{"id":2332,"date":"2014-07-21T15:01:41","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T19:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/?p=2332"},"modified":"2020-10-02T13:21:35","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T17:21:35","slug":"pronunciation-is-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/2014\/07\/21\/pronunciation-is-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Pronunciation is King"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Itchy<\/a><\/p>\n

The above comic is one of the very few I\u2019ve done (along with the one from my previous entry) which is taken verbatim from personal experience. In 2008, I was on the island of Muuido, off the coast of South Korea, in a little restaurant on the beach. It was apparently off-season, as there was nary a soul in sight apart from myself and my travel companions. I was far enough off the beaten track that the waitress (also the eatery\u2019s proprietress and cook) didn\u2019t speak a word of English. I, of course, didn\u2019t speak a word of Korean. But I wanted to try. The rest played out exactly as it does in the strip \u2013 after consulting my dictionary, I said \u201crice\u201d and \u201cfish\u201d and received two bowls of cold noodle soup. They were delicious, but contained no perceivable trace of either rice or fish.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve since made South Korean friends who read the strip above and don\u2019t get it. By all rights I should have received fish and rice! I said the words, after all. And it\u2019s not like a Korean restaurant on a Pacific island would be out of fish and rice, right? The only conclusion I can draw from my adventure is that my pronunciation was off. Way off.<\/p>\n

And when it comes to speaking languages, pronunciation is king.<\/p>\n

My wife is Italian. She speaks excellent English \u2013 she\u2019s fluent. She wasn\u2019t when we first met, but after five years with someone, you pick it up pretty quickly (ProTip: want to learn a language? Date a native speaker with poor skills in your native language!). She can even understand the molasses drawl of the cowboys that live out by my dad\u2019s place in rural New Mexico. She has trouble understanding the British, but who doesn\u2019t? The only snag is that occasionally she\u2019ll pronounce words with a strong Italian inflection. You would think we\u2019d get what she\u2019s trying to say, but we\u2019re used to hearing words the way we\u2019re used to hearing them. She often has to repeat a word like \u201ctransparent\u201d several times before the listener gets it. It can be discouraging at times. How good can your language skills be if people can\u2019t understand a simple word?<\/p>\n

We lived in Lyon, France for exactly one year. I arrived knowing exactly zero French, and felt that after one year I was more or less conversational. I was no longer paralyzed by the fear that I would be ostracized as a dirty foreigner, as detailed in my very first post here.<\/p>\n

On the morning of our departure, leaving Lyon for good, I walked into a boulangerie<\/em>\u00a0to order up some baguettes for the long train ride to Venice. Here\u2019s how the conversation went.<\/p>\n

Me<\/strong>: Deux baguettes, s’il vous pla\u00eet. (Two baguettes, please<\/em>)
\nBoulang\u00e8re<\/strong>: Pardon?
\nMe<\/strong>: \u2026deux baguettes, s\u2019il vous pla\u00eet. Deux baguettes.
\nBoulang\u00e8re<\/strong>: J\u2019ai pas compris. Quoi? (I don\u2019t understand. What?<\/em>)
\nMe<\/strong>: (Making exaggerated sign language for \u201cbaguette\u201d and holding up two fingers) Baguettes! Baguettes! Deux BAGUETTES!
\nBoulang\u00e8re<\/strong>: Ah! Baguettes!
\n<\/em>Me<\/strong>: Voil\u00e0! Baguettes!
\nBoulang\u00e8re<\/strong>: Combien de baguettes alors? (How many baguettes?<\/em>)
\nMe<\/strong>: (Slapping my forehead)\u00a0Oh, mon Dieu! (Good grief!<\/em>)<\/p>\n

True story. I couldn\u2019t believe that after a year, I couldn\u2019t even make myself understood ordering baguettes. What could be simpler? Surely my French was terrible!<\/p>\n

The thing to remember is that while pronunciation may be king, it is not necessarily tied to your language ability.<\/p>\n

My father is German. He\u2019s been living in the United States for 27 years, and speaking English for longer than that. He is obviously fluent in English (so fluent that he doesn\u2019t like speaking German with me!), but he still has a German accent. But he doesn\u2019t care! He knows he speaks English, and he doesn\u2019t let a little thing like his pronunciation or accent get in the way. The mother of my childhood friend was Israeli, and always felt that her English was somehow wrong. An accent is a beautiful thing! So what if you have to repeat a few words now and again?<\/p>\n

My pronunciation of German words is pretty good. So good, Germans occasionally think I\u2019m German. I\u2019m not quite fluent, and in certain subjects have real difficulty making myself clear, but the pronunciation carries me. People assume my German is much better than it actually is because I can say \u201cBundesverfassungsgericht\u201d like a local. Conversely, in French, because my accent is so strong, people often assume my French is much worse than it actually is.<\/p>\n

Pronunciation is king, but it is not necessarily tied to language ability. So don\u2019t be discouraged! If you\u2019re a natural at pronunciation, don\u2019t get lazy, get better! If your pronunciation sucks, work on it! Your accent is the spice you bring to the table.<\/p>\n

Just please, someone, for the love of Mike, tell me how to correctly say \u201cfish and rice\u201d in Korean!<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s hear about your pronunciation troubles. Have any funny stories? Can\u2019t shake that accent? Have you learned to listen to what non-native speakers are trying<\/em> to say, rather than listening to what they\u2019re literally<\/em> saying?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

The above comic is one of the very few I\u2019ve done (along with the one from my previous entry) which is taken verbatim from personal experience. In 2008, I was on the island of Muuido, off the coast of South Korea, in a little restaurant on the beach. It was apparently off-season, as there was…<\/p>\n

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