Sophie en la playa audio
tell me how I'm doing with the pronunciation and such. thanks. i tried to post to my blog, but the link doesn't appear. maybe it will here.you can listen here:
4 Answers
Thanks all. especially Lazurus for the blow by blow, I was aware of some of the things you mentioned, but not all. It's interesting that the thing you said was pretty good (the rr in perro) is the thing I find hardest,and so the thing I had worked the hardest on. Also to Sam for the comments via voicemail. The real thanks should go to the podenco lady though. She came up with this idea. Hard to believe that it hadn't been done before, but it was an eye-opener when she did her Lucía. I'm sorry to tell you all this, but I just might do this again. As an ex-musician, it's kind of like having performance to work towards.
hey steve so i listened and while your pronunciation is technically correct it is a little deliberate, but great start and little more practice will give you that natural and casual flow
It is very clear, steve, and especially the vowels, but I can give you some tips, if you want:
Your Y is almost like a vowel (e.g. Me llamo = me iamo). You need to push your tongue against the roof of your mouth a bit more.
You are pronouncing the English V. The word "vivo" should sound exactly like "bibo".
Try to practice your synal'pha: when a word ends in a vowel sound, and the next one starts with a vowel sound, don't make a clear stop in between - join them. E.g. "Nuestra hija" should sound more like "Nuestraija" than "Nuestra, ija".
Don't make your T so explosive, like in English (e.g. in "Tiene un hermano"). Just press your teeth between your teeth, and avoid the aspiration. Your "p" has some aspiration sometimes as well, and it shouldn't.
Your "R" in "pero" and "volverá" should be softer. The sound of this Spanish "R" is actually pretty close to the American "D", or the "T" in butter. Your hard RR in "perra" sounds pretty good, though.
The worst sound, by far, is your "D" in "nada para la pelota". It sounds exactly like "nara", and it barely resembles our "D" sound. Your "D" here is a much better Spanish "R" sound than the one you pronounce in "pero". Same thing in "puedes decir..." (pueres decir). To pronounce the Spanish "D" correctly , the tongue must be touching the upper teeth, and not the palate.
La Podenquera said:
Hello Steve! I am not the right person to say anything about your pronunciations so I will just paraphrase you. It is much easier to understand an american speaking spanish than when a native do it. Well done! I must say that I'm very proud of us. You may think that the youngsters would be the first to do this, but no. It was we old timers = D The rest of you, try to do this too. In Sweden we say - At least once a day, take a jump from the edge of the carpet.
You are both deserving of applause for your (to my knowledge, groundbreaking) use of recorded speech to solicit comments/corrections about your speech/pronunciation. I sent Steve a voice message about the pronunciation of some specific words (which would be very difficult to communicate via text). In both of your cases, the predominant factor that brands you as non-native speakers is not the pronunciation of individual words but of the overall flow of the utterances. One factor is simply the speed of utterance (it's too deliberate) the other (which is much more difficult) I would call the "rhythm" or "musicality" (which can vary from country and, even, from region to region). Since you are both self-labeled "beginners", it is hardly surprising that you don't sound like native speakers. One might even ask, "Is it better to sound like a 'native' who makes mistakes (in grammar and vocabulary) or to sound like a 'foreigner' who speaks Spanish to rival (grammatically, that of) Cervantes'"
