will often not hear mistakes (that are a reasonable approximation of what it correct) because they are anticipating what you should (or might reasonably) say.

From a totally different perspective, in my experience, most people are so pleased that you are making an_attempt_ to speak their language, that they will be forgiving of all sorts of errors.

Answer 6

yes very true. i always talk to the cleanin crew in my store and when they ask me a quetion or make " small talk " they understand me well but when im tellin them a story their face is like omg wat is he saying lol but then they reply correctly so i kno im understood. but ya same thing when im speakin with my mom ( not real mother but i see her as my mom my addopted mom) and suddenly she says something in english i might understand it but cuz i dont kno weather it was spanish but a word i dont kno or english i have to ask her " wat did u just say lol " my spanish is good i notice i dont stutter if i get into the persona of another person!!!! same with singin or whispering. but it can be frustrating not being able to say or show how good u are cuz of a lil problem. but i love spanish will have it in my life for a long time matter of fact im movin out my house to live with her ( problems in my housel ol gotta go!!!