How important is the pronunciation?!

Lazycat

I'd like to share my experience I had last night in the English Friendship Club. The topic we were talking was about fashion and dressing. I mentioned that there are a lot of foreign companies in China. In general, Japanese companies have more strict dressing regulation than American companies have, they even ask all ladies to wear skirts during work time. But in American companies, employees can wear casual dresses. I gave an example: in the company I worked for (when I was in China), a lot of young people even wear slippers in their offices. When I said that, they seemed very very surprised. I felt a little bit strange why they had such serious feedback. Anyway, I kept talking. Suddently, a lady asked me: did you mean "slipper"? I said yes, they all laughed and said they thought my saying "sleepwear"! My god! How important the pronunciation is!

竹帘儿

it,s very important.
. L+ b3 L- f+ g$ o$ u2 jgood pronunciation is not only important to make yourself understood, but also crucial for you to understand other people. Because if you don't pronounce a word properly, chances are you wouldnt understand the word when it is correctly pronounced.

精品中年老男人

寒江雪

Pronunciation is important and should be made correctly. For a person whose mother tongue is not English, he/she might speak English with some accent.   Even native English speakers can have different accents if they are from different places. Accent is acceptable as long as one can make himself/herself understood clearly.  Anyway, language is a tool for communication and the purpose is served if you can understand others and make youself understood.

精品中年老男人

I had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in the south of France, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift. As soon as he had got into the car, I said good morning to him in French and he replied in the same language. Apart from a few words, I do not know any French at all. Neither of us spoke during the journey. I had nearly reached the town, when the young man suddenly said, very slowly, "Do you speak English?' As I soon learnt, he was English himself!'

Lazycat

This story came from the new concept English, haha.....

猪刀小试

原帖由 又见清风 于 2008-1-17 00:33 发表
/ V7 v6 g) g7 z/ C3 ?9 qI had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in the south of France, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift.  ...

你是西斯而斯吗？

三思

原帖由 又见清风 于 2008-1-17 00:33 发表
I had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in the south of France, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift.  ...

! `8 @* t2 {  f' ~, RI've heard the exact story from somewhere else. Are you the original?

周天

slipper and sleepwear are too different in pronunciation.

雲吞

借用疯狂英语李阳教主的一句话：

1 f% `) L# R$ ]1 A2 S鬼鬼祟祟的英文就是由于鬼鬼祟祟的元音造成的

眉心眉飞

try these words:
* n. t! i0 N; `( U
9 Q+ }0 ^) L) {( t0 I0 r9 \
( A, K5 k) _6 v- b( u4 aship, sheep
& e' g' t, f6 M; P% Y/ @; t" F* Hshit, sheet
slipper, sleeper (the one LZ used)
' r% S2 L* {. p& Z' c/ r- _cell, seal
) p0 \1 g& S% N  ?% Q7 m( Dheel, hill
feel, fill

4 Q. g3 h/ ~9 \3 ?  U1 i
firm, form
word, world
tower, towel
war, wall
5 O- Y. F: }; `7 Vhouse, horse, hoarse

! t" h7 x9 H( _* T3 y还有:

head, had
, h+ o. m* S) e- upool, pull
+ C% F: m2 R1 C6 Lsoap, soup
source, sauce
feel, fear
1 a$ D, C- q/ Y  L
9 Z8 L2 u  e9 _6 |* X" D
4 V* N% ~) v" H' ?* R同学们请补充

三思

原帖由 老饿 于 2008-1-17 15:56 发表
try these words:

5 P3 q1 K/ ^: [: O- t
ship, sheep
5 d, R) ^( W- k6 V5 `shit, sheet
slipper, sleeper (the one LZ used)
cell, seal
# T9 x, Y0 }' |5 K. K! Bheel, hill
feel, fill

' |9 [; Q% n, }4 j+ [) J& j4 j3 K  q
firm, form
word, world
  K1 J9 a! M( s; a3 q1 C9 b7 b/ g7 V4 Stower, towel
7 z" m9 p2 p" |, ]) \5 iwar, wall
" w9 s. G, E! j6 W4 dhouse, horse, hoarse
# Q5 E( B  s0 C" h, U* w
还 ...

7 F" \- b$ |& D以前和竹帘聊过这个，给你抄来
% s- {6 Q0 o. b9 ~' S  k# h! W
9 x% W: G9 N8 yerror
4 t- X+ {7 |0 A! z: f7 e! Z' u5 viron
order, older, odor
& D: j1 J1 h! V3 E4 F- nworld
walliam
bill
6 w6 j. ^0 c2 T, Y) S% Swrong
/ L/ w2 F. D6 gdog
idea
  `- c* L: [, j8 R6 A. s* hrose
0 ^" e2 I& x1 Umountain 难点在"tain"上. 本地人不把"t" 发出来, 而是在鼻子里哼一声.
! S5 e- j& g1 Z" c, G2 }/ y8 _wood (would)
4 k: p: B% Y2 V5 B8 y一个最经典的 : true 基本上, 十个人十个发不好.
' P# G& f5 A. R1 N
3 N5 s- \3 S; r. I  j我自己又看了一遍，我忘了wrong, dog为什么不好发了，竹帘你还记得吗?

竹帘儿

原帖由 三思 于 2008-1-17 18:26 发表
. z. e3 Q$ }# [5 h
以前和竹帘聊过这个，给你抄来

error
8 L; V7 @" f8 k/ l/ U2 R4 Kiron
order, older, odor
world
. N- Z# u( e6 u! }; Q5 d: v* V7 Wwalliam
bill
wrong
6 e' ~, C/ W: b! `3 M, ~dog
2 M; W1 T3 z$ h1 s  zidea
% Z: y+ s  ?9 `3 q. Orose
" E# P! y$ A% t  ~+ jmountain 难点在"tain"上. 本地人不把"t" 发出来, 而是在鼻子里哼一声.
- w. S. w( q; uwood (would)
一个最 ...

  J# ~( E4 L' ?+ Z% ~. jwrong 是因为鼻音g发不好, 就像thing thin, wrong Ron
dog 不是我们自己发不好, 而是这个长音o常被忽视, 发得不够长, 饱满, 听起来口音就重.

Lazycat

原帖由 三思 于 2008-1-17 13:01 发表
: S- C# W/ K# B7 H
I've heard the exact story from somewhere else. Are you the original?

( x' ?0 ~4 n, I7 T$ i  M) D
No, it's from an English learning book which was popular in China several years ago, named New Concept English (新概念英语）。

Lazycat

原帖由 周天 于 2008-1-17 13:21 发表
slipper and sleepwear are too different in pronunciation.

% g8 v4 x6 Y3 SActually they heard my pronunced "Sleeper", but there is no such word so they thought that I meant sleepwear or something that people wear during sleep. I believed that I pronunced the vowel [i:] instead of , so we have to pay attention to the the small difference for the word pronunciation!

三思

原帖由 Lazycat 于 2008-1-17 22:21 发表
: l, X9 E: K1 a/ d! |. ?
4 U5 K% Q/ y& c( h( T
2 a/ p5 R1 [4 Y% qNo, it's from an English learning book which was popular in China several years ago, named New Concept English (新概念英语）。

哈哈，我估计又见清风特意转载的。
* @! i% ?4 C- ]( _. x: W
啊，你猜怎么着？我一直以为拖鞋是sleepers呢！虽然我发音是slippers. 没有多想过。

, S% Y3 f& s% Y3 u$ n刚才查了一下，原来slipper的来源是好穿，一slip就穿上了，真是开卷有益

Lazycat

原帖由 三思 于 2008-1-17 18:26 发表

mountain 难点在"tain"上. 本地人不把"t" 发出来, 而是在鼻子里哼一声.
! e* ]& \$ `4 \2 [2 [, Hwood (would)
1 G( @1 G5 O; K* Z, W9 b' D一个最 ...

没错， 觉得这种发音很地道，有一阵专门学来着，还有比如forgotten, Britain等，开始我女儿看我在那里一遍一遍的练还笑话我，后来终于学会了，嘿嘿。

三思

原帖由 Lazycat 于 2008-1-17 22:35 发表
- h% ^4 N" \$ v4 W  L' f0 M8 [' z0 @
6 b' V, }7 C! Z6 u. w" l没错， 觉得这种发音很地道，有一阵专门学来着，还有比如forgotten, Britain等，开始我女儿看我在那里一遍一遍的练还笑话我，后来终于学会了，嘿嘿。

恭喜！哈哈

Lazycat

原帖由 三思 于 2008-1-17 22:30 发表

( U8 m. [% t4 d+ M, C
$ [) C; Z2 _3 S/ W3 W哈哈，我估计又见清风特意转载的。
: e  o. j0 _6 w+ c% `0 K
啊，你猜怎么着？我一直以为拖鞋是sleepers呢！虽然我发音是slippers. 没有多想过。

' q$ V# U7 l$ P% u4 C刚才查了一下，原来slipper的来源是好穿，一slip就穿上了，真是开卷有益

8 s) C, x7 U% Xhaha  

睡懒觉的闹钟

西子妈妈

我家大熊老笑我发音，被笑得多了，不但没有提高，麻木了

Lazycat

这就是大熊不对了，你教他说中文，然后好好的笑话他！

三思

原帖由 westlake 于 2008-1-20 17:12 发表
我家大熊老笑我发音，被笑得多了，不但没有提高，麻木了

有口音多可爱啊！我就喜欢天津和东北口音的。

西子妈妈

原帖由 Lazycat 于 2008-1-20 20:25 发表
这就是大熊不对了，你教他说中文，然后好好的笑话他！

+ P: y. G* D6 O/ q/ X呵呵，他说中文，我从不笑他，还觉得他超可爱，超能干的

西子妈妈

原帖由 三思 于 2008-1-20 20:53 发表
6 ~/ A  g6 C! K( ~2 v& R; k3 Q

有口音多可爱啊！我就喜欢天津和东北口音的。

$ l; Z2 R" ~5 X% G可你说的两种我都没有，听过杭州口音的英文没？

眉心眉飞

听过, 就是兹呲呲的那种.

OliveOil

原帖由 老饿 于 2008-1-17 15:56 发表
try these words:
5 L! _' H8 d/ `, l; T- n0 E, b

ship, sheep
shit, sheet
slipper, sleeper (the one LZ used)
# r$ c  b$ ]) ~6 Z5 k0 T; }cell, seal
heel, hill
0 P8 B4 L  Z' c& w+ N, Gfeel, fill

6 r$ a9 @$ O9 o7 z: ]; h% G5 ^" l
/ E* |* z' p8 T+ Y9 {, c# h( J4 W- [3 mfirm, form
% e3 _, n! P: h" {! Aword, world
! p7 W: F2 I" x# u, Atower, towel
/ C5 ?* O3 }& q  g# ^9 owar, wall
house, horse, hoarse
' E% D, t$ E7 C- ?$ I
' q0 o1 a0 ?. n# z& M还 ...

Here are more:
pet pat
peak pick
leave live
2 ^, F5 D+ Z9 x  q) Y. B8 X( t' osleep slip
fool full
" ~, }" |8 U4 j5 V% E0 ^bad bed
leak lick
9 V+ x$ l, Y1 w( L/ ?7 f0 n4 @song son sun
$ _3 B; y" T& [) w' b6 jthink sink
thick sick seek
Many Southern chinese can't pronouce "v" correctly, sounds like 'f' or 'w':
; b7 y3 ?- B& @9 c3 T; e. Bvile while
, N, _5 H: Y' H8 W# r$ }* Ksave safe
4 `7 Z+ m7 k- P: T! Z* x; l1 C/ twave
, }  H2 [& H0 C2 j9 cmove
Some southerner also omitted part of 'er' if a word ended with 'er' combined with certain letters, so burger is burge.

Also anyone tried to say 'last year'? Is it pronounced the same as native speakers?

竹帘儿

原帖由 OliveOil 于 2008-1-21 10:25 发表

% j. \2 S6 t# F4 O9 S
1 d- e* s7 |  j* c9 |Also anyone tried to say 'last year'? Is it pronounced the same as native speakers?

% A  `' s+ F6 r0 B1 y( G8 N
: Y3 J# f4 F; T( O
拉丝骑儿?
4 {4 [+ r% F" M9 M另请油姐去charleen mariylin贴指导一下发音.

Lazycat

原帖由 三思 于 2008-1-20 20:53 发表

% K, G3 ~4 Q4 L0 `( w: u9 |" m
* q3 w. b7 z) X9 A2 d7 {& J有口音多可爱啊！我就喜欢天津和东北口音的。

7 t3 ^" t6 Q0 g" G. K% y0 D
我也是，一听那口音就透着幽默感。

Lazycat

原帖由 westlake 于 2008-1-20 21:19 发表
8 r$ Z" [; b& m  Z* A- W
4 _9 |3 Z+ b) D. }0 `呵呵，他说中文，我从不笑他，还觉得他超可爱，超能干的

他真能学说中文啊？！对了，不能笑话，应该鼓励，这样才让他有劲头学。