Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Remind me why I thought learning phonetics would be a good idea in England

I mean, really: I just wrote about starting to get comfortable understanding my trainers & colleagues; then Friday we started learning phonemes (individual units of sound) and word stress.  Now, when we discuss words like mother (British speakers reduce the 'e') and vitamins (vItamins), I stand out all over again.  And don't even get me started on laboratory (LAB-ra-tory vs. la-BOR-a-try)!  Hmmm...though now that I know the chart I can teach them how to say downtown ( /'dæhntən/) and yinz (/jInz/) like proud Pittsburghers!
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4 comments:

  1. PeteAugust 30, 2011 at 8:49 PM

    Those should totally be on your next lesson plan!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 30, 2011 at 9:52 PM

    Thanks for reminding me of my roots....
    AL

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 31, 2011 at 9:44 AM

    I had never heard of the word "yinz" before. I like it. It gives the clarity of a separate word for second-person plural, but sounds much less rednecky than "y'all" or "yous".

    -sb

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousAugust 31, 2011 at 9:45 AM

    Are you going to replace your profile picture with one of you in England instead of in India?

    -sb

    ReplyDelete

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