Recording of yours truly jabbering away in English

Question

Hi,I have recorded myself speaking in English, and I've uploaded the mp3 file here:http://www.megaupload.com/?d=54XUN4JK It's not long, so it won't take much time for you to listen to me and tell me how I can improve my pronunciation, and to answer the couple of questions I ask there, if you can understand them.Thank you very much. I'm working hard at trying to speak better English, but it's SO difficult...

JohnParis · Accepted Answer

your link is faulty.

Anonymous · Answer

Strange. It works all right for me. You have to wait I think it's 40 seconds to be able to download the file (I used the free service), but it's working fine.

JohnParis · Answer

Hello Anonymous,

I was able to get the link to work and download your file.

You do have an accent - no doubt about it.

However, I understood nearly every single word you said. The quality of the recording was not the best.

You asked whether I could identify your country of origin. No, I cannot. Well, not as easily as some. I would hazard a guess, however, at either a Spanish speaking nation or possibly Greece.

You speak rapidly. Perhaps this was due to the length of time you were limited to for making your file?

If not, this clearly indicates that you are at ease in English and that you have a good command of the language. You may wish to slow down your speech and concentrate on enunciation.

Apart from all of that, I don't really understand what you want. Perhaps you are an actress and you need to improve your accent for professional purposes? If this is the case, you will require special training by qualified voice coaches. I know many people in this field but I do not know where you are and, hence, cannot recommend anyone to you as yet.

Perhaps you are in business and do not feel comfortable with the way your voice sounds and you think it's because of your accent?

I have many years experience with dealing in accents and I invite you to contact me directly via email (my address is on my profile) so that you can tell me exactly what it is that you need. I'd be happy to help.

Sincerely,

John

Anonymous · Answer

Hi John,

I'm the same anonymous as above. Thanks a lot for taking the time to listen to my mp3 file and to answer to my questions. I've got a friend (sitting at the desk opposite mine at the office right now) who told me I'd find help here at EnglishForward.com for sure, and he was right. I'm not sending you an e-mail because perhaps posting this here might help someone else in the same case.

I am sorry about the poor quality of the recording, but I only had this laptop with its built-in mic. Yes, I'm Spanish. I've often read about the most typical pronuntiation mistakes of a Spaniard speaking English, and I try to avoid them. Of course, I know I will always have a foreign accent; it's unrealistic to expect otherwise. But I think even my strong accent could be improved to a certain extent, if only I knew in what direction I should work.

There are a number of reasons why I'd like to improve my accent. Because of my job, I must speak with many people in English, sometimes in public. And I feel very embarrased when I must do so. Many people say that as long as people can understand what I'm saying, I should not worry. But I cannot avoid getting the impression that they must do a great effort to find out what I'm saying. Besides, I think that having a better accent might help me to understand spoken English, too.

Another reason is that what I have always wanted to be is an English teacher. My present job is completely unconnected with this, because I gave up trying. Some time ago I applied for teaching jobs, and made interviews. I had a promising curriculum, with PCE and all, and the written tests always were all right. But the moment I opened my mouth for the spoken interviews and I saw the interviewers' faces, I knew I wouldn't get the jobs. I suspect they preferred someone with a better accent even if their overall English was worse than mine. Apart from that, I've got the impression that they were generally looking for someone with somewhat of a British ~~rather than American~~ accent; that's why I asked about that.

Besides, one of my hobbies is singing while playing the guitar. The kind of music I like is always in English, but several years ago I decided I'd never sing in public again until I managed to make it sound like English, instead of Greek (if I don't call it Spanish is because no one understands a word).

Lastly, I like the English language, so I'd like to learn it as well as possible, and this includes speaking it as well as possible. Let's face it, I know I'll never have a good accent, but I think it can get a bit better than it is now. In fact, I know it could be MUCH better than it is, but my abilities won't allow for much progress, I'm afraid. Anyway, I'd like to improve as far as I can go.

As you say, I speak quickly. You're right, the first thing I should do is slow down. I had no time constraints while recording, but I don't attribute my speed to my being at ease. On the contrary, nervousness makes me speak more quickly (and I speak really quickly in Spanish). While recording, I think I was really making an effort to speak slowly. Apart from the nervousness, when I hear myself speaking English, it sounds in fits and starts, like many separate words. So it might be an unsuccessful attempt at trying to make it sound more like a smooth sentence instead.

So this is what I wanted to find out when I recorded my speech. And, if possible, to know where I stand on a scale from 0 to 10. I have read books on English pronunciation and phonetics, but when it comes to real speech, you've heard the results. Anyway, I think the main problem is that I haven't come to terms with the idea that it'll never get better than this! So if you can give me any hint as to what steps I can take, I'd be very grateful, really.

Raindoctor · Answer

Check the review of "English phonetics and phonology for spanish speakers by Brian Mott'" at:

http://www.yek.me.uk/Blog.html#blog352

Also check

Teach yourself English pronunciation: an interactive course for Spanish speakers By Eva Estebas Vilaplana

About slowness: even in words, stressed syllables are slow snf unstressed ones are not. If you slow down every word, it doesn't help.

Along with these books, find an accent reduction specialist locally for lessons in person (not skype). Since you are a dedicated learner, you can achieve a native-like accent.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks a lot for your help. I've asked my friend at the office, whose English is much better than mine, although his accent isn't. He's studying for a degree in English language and literature, and he says he knows Eva Estebas Vilaplana, who has been a teacher of his in a phonetics course. But she didn't use her own book there. She used "Gimson's Pronuntiation of English" instead. He lent it to me some time ago, and I read it, but it hasn't helped much. I still can't tell many sounds from others, and I can't reproduce them. If they are isotated, more or less, but not in normal speech.

I'll look for those two books. They're oriented to Spanish speakers, so that might help. Mott's book seems not to be available anywhere, there's only one in Amazon, second-hand, and I don't know if the price is what it should be, or blown up. As for the accent reduction specialist, I didn't know such a thing existed. I'll try to find one that's good, if possible. I'm fed up with attending English courses of a supposedly high level where I don't learn anything new. Is there any way to know if a specialist is good or not? I think that you can't know just from a few lessons. Probably results don't show in the short term, do they?

Recording of yours truly jabbering away in English

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Teach yourself English pronunciation: an interactive course for Spanish speakers By Eva Es

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