Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

youglish.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 341 posts

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#251

Post by vintermann »

lwansbrough wrote: post #172

Sometimes grammar can give away a non-native speaker, particularly: “Show me how it looks like.” The use of how here is hard to explain, but it’s wrong. It should be “what it looks like”. This is an instant giveaway usually. But even native English speakers have weird ways of saying things. One grammatical error I hear a lot in people from the Appalachia region is the “needs done” construction. Always sounds bizarre.…

That last one makes some poetic sense. There are the things you don't see a loot anymore, and the things you do see a lot anymore.

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#252

Post by [deleted] »

fsckboy wrote: post #101
Barrin92 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but still have a noticeable German accent my German accent only got less notable after speaking a ton of English living in English speaking countries for several years. For some reason losing the accent was way harder than getting rid of an accent in French. Especially words like 'strength'. If German is your first language there is something about 'r' and 'th' sounds that's so hard to get right.

a segment of Americans pronounce that word "shtrenkth", kinda drives me crazy. Colin Powell did, and my little sister does. I have no explanation.

[deleted]

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#253

Post by gniv »

JonathonW wrote: post #201
anadalakra wrote: post #119

As a non-native English speaker, the "randomness" of English pronunciation has been a source of frustration for me for many years. I realized there are two types of issues: 1. Some sounds in English don't exist in other languages and you have to learn them "from scratch". For example the "flap T" in butter. Or the particular American "r" (constrast it to the Spanish rolled r for instance). 2. Certain sounds I DID kno…

Don't worry; English pronunciation can be mastered simply through tough, thorough thought. (English "o" is tons of fun-- of the 22 vowel sounds listed on the English orthography page on Wikipedia, only two can't generally have the letter "o" involved.)

> through tough, thorough thought.

Neat example. What's also interesting is that it's hard to parse visually too, so it slows down reading.

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#254

Post by account42 »

Tade0 wrote: post #241

This is very useful. My biggest problem, as a non-native English speaker, is figuring out when to use a hard and when a soft "g". Example: https://youglish.com/pronounce/gif/english

This is a bad example because the pronounciation of gif is arbitrary and there is no commonly accepted correct one.

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#255

Post by teddyh »

cmehdy wrote: post #204
JonathonW wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't worry; English pronunciation can be mastered simply through tough, thorough thought. (English "o" is tons of fun-- of the 22 vowel sounds listed on the English orthography page on Wikipedia, only two can't generally have the letter "o" involved.)

The Chaos (1922) - http://ncf.idallen.com/english.html More than half of my life lived in English-speaking countries does not help quite enough to avoid a migraine with this one.

Complete version as originally published in 1920: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Chaos>

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#256

Post by vintermann »

lacrimacida wrote: post #207
avgcorrection wrote: post #108

But why would I want to sound like a native? - English accent: monocle vibes - Australian accent: Crocodile Dundee (badass but I can’t embody that) - Standard American accent: incredible “twang” (sounds like all wovels are sent through a wah-wah pedal)

If I were learning english again I’d aim for good enough pronunciation but with better diction. Plenty of native english speakers have horrible diction. When it comes to accents it’s more like something one is not aware that they posses but only notice in outsiders.

I am aware of my accent, but getting e.g. vowel colours exactly right is just too much work for too little gain. What would be the advantage to matching a specific dialect exactly? I'm not a spy trying to pass as a native.

On rare occasions that it matters, for instance for a play or for a song where people would notice a wrong accent, I can work to get it right on those particular words. It's a lot of work, but it's still easy compared to getting to the point where you do everything without thinking.

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#257

Post by EE84M3i »

anadalakra wrote: post #155
Dfiesl wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A word of note: In British English "color" is spelt "colour"

I'm based in the US, where it's spelled without the "u". Quite a few examples of this spelling difference - humo(u)r, behavio(u)r etc. Oh and "spelt" is "spelled". Isn't English fun! :)

It took me until I was 30 to learn that Brits spell enroll as enrol.

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#258

Post by vintermann »

Koshkin wrote: post #157

Problem is, you have to have a native speaker hear you say the words (in a sentence as well as standalone), and give you a feedback. Repeatedly, until you get it "right" (to the extent possible). Otherwise you won't get anywhere - unless you are an 8 year old kid, maybe.

It depends on what accuracy you aim for. Most of aren't spies that have to 100% pass as natives of the county. It's still nice to pronounce e.g. place names that have irregular spellings (and that's common in lots of languages besides English).

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#259

Post by vintermann »

lacrimacida wrote: post #208
gr__or wrote: post #142

While I strive to hide my German accent, and regularly attempt making my various english accents more specific, I simultaneously hold that there is glory to European English, or, probably more importantly, for example Indian English. The site would feel more progressive if it included those.

Is there a reason you want to hide your accent? I love varius accents and enjoy hearing different ones as long as the pronunciation isn’t too off that I have to make a super effort to communicate. I see accents as flavor or aroma to language.

If someone speaks in an unexpected accent, even if it's an unambiguous and internally coherent accent so that it's perfectly possible to understand it it takes a few seconds for well-meaning natives to adjust to. It does get tiresome to have to repeat yourself. You want to at least get to the level that if you talk to someone, it registers as English immediately.

Re: Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation

#260

Post by ranting-moth »

Within the UK, you get a whole range of "randomness" (accents). Try listening to this without reading the subtitles for the first time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQGwe2b18UA

It even causes funny problems within the UK. Even in high places like the parliament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4k8dR04TzA

Post reply on HN