http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aPronunciation+tag%3aLanguages+tag%3aChatSearch results for 'tag:Pronunciation tag:Languages tag:Chat' matching tags 'Pronunciation', 'Languages', and 'Chat'en-USXMOD (Build: 3715.30106)http://www.englishforums.com/English/PronunciationOfNumbers/lbjkm/post.htm#926712Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:11:05 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:926712anonymousHi, let me help you, I am Canadian. First of all, there is the correct way to say numbers, and the everyday/slang way. The proper way is &quot; and&quot; means a decimal. You NEVER use &quot;and&quot; unless denoting a decimal. How about 1,415,926,535? Properly it is read: One billion, four hundred fifteen million, nine hundred twenty-six thousand, five hundred thirty-five. 2,684 ft = Two thousand, six hundred eighty-four 2, 684.2 = Two thousand, six hundred, eighty-four, and two-tenths. the &quot;hundred&quot; stuff is lazy and it is slang, however very commonly used. Most English speaking don&#39;t even realize this. 2400 = should be read as, Two thousand, four hundred. But they...http://www.englishforums.com/English/WelshAccentPreciseJoness/lrjhh/post.htmTue, 29 Sep 2009 07:47:21 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:921458colomboI&#39;ve been away from this forum for a while, and meantime I&#39;ve enrolled for a five-year (gulp!) degree in English (which includes grammar, literature, linguistics, and so on) at a distance university. Right now I&#39;m starting to delve into English phonetics (using &quot;Gimson&#39;s Pronunciation of English&quot;, which is the recommended textbook), and while I like the subject, I find it very hard. I don&#39;t think it&#39;ll improve my pronunciation at all, not having an &#39;Enry &#39;Iggins to hand, but I&#39;m doing my best. I suppose the internet&#39;s got many resources, but having no internet connection at home and not much time to search, I cannot take much advantage of them. I&#39;ve written down a list of...http://www.englishforums.com/English/EnglishSpanishPhoneticSoundsPhonetic-Differences/lrcqq/post.htm#919790Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:46:13 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:919790califjimI&#39;m sure they do compare -- somehow. But what is your question? Which 44 symbols are you talking about? Which Spanish sounds are you talking about? CJhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/EnglishSpeakingHelp/knnxm/post.htm#903392Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:48:18 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:903392coloradayI&#39;m not native but I do know that first of all you should learn the phonetic symbols and then with every word you look up you should try to pronounce it exactly.when you do this a lot then without any phonetic help you can read every word exactly. I think it would be a great help to listen all day long to The Beatles , then you&#39;d love to repeat the way they sing and this will help your speaking.But remember just listen to The Beatles .http://www.englishforums.com/English/NonNativeSpeakersAccent-Issue/kjqcd/post.htm#884187Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:59:47 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:884187kooyeen1. Have you ever thought about retaining some aspects of your first language Generally speaking, no, because English is a separate language. Of course it&#39;s easy to make mistakes because of the influence of my native language, but as I said, I consider them &quot;mistakes&quot;. That doesn&#39;t mean I expect perfection. I just want to be able to speak in a way I feel comfortable with, without accepting &quot;mistakes&quot; I don&#39;t like just because I&#39;m too lazy to fix them. 2. Do you consider some foreign accents as better than others because they sound &quot;cool&quot; or something like that? And are some foreign accents more annoying for you to listen to? No, foreign accents and accents in general are cool because...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HydrodynamicHydrodynamic/jmczx/post.htm#870792Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:48:16 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:870792anonymousUsing “a” and “an” Before Words Raphael asks: When should I use “a” and when should I use “an” before the different words? For example, should I say “a hour” or “an hour?” I stumble over this everytime and dont’t know if I’m getting it right, as I’m not speaking and writing English natively. The Rule The rule states that “a” should be used before words that begin with consonants (e.g., b, c ,d) while “an” should be used before words that begin with vowels (e.g., a,e,i). Notice, however, that the usage is determined by the pronunciation and not by the spelling, as many people wrongly assume. You should say, therefore, “an hour” (because hour begins with a vowel sound) and “a history” (because history begins with a consonant...http://www.englishforums.com/English/SoundsFrenchSoundFrench/kzmmh/post.htm#863471Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:46:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:863471yankeeThe language they are speaking doesn&#39;t sound like French. = I don&#39;t think they are speaking French. What they are saying doesn&#39;t sound French. = Either I don&#39;t think they are speaking in French, or I don&#39;t think their pronunciation or words have French qualities.http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheBestWay/kcnrl/post.htm#848852Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:07:38 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:848852kooyeenHi, In short: 1) Learn the basic grammar and learn how to build your sentences. Get a grammar book. 2) Learn the basic vocabulary to express yourself. 3) Try to avoid mistakes, that is, use the simple English you are comfortable with. 4) Use monolingual dictionaries like Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English or Oxford Advanced Learner&#39;s Dictionary, and learn from their examples. 5) Learn about pronunciation, learn the sounds and get used to pronounce everything you say more or less correctly. 6) Lots of practice. Read and listen, then practice writing, and speaking if you can.http://www.englishforums.com/English/GoingUpperIntermediateAdvanced-Learning/jjmhk/post.htmSun, 28 Jun 2009 16:23:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:799503jolehHello everybody. I&#39;m pretty good at English let&#39;s say, the writing, the pronunciation, the reading, the listening aren&#39;t big problem to me. Okay, the listening and speaking, I do it but with efforts. The speaking it&#39;s the hardest for me I think, because I do not use it frequently. Anyway, I need to improve my English to higher level. Last year I finished 4th level in Berlitz and I stopped attending classes there because of the high prices. I read books (currently The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger ) and I&#39;m curious how effective is that? I understand, let&#39;s say, 70% of the text... but I have problems with some advanced sentences and the vocabulary. My vocabulary is pretty poor. But, everything I&#39;ve...http://www.englishforums.com/English/BritishEnglishAlphabetPronounciation/gwqxk/post.htm#794461Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:56:07 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:794461anonymousRead the article found in the following site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_alphabet . The article is mainly talking about British English Alphabet. The pronunciation is in the form of phonetic symbols. When they are talking about other varieties of English, they will let you know. Thank you.http://www.englishforums.com/English/PrimarySecondaryStresses/jdxrz/post.htm#770862Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:18:42 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:770862alpheccastarsA good example is a multi-syllable word where the American English pronunciation has a different stress pattern than British English. If you click on the sound icons, you will hear the differences. LINK Mr M is correct that primary / secondary stresses occur naturally in conversation, as we put the emphasis on one or another word in a sentence.http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowLearnEnglishSpeakingEnglishforums-Com/jdxlj/post.htm#770833Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:00:03 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:770833alpheccastarsHow i have to start larning english speaking Dxxx_mentor: Find someone you know who speaks English well and practice speaking with them. We can help you with your writing. You can write dialogs to give you a structured conversation to practice. Youtube videos can help with listening and pronunciation skills. Welcome to EnglishForums!http://www.englishforums.com/English/LearningEnglish/wpwln/post.htm#745905Sun, 24 May 2009 21:00:37 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:745905american scarlettSure Dancinglow (by the way, I love your name. It sounds like a native American Indian name!) Teaching for Skype when both teacher and student have an account with Skype VOIP application (it is freeeeee!). This application allows people from far away to be able to have a face to face conversation. In my case, I teach English Conversation. Simply put~~ we put down the books and use what you have learned to have a one on one conversation! A language exchange partner is good if you are looking for a free way to practice English. A professional teacher like myself, will not speak with you for free. Our intention is to focus on you and what you need to be a better speaker. We will introduce different topics, stop the conversation...http://www.englishforums.com/English/TeachingGrammarFormalMannar/zmqlg/post.htm#744593Sat, 23 May 2009 21:53:19 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:744593alpheccastarsTtate: Welcome to the forums. This is a very interesting subject! Languages do have a formal grammar, but also there are many times when the rules are broken by native speakers in actual practice. Sometimes &quot;formal speech,&quot; although grammatically correct, sounds stilted and contrived in a casual conversation. Sometimes the word order, emphasis, and tone can change the meaning of a sentence or phrase. Languages are living; they evolve over time - vocabulary, pronunciation, and even grammar changes. Not only do they change over time, but they change with geography and even social class. Knowing a language well is like is knowing the people who speak it, with their history, poetry, nuances and foibles.http://www.englishforums.com/English/TestVocabulary/wlbqj/post.htm#736335Mon, 18 May 2009 17:34:03 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:736335alpheccastarsAnd how about hafta, gotta, gonna, wanna, shoulda... even on the news - Peter Jennings started using them on the evening news! If I fully enunciated &quot;have to&quot; &quot;going to&quot;, &quot;want to&quot; and other common reductions in a casual conversation, my comrades would think I was being stuck up and superior. This would not be conducive to winning friends. Language is a living thing, and changes in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary are part of its natural evolution. There is no &quot;Academy of English&quot; - it is truly a grass-roots democratic language with many dialects and variations; its changes are directed by millions of people writing and speaking every day. By the way, Americans typically stereotype the...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PronunciationsProstitutionAttitude-Opportunity/2/wggwk/Post.htm#699724Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:55:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:699724yankeeThe two pronunciations for the word opportunity are available in English Pronouncing Dictionary by Daniel Jones. Are you saying that Daniel Jones does not even mention the &quot;British&quot; pronunciation you see in the following link? (I would find that hard to believe.) http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?dict=CALD&amp;key=55715&amp;ph=on Cambridge represents the pronunciation of the third syllable phonetically as &quot;tju&quot;, which is exactly the sound I was talking about when I wrote &quot;tyu&quot;. To me, there is very definitely no CH sound there -- the &quot;tju&quot; pronunciation would have a T sound followed by something that sounds like the word &quot;you&quot;. I guess I just can&#39;t fathom anyone saying...http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheHardestWordsPronounce/11/cqbvk/Post.htm#698546Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:07:50 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:698546yourenglish.iehi Ben, Polish phonology is rather adventurous, that&#39;s right. But it does not make English any simplier. It is just that with some languages you have to be able to produce special sounds and train your hearing to understand them (e.g. Polish, Chinese). With some other languages you have to understand grammar before you start speaking (German). English tends to be perceived as an easy language because even with no grammar and some horrible pronounciation you will still be able to order that coffee or buy some sort of lunch. Still, it is a very difficult language because of extensive vocabulary and tricky pronounciation rules that no native speaker is aware of... I have noticed that for Slavic speakers the most difficult words are...http://www.englishforums.com/English/GrammaticalErrors/wgcrd/post.htm#698236Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:49:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:698236rayhWhen I visited Jowon middle-school as a Korean Interpretation Volunteer of Suwon Youth Center, there was a student there who had have lived in USA for 5 years. Needless to say, her pronunciation was much better than either mine or and her English teacher&#39;s. I wondered imagined what if the rest of the students in the class look ed down on their English teacher because she was less fluent. of the teacher&#39;s less fluent speaking ? What can teachers do when their students complain about their teacher&#39;s non native pronunciation? I really don&#39;t know the answer. cannot think of proper answers . Whatever the answer I say, it is just an excuse because I stand in front of my students them as an English teacher. I need to...http://www.englishforums.com/English/AParagraphOfAnEssay/wzxzm/post.htmSun, 12 Apr 2009 14:24:52 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:696876ellisaHello lovely teachers~ I&#39;m writing an essay on a specific book and here is a paragraph. Any grammatical correction is welcomed^^ Thanks in advance! In Korea, just because I&#39;m not a native speaker, it seems a matter of course (I mean, it seems fair! ) getting lower salary than a native speaker. I somewhat believe that natives are far better in English abilities. I, however, was overlooking &#39;training&#39; and &#39;experience&#39; which are regarded as the most important qualification for a teacher. If I work hard on training how to teach students and trying to have lots of experience, I might become a nonnative English-speaking teacher who surpasses NESTs. Then one question is remained. When I visited Jowon...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HelpUnderstandingAmerican-Accent/wvkzj/post.htm#695379Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:48:48 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:695379dsceneHi Sachin, I know what you mean about not understanding people at a high speed. It happens in every language, and can be frustrating. The best thing to do (as you probably already know) is to work on your listening skills (lots of practice) and also pronunciation skills. The better you are able to form and understand the sounds yourself, the easier you will find it to distinguish what others are saying. Another important point is to try to go into the conversation (the movie, the news broadcast, or whatever) with a sense of the context -- knowing basically what people are talking about. That way you don&#39;t need to catch every word. Good luck. Dsensehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/TheJourneyEnglishLanguage/wzbxl/post.htmWed, 01 Apr 2009 18:20:31 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:693271anonymoushi folks, I&#39;m a freshman student at teachers&#39; college and want to improve my English as much as I can. here, i wrote something for you to read in order to check my writing, grammatical or spelling mistakes. I should be handing this to the teacher in 2 weeks. I hope u can help understand my mistakes thanks in advance here&#39;s what i wrote: The Journey to English Language In the early 14, seeing my siblings, some friends and people around able to talk in English, I was filled with curiosity and strong passion attempting to decode the mystery of this language. Plus, I was raised in a family of which each member knew English and sometimes used it to hide “secrets” which were not allowed for me to...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowToPronounceW/2/bqxgq/Post.htm#690162Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:44:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:690162mister micawber. Not really true, Lisa. Although many speakers in all English-speaking countries (most notoriously GW Bush) reduce the pronunciation of many words, the only correct name of the letter remains &#39;double u&#39;. .http://www.englishforums.com/English/AllTheSudden/vhpgv/post.htm#688997Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:48:02 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:688997anonymousTwo years too late, the correct way to use the idiom is &quot;all of a sudden.&quot; American and British use of quotations is also different. Americans are taught for the most part that a period (full-stop) is used inside the quote, unless used to quote something technical regarding computer language or websites etc.. Two years too late, the correct way to use the idiom is: &quot;all of a sudden.&quot; – American Two years too late, the correct way to use the idiom is: &quot;all of a sudden&quot;. – British “All of the sudden” is also incorrect, no need for dashes either. I would assume the reason she hadn’t used “of” in the idiom is because in fluent speech many people disregard prepositions...http://www.englishforums.com/English/MyAmericanAccent/2/wrprk/Post.htm#677650Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:57:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:677650kooyeenYou are also right on me not being a native speaker. If I may ask, how did you find out? I cheated. I didn&#39;t hear it, I read it. Anyway, as I said, if I hadn&#39;t known that, I would not have thought you were a non-native speaker of English, even though every time someone posts a clip and says something like &quot;Criticism is welcome&quot;, as you said, people get biased and suspicious, and often over-analyze everything thinking there must be something peculiar. I don&#39;t know what that&#39;s called... observer bias? If you re-posted it along with some other clips of native speakers reading a random text, and then asked, like &quot;What do you think of these accents and voices?&quot;, I guess most listeners would pay much less...http://www.englishforums.com/English/ToolsCopeRealLifeCommunication/hqvkq/post.htm#667058Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:07:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:667058kooyeenLanguage teachers, could you tell us about some ways in which you are providing &quot;learners with the tools to cope with &#39;real-life&#39; communication ...&quot;? Here in my country, they don&#39;t. And I heard it&#39;s so in most other countries too (except in North Europe). &quot;This book brings authenticity of spoken text to the fore, making us realise how important it is to provide the learners with the tools to cope with &#39;real-life&#39; communication ... &quot; It sounded like an interesting book, but after checking it out, it seems to me there&#39;s nothing really special about it. If there&#39;s nothing about phonetics and phonology in there, it&#39;s completely useless when talking about &quot;real-life&quot;...http://www.englishforums.com/English/LetsPracticeSpokenEnglish/hqbzg/post.htmThu, 05 Feb 2009 11:40:34 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:663635paramengAccording to me Voice chat is more important.. to practice English speaking... so i have created a voice chat room.. with the help of skype... and i feel happy to tell u that within period of 20 days there are around 81 members ( 37 as a chatting member and 44 as a Read only members ) Here we can help each other by practicing Spoken English Languages, remember we mainly know how to write but when it comes to speak we hesitate, we lost our confidence specially if we are speaking in public space. Here we can Chat orally i.e with voice and thus practice helps us to improve a lot -- (URL removed) Please Click the above link or paste the above link in the Web Browser - Address bar and you will promoted to join the public chat. If u are...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowPronouncePacinoScorsese-Sean/3/dnzmm/Post.htm#662331Wed, 04 Feb 2009 04:24:11 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:662331anonymousI&#39;m a high school junior, so i&#39;ll be talking from classroom experiences.  I&#39;m in regular english and have completed 3 years of spanish. No English is not a phonetic language.  Languages like Italian and Spanish have only one way of pronouncing each vowel, and then a written accent mark can modify them slightly.  (one reason english is so hard to pick up as a second language is we don&#39;t write accent marks)  English has many ways of pronouncing each vowel and the only way to learn them all is by growing up with the language or being around it for a long time. For example, we add silent e&#39;s at the end of a word to emphasize the previous vowel. (As in like, have)  In spanish a word spelled &#39;have&#39; would be...http://www.englishforums.com/English/Laputa/2/hpgqj/Post.htm#662284Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:43:53 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:662284pterHi Kooyeen, Do you mean *** in Spanish is pronounced as POO-tuh? Just like you said, you would probably make it different on purpose, I am wondering if it is the reason why the British pronunciation mentioned by Martin, would probably be &quot;lap yoota&quot; (I understand it as rhyming with computer). I suppose most Japanese are not aware of the association with the Spanish word when talking about the animated movie Castle in the Sky!http://www.englishforums.com/English/FreeEnglishChatOnSkype/hpzwd/post.htmSun, 01 Feb 2009 17:05:51 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:659926anonymousIf you want to practice your pronunciation, chat with me on Skype or call me: (Skype name removed by mod. If you register, you can include your contact info in your profile) I am working on my TEFL certification and want to hone some of my teaching schools one-on-one. Thank you! Stephenhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/IsGerunds/2/hjjjh/Post.htm#634071Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:31:34 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:634071anonymousMany Americans do pronounce gerund verb forms as you noticed. It seems to be a regional trait, with Americans from some regions using more careful pronunciation. It is also sometimes situation specific (most people will enunciate better when speaking in a formal situation, but revert to the /n/ sound in everyday language).http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheAmericanAccent/hjwzr/post.htm#632881Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:47:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:632881kooyeenYou should have learned about pronunciation since the beginning! It&#39;s important! Anyway, it&#39;s not too late, don&#39;t worry. If you think you&#39;re going to hear more American English than British English, or if you plan to go to the US, or if you just like American accents more, then I suggest you learn more about American English. That&#39;s what I decided to do too, and decided I would use an American accent, but after a while I realized... you won&#39;t just hear one accent though: if you pay attention to what you hear you&#39;ll realize there&#39;s actually a lot of different accents (from different part of the US, from the UK, foreign accents, etc.). That&#39;s why the more you learn about English in general, the better....http://www.englishforums.com/English/TrySayingTheAlphabet/4/hnwzk/Post.htm#651115Sun, 09 Nov 2008 04:06:01 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:651115mmThat&#39;s not true, but not for the reasons others have ... letters didn&#39;t all sound alike, as you said they would. BTW, I wwasn&#39;t talking about silent letters. When I try to say the alphabet without moving my lips or tongue, there are no silent letters. I used to try this a lot when I was little, trying to become a ventriloquist, and I tried again when this thread started. You don&#39;t pronounce the d in handsome? Native speakers of English don&#39;t, unless dictating to children. In the same I do, and I&#39;m a native speaker, and I&#39;m sure I learned it from many other native speakers, (who I&#39;m sure still pronounce the words as I do) in Western Pa. until I was 11 years old. After that, I lived in Indianapolis but...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowPronounceFractionsBritishEnglish/2/hqwhh/Post.htm#665753Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:03:47 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:665753mike barnesI am looking for the right pronunciation of fractions in British English. Every style guide I find is very clear ... stop. How do you pronounce fractions like &quot;4000 / 563&quot; in English? Is it &quot;Four thousand five hundred sixty thirds&quot;? No, &quot;four thousand five hundred *and* sixty thirds. Which is also how I&#39;d say 4560/3. I am familiar with &quot;4000 over 563&quot; in American English. Is this correct in British English, too? Yes. I think it&#39;s fair to say that Americans use fractions a great deal more than the British (or anyone else) does. But even they&#39;d be most unlikely to come across the sort of fractions you&#39;re talking about, except in a technical context in which the &quot;4000 over 563&quot;...http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhenIsWAVowel/6/mwbn/Post.htm#570368Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:02:28 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:570368missmandyThis debate really seems to be about two different things, spelling and pronunciation. The letter w (and y) is often used with other vowels (and sometimes alone as well) in spelling to reperesent a vowel sound . In the words hi and by , the letter i and the letter y are representing the same sound. To add to the confusion, English has many diphthongs, or two-sound vowels. Two-sound vowels often begin or end in a sound very similar to a w sound or y sound. The easiest to here are oy (boy) and ow (cow), which can also be spelled oi (coin) and ou (house). So, it is very clear, that in spelling , w and y are like vowels. Our educators have found it much easier to just tell our kids that those letters are vowels because they are so often part...http://www.englishforums.com/English/SimpleSentences/gvdld/post.htmSun, 01 Jun 2008 23:38:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:521835moonwalkerCan you just correct some simple sentences for me. I wonder if them are right or not. 1. I believe that this trait of mine would help me to be a good teacher. 2. A translator whom I look up to said a language learner who consistently studuies and loves the target language will be successful than others who study reluctantly. 3. The requirements for &#39;fluent and native-like speaking teachers are high. 4. I want to learn about phonetics systematically. 5. I usually sleep 7 hours a day. It&#39;s like I almost waste of third-first of my lifetime sleeping. Thanks in advancehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/IImproveEnglishSpeakingListening-Skills/cxqzh/post.htmTue, 27 Jun 2006 13:12:26 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:240540anonymousIs any native speaker willing to help a girl which is passing Toefl next month? Hi everyone! I have an undecided problem that is impossible to solve without your help. I have to brush up my pronunciation and listening skills . if any native speaker decides to help me thanks a lot (please! do help me) Ann __ __ __ __ Edited by moderator: Please read this post --&gt; improve your English , which includes most of the tips that have been posted on Englishforums.com - - thread locked - -http://www.englishforums.com/English/SpotQuestionAdaptations-Accents/wjldb/post.htm#715618Mon, 10 Apr 2006 17:34:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:715618nmstevensThere is &quot;talk&quot; about my doing an adaptation from a book. Apart from the obvious issues about moving from one ... so I can&#39;t pass the buck in that direction. Or do I just say, &quot;I dunno, ask the director&quot;? M Well you certainly don&#39;t want to write what should be accent speech as &quot;standard English&quot; (whatever that is). On the other hand, you don&#39;t want to &quot;alliterate&quot; speech because it makes it almost impossible to read. Generally, though, you can indicate the manner of speech, when a character is speaking with a particular accent, not through phonetically indicating pronunciation, but rather through the syntax of the word ordering and the selection of words. &quot;Where&#39;s he&#39;s...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowOvercomeTongueTiedPronunciation/3/hkbxk/Post.htm#635510Thu, 09 Mar 2006 20:39:50 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:635510django cat <nospam@please>Unfortunately students who take IELTS exhibit the same poor speech skills, and that already includes a speaking test (for which I&#39;m an examiner). I gather that pronunciation is one of the criteria for marking and assessment... http://www.cambridgeesol.org/support/dloads/ielts/IELTS Handbook.pdf &quot;Pronunciation refers to the ability ... Don&#39;t you think accents do play a role in that, even though not officially acknowledged in the criteria for scoring? They shouldn&#39;t. I suppose you could see accents on a continuum, from charming regionalism to total incomprehensibility. An accent consists of a set of individual pronunciations, but not all of these need to be seen as greater or lesser errors. However, to take a word that...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowOvercomeTongueTiedPronunciation/3/hkbxk/Post.htm#635492Tue, 07 Mar 2006 23:04:41 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:635492enrico cmisc.education.language.english : Unfortunately students who take IELTS exhibit the same poor speech skills, and that already includes a speaking test (for which I&#39;m an examiner). I gather that *pronunciation* is one of the criteria for marking and assessment... http://www.cambridgeesol.org/support/dloads/ielts/IELTS Handbook.pdf &quot;Pronunciation refers to the ability to produce comprehensible speech to fulfil the speaking test requirements. The key indicators will be the amount of strain caused to the listener, the amount of the speech which is unintelligible and the noticeability of L1 influence.&quot; Don&#39;t you think *accents* do play a role in that, even though not officially acknowledged in the criteria for scoring?http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowOvercomeTongueTiedPronunciation/3/hkbxk/Post.htm#635478Fri, 03 Mar 2006 17:47:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:635478steve boThe English classes in East Asia traditionally have placed very little emphasis on listening and speaking skills. One consequence of this has been that these students take the TOEFL test and get a good score. Then they go to an American university and have significant trouble interacting with others using spoken English. Here is a quote from an article on the subject in the New York Times (Sept. 25, 2005): &quot;Most Asians, especially Japan, Korea, Taiwan, love reading, structure, grammer..Speaking is weak, because sometimes, it&#39;s impolite to speak out, to describe an opinion or talk to the teacher. When we take a class we just sit and take notes and memorize.&quot; Now that the TOEFL test is changing to include a speaking section...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowOvercomeTongueTiedPronunciation/2/hkbxk/Post.htm#635183Fri, 17 Feb 2006 21:57:35 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:635183steve boDC, As for Arnold, I am guessing that about him because he still has a relatively heavy accent but I have never have any trouble understanding anything he says. It seems unlikely to me that this is coincidence. There are two ways we could know for sure. The first method is transcribe his speech and look for deviations from a standard American accent, then compare to how a typical Austrian accent deviates from a standard American accent (or if possible transcribe his speech from an early interview from when he was a weightlifter). If the differences are only in the phonemes that have a high impact on intelligibilty then it would be safe to say that he did this on purpose (as I suspect). The second method would be to ask him. :-) But I...http://www.englishforums.com/English/GoodConversationPronunciationEvening-Course/hndqb/post.htm#649678Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:20:08 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:649678paul burkeI live and work in London and I would really like to improve my spoken english. In particular pronunciation, words linking and so forth. The problem is I work full time and every interesting C&amp;P course I found is during the day. Make some native friends and invite them home for a meal and a drink. Do it regularly. Let the conversation drift like a newsgroup. Paul Burkehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/LookingForEnglishTutor/hjznv/post.htmWed, 31 Aug 2005 02:21:01 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:630534joeHi. I&#39;m a international student(graduate). Due to my advisor&#39;s strong recommedation, I&#39;m looking for a private tutor for english. Works are very simple. Just talking me for a hour. The subject of conversation is also simple. It will be going on casual conversation.You just fix my pronunciation and accent and let me know some common expressions for dialogue. I don&#39;t have exact information about pay so that I think $7/hour for pay. Time is every tuesday and thursday evening. Undergraduate students whose major is english or Engineering undergraduate students who speak AMERICAN english are welcomed. If you have a concern, please email me.http://www.englishforums.com/English/Cpe/3/hwnld/Post.htm#630273Wed, 17 Aug 2005 22:42:03 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:630273einde o'callaghanGenerally speaking, Cambridge ESOL guidelines state that you need to get approximately sixty percent of the marks in all of ... high degree of accuracy (the way that Speaking is formally marked is supposed to be completely confidential, by the way). I don&#39;t think I&#39;m revesaling anything confidential about the oral exam when I say that the description of what is necessary given in the &quot;Assessment&quot; section of the document at is an accurate description of the minimum requirements. You have to have effective contorol of your English under all the 6 criteria listed, grammar, vocabulary, discourse management (how you construct your utterances), pronunciation, interaction and global achievement (solution of the tasks set). The...http://www.englishforums.com/English/Antani/hlllc/post.htm#642081Tue, 05 Jul 2005 00:13:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:642081In le message del Mon, 04 Jul 2005 22:43:06 GMT, Cgao Coma ha scripte: Hi I recently jumped into this ancient english term, ANTANI, I don&#39;t know the meaning, neither the origin. It should concern the tuscan city of Florence (X-posted), but not for sure. Can anybody help, and explain, thanks. There are many theories regarding the origin of this strange word, which is indeed vernacularly used in the city of Florence. - &quot;Antani&quot; is a family name or patronimic often used in Hindi and Urdu-speaking populations. It&#39;s a well known fact that Florence was visited by a young indian prince in the XIX century. The prince died suddenly in town, and was cremated in the Cascine park. A century later a new bridge on the river Arno, the...