broken english

[Mononoke28 135]

I crack up everytime she tries to say "unbelievable". --unbelebabal

And don't even get me started with FORT LAUDERDALE, it's a total mess when they try to say it. It comes out like FODODODEL.

Pepsi = Petsi

Napkin - Natkin

The new thing now is the NG workds like sing, bring, thing, song. It's all SINGGGGGG, BRINGGGGG, THINGGGGGG, SONGGGGG.

I know, I get it... shut up.

Diana

Edited August 1, 2008 by Mononoke28

[bora bora 1]

I crack up everytime she tries to say "unbelievable". --unbelebabal

And don't even get me started with FORT LAUDERDALE, it's a total mess when they try to say it. It comes out like FODODODEL.

Pepsi = Petsi

Napkin - Natkin

The new thing now is the NG workds like sing, bring, thing, song. It's all SINGGGGGG, BRINGGGGG, THINGGGGGG, SONGGGGG.

I know, I get it... shut up.

Diana

haha, this is funny because I teach pronunciation to Spanish and Portuguese speakers. The biggest mistake that the Spanish speakers have is the "I espeak espanish" (like Diana said) and the "v"/"b" sound since they're the same in Spanish. The Brazilians put "e"s on the end of everything - turnpikeyyyy, musikeyyyy, yet not when they're supposed to like Nike - they say Nik.

Diana, we teach part of a lesson on singggg, bringggg, so that's funny you say that.

Tongue twisters seem to help people out...

[tammy2688 1]

My husband says "shedule" instead of schedule and it drove me nuts. Later I learned it is the British influence. He also says "Christmach" and "weeding" instead of christmas and wedding.

I wouldn't want him to lose his accent either, it just makes me smile.

[o0pink0o 3]

A lot of non-native English speakers have problems with prepositions (at, in, on, to, for, etc)

yeah I've been struggling with that also.

me too.

hubby said that i don't have prob in terms of pronunciation BUT i have probs in putting words where they belong and using the right words in the right places. i am trying my best to improve my english though.

the best way to improve is by listening, either on tv or other people and learning. I learned a lot of pronounciation by either saying it wrong and having people saying it correctly, or by listening to other people or tv, or music, or internet.

I say a lot of A like I'd say in Brazil, instead of the way they say here. But it's beacuse I'm not really paying attention on what I'm saying. I'm sure latin people can understand what I'm talking about. Like yesterday I said Matrix, like Mah treex, instead of Mae trix

yeah, that is what i do. i always watch american shows, movies and read magazines and listen to people talking. i also ask things to my hubby when it comes to slang words.

[LaGreenEyes 0]

My husband tends to put an "s" on the end of many places,

Targets.....Wal-Marts.....K-marts....Auto Zones....Olive Gardens...

and I can never tell if he's going to "Wendy's" or "Winn-Dixie" because it comes out "Windees" or "Windeex" I dont know if he's gonna come home with a Frosty or Frosted Flakes...hee hee!

[Nasturtium 500]

Yeah, Arabs have a problem with bs and ps. There is no p in Arabic, so they use b instead. So we hear a lot about drinking Bebsi, putting things in your bockets, having leaky bibes, etc. I remember me saying something about a gold putt and hearing him say "butt?" which was pretty funny. They also have a bit of the sheet, beach, and like problems as their vowels are like the latin vowels. I know sometimes I hear him say my name wrong because they don't have an "aw" sound. I don't say his name right either though, as things like Ammar, Ali, Amman, etc all begin with an ayn and not the alef we say it as. I can do it if I think about it, but it' s more constricted throat sound, and it reminds a lot of English speakers of tensing to gag. He also sometimes gets he/she mixed up, as well as him, her, etc. He does he/she more though as he is actually their word for "she" lol! he does have a weird order he puts things into sometimes, but he has gotten a lot better since he's been here.

[bigwillie64 0]

Nessa,

My fiance is from BH and she has the exact same pronunciation troubles! Thank God she know english, the only portuguese I learned for my last visit was "tres bicicletas" and "Elas muhleres estou bebendo" oh yeah, and of course..... "the coffee is on the table" or is it the book?

We just got our NOA1 last week. I read an old post about your interview in Rio, do I need to go back down to Brazil for the interview? Can you give my Brazilian fiance any advice. She is concerned about the Visa process.

thank you for your time. If you could email me any tips I will forward them to my wonderful brazilain bride to be!

I decided to start this thread for us, which have english as a second language, to share words we can't pronounce, difficulties, etc.

I know there were tons of threads like this, but it won't hurt to have a new one.

I'll start:

One of my main problems is certain words that are similar, but pronounced slightly different, such as:

- beach and b!tch - I can pronounce only sounding like b!tch

- sheet and sh!t - I can only pronounce sh!t

- sheep and ship - I can pronounce only like ship

- math and meth - I can pronounce meth

(did u guys notice a pattern there? I can pronounce the words I'm not supposed to be using, the bad words usually )

Second problem is words that have a syllable that we don't have anything simliar in our latin language:

- TH in the end of the sentences - that's very complicated cuz our latin language we don't have the th. So every time I have to say things like Aug 13th, I just say 13 of August, cuz the 13th just sucks bad

Share yours.

[Nessa 23]

Nessa,

My fiance is from BH and she has the exact same pronunciation troubles! Thank God she know english, the only portuguese I learned for my last visit was "tres bicicletas" and "Elas muhleres estou bebendo" oh yeah, and of course..... "the coffee is on the table" or is it the book?

We just got our NOA1 last week. I read an old post about your interview in Rio, do I need to go back down to Brazil for the interview? Can you give my Brazilian fiance any advice. She is concerned about the Visa process.

thank you for your time. If you could email me any tips I will forward them to my wonderful brazilain bride to be!

no u don't need to go to brazil for the interview, you go if you want.

as for any advice, you guys can always PM me with questions, or you can show up at the latin forum, we have a thread called brasileiritchas there where there's a lot of brazilians that can help you.

[JULIAFERNO 0]

I decided to start this thread for us, which have english as a second language, to share words we can't pronounce, difficulties, etc.

I know there were tons of threads like this, but it won't hurt to have a new one.

I'll start:

One of my main problems is certain words that are similar, but pronounced slightly different, such as:

- beach and b!tch - I can pronounce only sounding like b!tch

- sheet and sh!t - I can only pronounce sh!t

- sheep and ship - I can pronounce only like ship

- math and meth - I can pronounce meth

(did u guys notice a pattern there? I can pronounce the words I'm not supposed to be using, the bad words usually )

Second problem is words that have a syllable that we don't have anything simliar in our latin language:

- TH in the end of the sentences - that's very complicated cuz our latin language we don't have the th. So every time I have to say things like Aug 13th, I just say 13 of August, cuz the 13th just sucks bad

Share yours.

Hmm...the pattern I see there is difficulty pronouncing longer vowel sounds, does that seem to be the case?

My thoughts exactly. Are you a teacher by any chance?

[JULIAFERNO 0]

I wouldn't want him to lose his accent either, it just makes me smile.

Yes, Tammy!

And vice-versa...my fiance loves hearing my accent when I speak Turkish. Sometimes he'll ask me to say something again because he wants to hear my accent and I get shy and say nooo! Accents are endearing

[Amby 490]

the only person I know that I even hear an accent on anymore is my friend from france. living in england for so long I've been ruined on accents. I understand everyone perfectly and they don't sound any different to me.

[trinket 30]

There are a few words which I use randomly and my husband gets a kick out of it, words like – twice, thrice, fortnight. He says I try to be all Victorian with it, but in reality these are commonly used words in India.

Then he laughs about the way I pronounce a few words, it’s basically is British and US English difference. So I am right on my own way

Archive-- I say archeeve, he says arkkiv

Semi-- I say seme, he says semI

Lieutenant-- I say leftinent, he says loutenent

I do have problems with proper usage of – in, on & at though and I do try to work on it.

He doesn’t pronounce my name correctly. It’s Mani, should be pronounced as – money but he says it as—Manyy………..irks me really

[Alex & Rachel 78]

There are a few words which I use randomly and my husband gets a kick out of it, words like – twice, thrice, fortnight. He says I try to be all Victorian with it, but in reality these are commonly used words in India.

Then he laughs about the way I pronounce a few words, it’s basically is British and US English difference. So I am right on my own way

Archive-- I say archeeve, he says arkkiv

Semi-- I say seme, he says semI

Lieutenant-- I say leftinent, he says loutenent

I do have problems with proper usage of – in, on & at though and I do try to work on it.

He doesn’t pronounce my name correctly. It’s Mani, should be pronounced as – money but he says it as—Manyy………..irks me really

Right you are!

I have no problems changing my spelling to US spelling, but I'd be quite irritated if someone tried to tell me the way I pronounce certain words was 'wrong'.

[Morales 0]

Even if I am half american, its hard for me because of my german accent to pronounce

to worry and to laugh

[Koakland 0]

I decided to start this thread for us, which have english as a second language, to share words we can't pronounce, difficulties, etc.

I know there were tons of threads like this, but it won't hurt to have a new one.

I'll start:

One of my main problems is certain words that are similar, but pronounced slightly different, such as:

- beach and b!tch - I can pronounce only sounding like b!tch

- sheet and sh!t - I can only pronounce sh!t

- sheep and ship - I can pronounce only like ship

- math and meth - I can pronounce meth

(did u guys notice a pattern there? I can pronounce the words I'm not supposed to be using, the bad words usually )

Second problem is words that have a syllable that we don't have anything simliar in our latin language:

- TH in the end of the sentences - that's very complicated cuz our latin language we don't have the th. So every time I have to say things like Aug 13th, I just say 13 of August, cuz the 13th just sucks bad

Share yours.

My fiance has the same difficulties. He avoids all words with TH. Like he doesn't say the word "thousand". It's not twenty-two thousand, it's twenty-two hundred. very cute. and he says b!tch instead of beach. I'm working on that one It's ok because I avoid most french words.