How To Improve Immigrants’ English

     Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 20, 2014
     Category: Languages | Foreign Customs | 1940s | Asia | Europe





Comments
Sorry but this REALLY doesn't cut it! Most Brits don't even open their mouths when they talk!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 11/20/14 at 09:06 AM
"My hovercraft is full of eels."

Through my studies of, mainly, French, and dabbling in a few other languages I have come to appreciate how difficult English can be to non-native speakers. Expat, your description could also apply to some of the natives here in the Lower Midwest. I've come across a few Boomhauer's around here. (ref: "King Of The Hill" series)
Posted by KDP on 11/20/14 at 09:51 AM
Kenny on South Park talks/mumbles like that too KDP. The guy should practice saying- 'This is customer service how may I help you?' That's what we hear most often from that accent. 😉
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 11/20/14 at 08:42 PM
We all need to learn "Engrish" .. that wording in the Chinese manuals and all the cheap crap we get and order.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 11/20/14 at 08:52 PM
This cracks me up. I'm a speech-language pathologist and find old elocution books and movie scenes so funny. I love how the professor tells him, "Get it right!"
There is truth in that the prosody (rhythm and intonation), along with vowel pronunciation, tends to be what makes English as a second or later language speakers difficult to understand. The prosody is also why foreign languages almost always sound so fast, since non-speakers of the language don't know where the breaks between the words, phrases and sentences are.
I always wonder about Americans who make fun of others' accents, since the vast majority of Americans speak only English, and often that not particularly well to boot. I wonder how many of them speak ANY other languages and how authentic their pronunciations are if they do.
Posted by ScoutC on 11/20/14 at 09:50 PM
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