Pronunciation was sooooo important in my Arabic instruction, to the point that I wish my other languages had focused on it in the same way. I think it's actually a deficiency in contemporary language instruction.
RedSpear XIII Actually it isn't that complicated grammar-wise. It follows a pretty strict structural formula. The real terrifying part of Arabic is the vocabulary, which is vast beyond belief.
Yamen .S You're right, but my original instructor was a local sheikh, so we focused heavily on pronunciation anyways. It has made the absence of pronunciation lessons apparent to me though in my French, Spanish, and Turkish lessons over the years.
Yamen S. Some of the Arabic consonants are very difficult for speakers of English. Though I agree that the irregularity of plural forms, etc, is more difficult. As far as the different forms of the verbs goes, I actually enjoyed that part. But then again I'm advanced in Latin which has a very complex system of conjugated verbs.
Luca VASILE Errr...being French, I can tell you, that's not how we do it. When I pronounce a "r" I use the very back of my tongue, in this soft area at the back of my mouth. All the while using my vocal cords.
German r is harder to grasp for me, can't do it yet, it's just so in between of the 2 other r sounds that I know well - the Russian and the English, that I just can't help but to use one of them instead...
Fun fact about the common American accent: it was known as the Seattle accent until the 1950's, when television producers who were broadcasting nation-wide needed to pick an accent that was understandable to people from all over the country. They chose the accent from the Pacific Northwest because it had the most common ground between all the other American and Canadian accents
I'd definately be interested in a series where you explain how to mimic the accents of different Italian regions. I've studied the language (more or less) for about 5 years in high school and now university, and the only accent I've constantly understood has been the standard. When I went to Italy, I tried to understand my relatives in Salerno and it was quite different than what I learned (maybe that's a bit of an overstatement but it was definately hard to me to pick things up). I have also noticed that when my grandparents speak on the phone to my other side of the family in calabria the words tend to end in "u" a lot. I'm sure this is due to dialect but I am still able to pick up some of the standard words I'm familiar with. I really enjoy your videos by the way, I find them very interesting and helpful. I went through the entirety of this one and remained interested throughout all of it. Your content is very well done and I appreciate the work you put into it.
Comment digging a bit, but I'm a brazilian learning italian with a family from napoli, I can't understand shit of "standard" Italian haha. IMO, Veneto has the best accent in italy...
What I always wondered: as a foreign speaker which accents are you supposed to adopt? I'm German and in school we tend to learn a bastardized version of British English but since most of the media I consume is American I kinda adopted a sort of American accent. I suppose it will be quite weird for an English person to hear me speak a German-American kind of English accent and he'll wonders what the hell I'm trying to portray.
if i'm not wrong the spanish z is just used in Spain, i remember teachers told us that that was the real sound for z, but we just pronounce that as s. also in latinamerica we don't make the difference between b an v.
For us Spaniards actually sound funny when foreigners speak using S instead of Z, or latinamerican expressions. I'm not telling it's wrong at all. It's just unexpected XDD And Z is not even used in all Spain (in most of it though). In some places the S sound is always used (which are the places where most of the people who travelled to America were from, and because of it they have that particularity in their accent), and even some other small regions in southern Spain use always Z sound even when it should be S. In Spain we also don't make the difference between B and V, and most of people don't make the difference between Y and LL. In some places we pronounce all the letters, in some others we don't depending on the letter and position in the word, or we change it for another sounds... even the vowel sounds may vary... Spanish in Spain can vary A LOT, and it can be very difficult for foreigners to get used to some accents.
While attending college, I tutored English for three years. From my own personal experience, I often found that many of my students from foreign countries often had the best use of English. I quickly learned to look past accents, and determine the words in use.
I have reached a decent level of Italian proficiency without living in the country and I can backup what Metatron says about daily practice. Every opportunity for exposure and practice must be taken, particularly if you do not live somewhere where people speak the language all around you. The strategies I use are: audiobooks in the car for listening and comprehension practice, children's story books for vocabulary and grammar, I even installed Microsoft Office in Italian so I am constantly exposed and learning words/concepts in Italian that I otherwise wouldn't come across. I take my daughter to Italian playgroup which used to be really daunting and nerve racking but now I am comfortable and can understand and communicate well. Of course, I throw in a healthy dose of instructional UA-cam videos too! Many objects in my house have been labelled with the italian word (eg. the stapler, door stop, high chair etc) and also importantly the verb that is associated with using that object! There are also websites which match up people for language exchanges and I have been speaking to someone and helping with their English whilst learning Italian from them once a week for over two years, which has been invaluable. A big hindrance to progress is often being too nervous to speak to people, just imagine you wouldn't judge or laugh at someone attempting to speak your language, would you? That means that nearly every person you attempt to speak your second language to will not think you silly for making mistakes. Daily effort and exposure is the key to actually making progress. From my experience most people embark on learning a language and give up after a few paltry efforts over a couple of weeks with a language app on their phone, that is not going to cut it! I know people are after Metatron's opinions and not mine but that's my two cents anyway! (I am currently studying a Masters of Linguistics too so have some formal background) Ciao da Melbourne, Australia
I operate in two languages other than my native English. French-Canadian (from later childhood) and more recently Scots Gaelic (Gàidhlig). In both instances I put put a great emphasis on pronunciation and on both instances I reached the point where native speakers didn't realize I was a non-native speaker unless I told them. I can tell you it really helps in being accepted. In one instance I was having a conversation in Scotland with a Gàidhlig speaker and they asked me where I was from. I said Alaska. They then asked where my parents came from. They were trying to place my accent. My accent sounded native but they couldn't place it. Anyway the conversation went on like that. I had another native speaker tell me that my accent sounded native but that you couldn't really place it geographically. But the thing is if you sound at least kind of sort of like a native speaker you will get much more acceptance. I'd go so far as to say that it is way more acceptable to screw up the grammar than it is to screw up the pronunciation when it comes to being accepted. Bottom line: pronunciation über alles!
you dont have a thick accent at all, its amazing hearing how well you speak languages. Where i'm from everyone speaks english with heavy thick spanish accents so i'm trying to learn it a bit lol. Love your linguistic videos by the way.
What I used to improve my accent was to delve into phonology and phonetics and practice individual phonemes (vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs, consonants, semivowels, etc.). This is truly an enlightening way to learn the 'right' pronounciation, as it gives you the academic approach to sounds and their inner workings.
Exactly. I do not learn many languages, but my approach to speaking properly is to begin with a _blank_ "sound palette" so I can learn the language's pure sounds without any pollution and bias from my knowledge of other languages. Too often I hear people making the tragic mistake of apply their own language's sound system onto another language, and never bothering to expand beyond that palette. The Japanese are one searing example. Also the point of commute time - yes, as much as possible try to use commute sessions to push in some form of learning by reading or listening. I almost always carry a book/tablet to read or listen to podcasts on subjects of interests. The number commuting hours can add up very significantly in the course of a year.
Hi Metatron I'm Irish so English is my native language. When I listen to you, I would say you are a native English speaker. It is only every so often you don't sound like a native English speaker but it is so slight that it is almost pedantic. My question is, your accent isn't the typical posh English newsreader accent. How did you come about your accent The language I want to learn is Italian and I would appreciate any advice in obtaining a neutral accent. Thank you. Your English accent is amazing Frank
I'd like to see him try several of our major accents. General American, Texan, Georgian, Californian.... but a Massachusetts accent from him would be the best.
As a Georgian, I would be very interested in hearing him do our accent lol I've been struggling against it for nearly 2 decades, and people still say I have such a heavy accent xD Would be cool to hear it from the other direction, a non-native trying to emulate it.
The greatest difficulty I ever had understanding someone, was in Naples. He was an African man, who was asking for directions in BBC English, with a combined Germanic and native language accent. Mind blown.
There is also a pronunciation difference between "I think this book is very good" vs. "I think this is a good book" - the grammar/syntax. As an example, in English you'd say "I swam across the river" whereas in French (I'm francophone thus the French example) it would be said "J'ai traversé la rivière à la nage" - litterally "I crossed the river by swimming". A native speaker would understand but notice the difference. Thus, how you structure your sentences/ideas also speaks to your fluency.
You appear to be a highly motivated and driven person. Good stuff! They're should be more youtubers and 'public figures' like you with a 'get it done' attitude! Maybe you could make a video where you give your perspective on work ethic, motivation, discipline and such. Especially for the youngster (i.e. young adults, students, teens, etc) I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested in your views
I had taught myself a bit of German, and when we were in Frankfurt, I was able to hold several conversations with people that spoke little or no English. But when I went to Mainz, none of my friends there could understand me at all!
You are very good at this. I am currently learning Thai and this video has actually helped. Thank you. You really should have a pure language channel. Oh and you are so right about how the dictionaries seem to work against you.. Ahhh, took me a long time to realize these things are actually hindering me sometimes.
A technique I've been using for years to improve pronunciation with great effect is listen to how speakers of your target language mispronounce your native language. As you obviously know your own language much better than something you are just trying to pick up, it's far easier to spot subtle differences.
I still hear in your accent the fact you picked up english in Landan/sarf east Engaland.....! Fact, you have great English. Speak to some of the 2nd3rd generation Welsh /Italians, welsh accented English spoken with an Italian rhythm! I love it.
I learned English by first watching South Park with my native language subtitiles. Later when lot of verbs and sentenced repeated, i got sorta used to it and know what these words mean in my language. It continued to the point, that i didn't need subtitles anymore. So i tried movie without subtitles, and lo behold, i could clearly understand what they mean. Sure some words get lost, but i remember each sentence. Later on Red Dwarf. David had different accent, yet not hard. Just different words for same meaning one. Then i found barrier. Doctor Who. Especially accents. I thinked David Tennant Scottish accent was hard to understand, then Peter Capaldi come out and i was fucked to the point, that i needed subtitles to understand. Later i didn't need them anymore and start practicing Scottish accent, because it have very similar pronunciation to my language. Then i changed basically every media to use to English. English news, English mobile language, English UA-cam channels of course. Now im creating subtitles for my language from English. All this took less then year.
Good pronunciation can get you into trouble...I speak minimal conversational Japanese, but I work to get the pronunciation correct. The person(s) I am speaking with assume I know more than I do and start speaking very quickly!! Of course this encourages me to expand my vocabulary and phrases too!!!
Loved the video, good education and good comedy. I wish you had spoken more about the psychology of learning different languages. Since there are so many morphemes and phonemes between cultures, and also how language is developed and learned. Once again great video, and thank you for all your awesome content.
Ciao Metatron! Would you happen to know anything about iTalki? If so, I'd love to know your opinion on it. I'm an American of Italian descent and I've been studying Italian for a year now trying to reintroduce it back into the family so your language videos are some of my favorite and are really inspiring.
Your comment on listening to native speakers reminded me of the scene in "The Thirteenth Warrior" where the Arab listened to the Norsemen and slowly learned their language.
Also different dialects of some areas makes language learning hard in my opinion. Even if there is a form that specific language sounds or should sound in general technicaly, it doesn't guarantee that the language is spoken that way in daily basis.
You have a nice English accent. I think they call it "RP", but whatever it is it's clear cut and easy to understand. I wish I was that good at my Japanese pronunciation. I gotta keep working.
I want to say that Metatron, you have a fluent british accent. Bravo. I'm American with Italian and Scottish ancestry. I have a very basic understanding of French, Italian, German and Hindi (I lived there for a time). I think everyone should learn at least 1 other language, it helps expand your mind and brings people together.
For some reason I have a non rhotic New Yorker type accent( people often mistake me for being Italian American)and I am from Texas. No one I know speaks like me and I honestly don't know where it came from lol but I'm glad I have this accent cause it would be harder for me to learn Russian with a thick Texas accent like most people I know
absolutely love your language videos. your tips are really practical. your own language abilities are at an exceptionally high level. keep it up Metatron!
Thank you. I feel like you made this video for me. With my northeast "Yankee " accent is so strong. We joke up here. We say my English is horrible. But, my "Bostonian " is excellent. I am from The Great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Yes that's the official name for Massachusetts. Have a great day.
I'm working on the common tongue, Mandarin, at the moment and I try to learn strictly through native speakers, either in person or recordings preferring the former. I find watching big budget movies from the local countries in between sessions helps finding accents that widely understandable to others that speak the dialect, especially if the actor in question is very popular amongst locals. Of course immersion is always the best method since you'll naturally start imitating those around you to fit in as a survival instinct. Also language is a skill easier learned for some than others, but I find practicing impression of those that speak your own language but with a dialectical difference also help learning new sounds in other languages as well, like another form of workout. Skilled impressionist pick up languages easier.
A very interesting video. I have a few point to add though: 1) I don't know if you've watched your own videos but you use a lot of gesticulation which is sort of like your non verbal accent. There's nothing bad about it, actually it somehow puts the things in a more explanatory way. In one of your future videos you might compare non verbal expressions when speaking other languages because it definitely adds a new dimension to the communication 2) I'm a L2 English speak, my level might be around B2-C1 but I couldn't ignore your pronunciation of the final -s sound. When you say "stupid ones" shouldn't be the final -s pronounced as /z/? Just an observation. 3) Regarding the varieties I have to say that in case of Spanish particulary you can achieve neutral pronunciation, intonation and what's called "accent" because there is such a thing as neutral Spanish. I'm a neutral Spanish speaker myself and no native speaker can actually tell where I'm from while they're convinced I'm a native speaker. In case of Spanish, speaking it's neutral variety will give you an advantage in international environment for sure. Keep up with the great work, Greetings from the Czech Republic
I seriously thought you were a native english speaker. Wow. Your pronouncation struck me as really good when you said "Zweihänder" in a video. There are very few people who get German right without speaking it! But choosing an English dialect, wow. Just wow. Tricked me. Native German speaker here. I do get mistaken for a native speaker when I actually speak a language I'm learning, so I guess I have an ear for it. Thanks for the "daily" recommendation to tell my brain it needs to remember this stuff.
on an unrelated note you should do a video on Tomoe Gozen or Hattori Hanzo, both seem like interesting topics that you might have a lot of information on!
Wow, I've been telling the exact same thing to all my friends since i noticed it myself, and i'd often use the word 'word' as an example as well, curiously enough :v I feel like more people should see this video, pronunciation is a vital part of every language and one can't justify neglecting it with their having an 'accent' (which in most cases shouldn't even count as an accent but quite simply, a set of pronunciation flaws one refuses to deal with)
I was once bothered with the fact that people from different countries can be just as fluent and have the same level of understanding of a language and yet some will sound much better than others because their native tongues share more common phones with said language, I thought it's unfair, and i feel many people think the same because they're not taught properly. After i started analysing the English pronunciation, intonation and rhythm and began to pay attention to my own mistakes, it took me less than a year to get rid of my accent completely as well as to adopt many features of the English one to the degree than most Europeans take me for a Brit and the English themselves at the very least don't have a clue where i'm from as my accent, much like yours, while not being quite native-like, is still visibly English (or hearibly, rather... is that even a word? xD) I just wish i could have been taught all of it as a child, pronunciation is often overlooked in early language education, causing kids to use their own, native phones for foreign words, this issue should at last be addressed
Very interesting video, thanks for the tips, I'm sure they will prove very useful. Could I suggest 2 videos I would be interested in watching? Help in perfecting English accent, you could use the one you chose to perfect yours and Japanese as well. Thanks a lot!
I've noticed my pronunciation gets better by spending time and talking in a foreign country. Too bad it doesn't happen often enough. Thank you for the advise on 15 minutes a day.:) Good excuse for following youtubers.
As I have told you a few times now. I speak English with a Massachusetts accent. My grandparents were from Sicily. So when I speak Italian. I have a very strong accent. As much as I try. I don’t ever think that I can correct my accent.
Question. Why do the subtitles on the video need to be off? I would think that it would help with with vocabulary and grammar. I'd also love to see a video (or series of videos) on the different Italian accents.
Personally I'm mostly here for the historical videos. But this one was very interesting for me too, being both a historical and language student. Not really new to me, but a very important topic! What I realised about myself one day: they way I pronounce english isn't only influenced by me being german. That's obvious. But one of my teachers pointed out some pronouncation issues I had which were quite unique to me and I couldn't wrap my head around where they came from. But one day I had an enlightening revelation: it's not because of me being a native german speaker but because of my german dialect! It was unique to me, compared to my classmates, since I moved to another region of germany som years ago. My dialect helped me a bit with english because the way you move your tongue in my dialect is closer to english than with high german. But as I realized there are some issues too..... I wonder if Metatron recognized something similar one day, coming from Sicilia.
Being from the US, I have to agree with you about the letter "E". Hearing people pronounce the "e" as "ey" in other languages is at times weird. I don't know if you have ever noticed...but have you ever heard people from the US (and sometimes England) pronounce "xie xie" as "shay shay"? I remember 15 years ago being in China for the first time, and I kept hearing this guy tell the waitress "shay shay". I couldn't figure it out what it was he was saying. The Chinese people I was with laughed, and said that he was saying "xie xie", and that at times foreigners will say "shay shay" no matter how many times you correct them. So yes, I know what you mean. Plus, I hear it when they speak Spanish. Also, don't forget the breath that is made after a consonant in most cases for English. You used the example of Tempo. If you really listen hard to how you said it in both the English and Italian way. You'll notice that in the English way there is an "h" sound after "T" and the "H". So it's like you said "T-hemp-ho". I didn't notice this about English at all till about a couple years ago. Someone pointed it out to me about English speakers speaking Russian. I realized there are other languages that don't have this subtle breath after the consonants as well. For example listen to how Indian people pronounce their "T" and "D". Think about how you do it in Italian. Since you speak so many languages, just think about all of the ones you speak, and listen for that breath. For me I found that learning an accent, and getting used to pronunciation, was easier if I listen to a person who speaks another language natively speak it in English. So for example, I have been learning Russian off and on through the years. Before I learned it, I listened to how Russians spoke English. I mimicked their pronunciation, and accent in English. Then as I was starting to learn Russian, it wasn't hard to get the feel of the words. Granted I still have a hard time with stresses on words in all languages. My father's side of the family is Mexican, and so even my Spanish is hit or miss with the stresses sometimes, but pronunciation and accent isn't hard. Though I enjoy accents anyway, so it's very fun for me to learn it. Still listening to someone from another country who speaks a different native language, it really helps. The reason why is that they are using a familiar language for me. So I can separate the words, and sounds much easier in my head. Then I can mimic and formulate the sounds. It's almost like learning how to play a song on my guitar from ear. I hear the sounds, each bend, every slide, and each accent on the notes or chords. So for an accent and pronunciation it's very similar.
I don't think deciding which accent to learn should be a particularly hard question to answer. If we're talking about a language that is spoken in several countries, then any standard variety of any of those countries will do, but it would be wise to choose either General American or Received Pronunciation (Estuary is probably better, though), just because it would be easier for everyone to understand. As for the Italian language, I don't see why anyone would want to learn the accent of Rome, Naples, Milan etc, Neutral Italian will be the most effective in most cases, even though your average Italian will not speak like that, it's still the pronunciation that's easier to understand for everyone. The situation is different if you're living in the country of your target foreign language, it's completely understandable if a foreigner living in Milan develops an accent that's closer to the Italian spoken my Milanese people :P
This is my sign. I'm a care giver. N work with alit of Africans. Who watch football...or..soccer..so I don't know my mainland or it's language... bt I'm learning.. mainly African and Mexican and I struggle with my Mexican accent when speaking Spanish. Bt I can speak.. it's the spead n fluency.. and I'm learning how to pronounce Japanese words even those it's one word answers or sentences. I tend to play my video games where I know what's being said ... in a specific language bt with English subtitles so I hear how the words should be said..generally.. bt a tru bilingual individual helps
What do you think about Meritocracy? Do you like it? You seem to have very strong mindset in this direction, as far as I can tell from your videos, but would you prefer different?
...another reason that i chose a british accent as opposed to an american one, is because the vocabulary is a lot more similar. for example, theres no translation for the word "taşak" in american english (its pronounced tashaq, all straight, single sounds) but it does in british english, which is "bollock" also i prefer the spellings as well, and its closer to how i normally speak turkish, not close, but closER
The best way to get your accent to sound more natural is just to listen to a lot of native speakers speaking. If you do it often enough, your brain WILL eventually pick up on how things are said, and your foreign accent will begin to disappear. Of course, if you have a technical understanding of phonetics and you can read IPA, that will help you a lot, but (at least for me) learning pronunciation just by reading phonetic transcriptions just leads to me technically pronouncing everything, whilst spitting and stuttering every half a second. You need to actually hear native speakers talking, because then your brain will naturally perceive how they are making the sounds, and it will naturally begin to imitate them. Even better if you can practice speaking, maybe even have a conversation buddy that you can talk to regularly. Your accent still may not be perfect, you still may have a slight foreign accent, but if you do this regularly your foreign accent WILL get less and less noticeable.
I was in a call today with a french girl who works for a client, and since I don't speak french and she doesn't speak dutch we use english as the lingua franca. She speaks with a french accent, which is super cute. I don't think anyone can be offended by such a cute accent :).
Pronunciation is very important to make yourself understood. I am a native Russian speaker and when I hear foreign people talking in Russian I sometimes barely understand them.
Hey metatron! Great video. I think italki is a worthy mention if you cannot easily access native speakers. Also, I'd love to see a video on how to "do" various Italian accents.
"Czenglish" sounds great :D but no one would understand me because our pronunciation (I mean in Czech language) is the same as our spelling. Also, I remember you mentioned in one that Japanese are great at butchering pronunciation of English and gave word "energy" as an example. I love your examples and rant bits in language videos. I would appreciate a bit more of these language videos because I am increasingly interested in languages lately. I would like to learn british accent but I am very bad in recognizing specific accents. Of course, I can hear the difference in vocabulary and pronunciation of specific words, but I listen English from many different people with different accents and all of it is kinda mixed in my head.
Accents here are painful as we have some of the oldest dialects still alive and spoken today, many pigeon languages. You should look up Newfoundland and it's dialects. Keep up the amazing videos!!
I really hate it when people complain that someone is "Fakin an accent" :S Like, at least he TRIES, you know? xD But on another note, it can be quite challenging to develop a British accent simply because we hear American accents all the time. It can get quite confusing at times :O
We also learn british words in the Netherlands or at least we SHOULD. It all depends on the quality of the teacher what you will get, which varies greatly here.
SAME! I speak English as a second language. I'm from Venezuela and my family moved to America when I was 12, I could already speak English, but I had a HEAVY Venezuelan Spanish accent. "Jelo, Jawaryu?" but then I went to school and started being on the internet more in English, so I developed a "General American" accent. (Some people said I had no accent at all) But during a summer I started listening to many British people on the internet, so I developed kind of a "General British" accent, so when I returned to school, (this was my first year of highschool so I didn't know anyone) people started asking if I was British. (Although I still think my "General British" accent is not good enough) People need to understand that accent is a fluid thing that changes depending on what you're exposed to. XD
21:57 - 22:05 That's an interesting point. Never thought like that. Funnily enough, I've got an exact opposite impression. It's like "England is not that huge, gosh, why so many accents?" I don't think my native language even has accents in itself.
I am a Brazilian who speaks english with a russian accent
i don't know where it has gone wrong
Bass Buster X to much CS GO I see
I heard somebody say once Portuguese sounds like a Russian trying to speak Spanish lol
I said that in my comment like 10 minutes ago... albeit I phrased it as "a drunk Russian trying to speak Spanish."
lol
Do you wear adidas?
Xu Te Rangatira i heard that from jhoanna in the flama charnela
Pronunciation was sooooo important in my Arabic instruction, to the point that I wish my other languages had focused on it in the same way. I think it's actually a deficiency in contemporary language instruction.
Arabic is really complicated, but in the end its a beautiful language.
RedSpear XIII Actually it isn't that complicated grammar-wise. It follows a pretty strict structural formula. The real terrifying part of Arabic is the vocabulary, which is vast beyond belief.
Yamen .S You're right, but my original instructor was a local sheikh, so we focused heavily on pronunciation anyways. It has made the absence of pronunciation lessons apparent to me though in my French, Spanish, and Turkish lessons over the years.
Yamen S. Some of the Arabic consonants are very difficult for speakers of English. Though I agree that the irregularity of plural forms, etc, is more difficult.
As far as the different forms of the verbs goes, I actually enjoyed that part. But then again I'm advanced in Latin which has a very complex system of conjugated verbs.
I don't normally comment, but I found this video both entertaining and informative. Thank you.
I'm glad you did ^^
"Take a dog, cut a leg off" - Metatron, 2017
tyson mccorkle putting out of context 101 :D
tyson mccorkle 8:12
i laugth litres! rotflol
Hahahahahahhaa! That is what he said in da video!!
I remember when I first started watching you, I thought you were english
ONE DAY I WILL BE ABLE TO PRONOUNCE THE FRENCH "R"
One day
Oliver Cromwell Did Nothing Wrong I've given up.
Luca VASILE
Errr...being French, I can tell you, that's not how we do it. When I pronounce a "r" I use the very back of my tongue, in this soft area at the back of my mouth. All the while using my vocal cords.
German r is harder to grasp for me, can't do it yet, it's just so in between of the 2 other r sounds that I know well - the Russian and the English, that I just can't help but to use one of them instead...
KalishAlexander Yeah, I'm with you on that. I can pronounce both R's, soft and hard, really well, but I just can't get the German R.
Try the german "ch".
Fun fact about the common American accent: it was known as the Seattle accent until the 1950's, when television producers who were broadcasting nation-wide needed to pick an accent that was understandable to people from all over the country. They chose the accent from the Pacific Northwest because it had the most common ground between all the other American and Canadian accents
I'd definately be interested in a series where you explain how to mimic the accents of different Italian regions. I've studied the language (more or less) for about 5 years in high school and now university, and the only accent I've constantly understood has been the standard. When I went to Italy, I tried to understand my relatives in Salerno and it was quite different than what I learned (maybe that's a bit of an overstatement but it was definately hard to me to pick things up). I have also noticed that when my grandparents speak on the phone to my other side of the family in calabria the words tend to end in "u" a lot. I'm sure this is due to dialect but I am still able to pick up some of the standard words I'm familiar with.
I really enjoy your videos by the way, I find them very interesting and helpful. I went through the entirety of this one and remained interested throughout all of it. Your content is very well done and I appreciate the work you put into it.
Comment digging a bit, but I'm a brazilian learning italian with a family from napoli, I can't understand shit of "standard" Italian haha. IMO, Veneto has the best accent in italy...
I love his mindset. "In a competitive environment, you have to aim for number 1"
Quickly becoming one of my favorite youtubers. I've loved every video, never stop my friend
3 years on! Is he your favourite now?
What I always wondered: as a foreign speaker which accents are you supposed to adopt?
I'm German and in school we tend to learn a bastardized version of British English but since most of the media I consume is American I kinda adopted a sort of American accent.
I suppose it will be quite weird for an English person to hear me speak a German-American kind of English accent and he'll wonders what the hell I'm trying to portray.
if i'm not wrong the spanish z is just used in Spain, i remember teachers told us that that was the real sound for z, but we just pronounce that as s. also in latinamerica we don't make the difference between b an v.
For us Spaniards actually sound funny when foreigners speak using S instead of Z, or latinamerican expressions. I'm not telling it's wrong at all. It's just unexpected XDD
And Z is not even used in all Spain (in most of it though). In some places the S sound is always used (which are the places where most of the people who travelled to America were from, and because of it they have that particularity in their accent), and even some other small regions in southern Spain use always Z sound even when it should be S.
In Spain we also don't make the difference between B and V, and most of people don't make the difference between Y and LL. In some places we pronounce all the letters, in some others we don't depending on the letter and position in the word, or we change it for another sounds... even the vowel sounds may vary... Spanish in Spain can vary A LOT, and it can be very difficult for foreigners to get used to some accents.
Tonguetwisters / はやくちことば / скоропоговорки / really help too!
Скоропоговорки - what language is this?
Дмитрий Коренев Bulgarian
I think
i would say that "скоропоговорки" is russian or ukrain or something (or something else close to russia)
qcklu niets It's in Bulgarian actually
This has motivated me to take up refining my French, even though I'm not taking a class on it anymore.
While attending college, I tutored English for three years. From my own personal experience, I often found that many of my students from foreign countries often had the best use of English. I quickly learned to look past accents, and determine the words in use.
I have reached a decent level of Italian proficiency without living in the country and I can backup what Metatron says about daily practice. Every opportunity for exposure and practice must be taken, particularly if you do not live somewhere where people speak the language all around you. The strategies I use are: audiobooks in the car for listening and comprehension practice, children's story books for vocabulary and grammar, I even installed Microsoft Office in Italian so I am constantly exposed and learning words/concepts in Italian that I otherwise wouldn't come across. I take my daughter to Italian playgroup which used to be really daunting and nerve racking but now I am comfortable and can understand and communicate well. Of course, I throw in a healthy dose of instructional UA-cam videos too! Many objects in my house have been labelled with the italian word (eg. the stapler, door stop, high chair etc) and also importantly the verb that is associated with using that object!
There are also websites which match up people for language exchanges and I have been speaking to someone and helping with their English whilst learning Italian from them once a week for over two years, which has been invaluable.
A big hindrance to progress is often being too nervous to speak to people, just imagine you wouldn't judge or laugh at someone attempting to speak your language, would you? That means that nearly every person you attempt to speak your second language to will not think you silly for making mistakes.
Daily effort and exposure is the key to actually making progress. From my experience most people embark on learning a language and give up after a few paltry efforts over a couple of weeks with a language app on their phone, that is not going to cut it!
I know people are after Metatron's opinions and not mine but that's my two cents anyway! (I am currently studying a Masters of Linguistics too so have some formal background)
Ciao da Melbourne, Australia
Your videos are always so entertaining, I don't even care about any pronounciations but i just like to listen you speak.
You're a good teacher and coach, your video's are actually motivating in a lot of ways...very nice :-)
I operate in two languages other than my native English. French-Canadian (from later childhood) and more recently Scots Gaelic (Gàidhlig). In both instances I put put a great emphasis on pronunciation and on both instances I reached the point where native speakers didn't realize I was a non-native speaker unless I told them. I can tell you it really helps in being accepted. In one instance I was having a conversation in Scotland with a Gàidhlig speaker and they asked me where I was from. I said Alaska. They then asked where my parents came from. They were trying to place my accent. My accent sounded native but they couldn't place it. Anyway the conversation went on like that. I had another native speaker tell me that my accent sounded native but that you couldn't really place it geographically.
But the thing is if you sound at least kind of sort of like a native speaker you will get much more acceptance. I'd go so far as to say that it is way more acceptable to screw up the grammar than it is to screw up the pronunciation when it comes to being accepted.
Bottom line: pronunciation über alles!
Metatron, you are a magnificent person
Thank you for that!
Jack M I wholeheartedly agree! What a brilliant video and channel
No, he's a god
you dont have a thick accent at all, its amazing hearing how well you speak languages. Where i'm from everyone speaks english with heavy thick spanish accents so i'm trying to learn it a bit lol. Love your linguistic videos by the way.
What I used to improve my accent was to delve into phonology and phonetics and practice individual phonemes (vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs, consonants, semivowels, etc.).
This is truly an enlightening way to learn the 'right' pronounciation, as it gives you the academic approach to sounds and their inner workings.
Clicked on the channel to watch some old videos and was greeted with a video uploaded just 12 minutes ago.
Awesome!
Best things. Ramen!
It's always good to find some other fellow pastafarian!
I'm studying Italian at the moment. its hard but such a fun language.
Exactly. I do not learn many languages, but my approach to speaking properly is to begin with a _blank_ "sound palette" so I can learn the language's pure sounds without any pollution and bias from my knowledge of other languages. Too often I hear people making the tragic mistake of apply their own language's sound system onto another language, and never bothering to expand beyond that palette. The Japanese are one searing example.
Also the point of commute time - yes, as much as possible try to use commute sessions to push in some form of learning by reading or listening. I almost always carry a book/tablet to read or listen to podcasts on subjects of interests. The number commuting hours can add up very significantly in the course of a year.
I love you. Thanks to you I really want to learn foreign languages. You are a great person.
9:42 You said "Wort" which is german for "Word" XD
You almost nailed it! XDDD
0:12 and he already did something right which many native English speakers struggle with: pronounce "pronunciation".
i LOVE how you drop the "T" when speaking Typical English,in some parts.
Another tip for learning correct pronunciation that helps me alot. Ignore the word, listen only to the sounds. Think of it as just making noise.
The RT español channel on youtube is always live, listening to it has greatly helped
Hi Metatron
I'm Irish so English is my native language. When I listen to you, I would say you are a native English speaker. It is only every so often you don't sound like a native English speaker but it is so slight that it is almost pedantic. My question is, your accent isn't the typical posh English newsreader accent. How did you come about your accent
The language I want to learn is Italian and I would appreciate any advice in obtaining a neutral accent.
Thank you.
Your English accent is amazing
Frank
Hallo Frank. How is that Italian going?
Now I really want to hear you speak in a video with an american accent.
I'd like to see him try several of our major accents. General American, Texan, Georgian, Californian.... but a Massachusetts accent from him would be the best.
that would be great good lord....
Ken Andrews I'd love to hear a NY accent.
Ken Andrews ayyy
As a Georgian, I would be very interested in hearing him do our accent lol I've been struggling against it for nearly 2 decades, and people still say I have such a heavy accent xD Would be cool to hear it from the other direction, a non-native trying to emulate it.
The greatest difficulty I ever had understanding someone, was in Naples. He was an African man, who was asking for directions in BBC English, with a combined Germanic and native language accent. Mind blown.
There is also a pronunciation difference between "I think this book is very good" vs. "I think this is a good book" - the grammar/syntax. As an example, in English you'd say "I swam across the river" whereas in French (I'm francophone thus the French example) it would be said "J'ai traversé la rivière à la nage" - litterally "I crossed the river by swimming". A native speaker would understand but notice the difference. Thus, how you structure your sentences/ideas also speaks to your fluency.
I totally agree with you, daily is the key.
"English is not my first language" Me: WHAT?!? (explodes)
yeah, I am a native English speaker and I think he speaks it better than I do.
Hahahaha! U r a combustion!
I'm started studying Gaeilge. I found this video helpful. Thank you.
Very useful, please do more videos on the subject :)
You appear to be a highly motivated and driven person.
Good stuff!
They're should be more youtubers and 'public figures' like you with a 'get it done' attitude!
Maybe you could make a video where you give your perspective on work ethic, motivation, discipline and such.
Especially for the youngster (i.e. young adults, students, teens, etc)
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested in your views
I had taught myself a bit of German, and when we were in Frankfurt, I was able to hold several conversations with people that spoke little or no English. But when I went to Mainz, none of my friends there could understand me at all!
You make me think about learning another language... I really appreciate your efforts!
You are very good at this. I am currently learning Thai and this video has actually helped. Thank you. You really should have a pure language channel. Oh and you are so right about how the dictionaries seem to work against you.. Ahhh, took me a long time to realize these things are actually hindering me sometimes.
Metatron you forgot to put the Link of the Italian Accents Video in the description!
Your channel is like school for me! How many things i'm learning, thanks a lot mate!
A technique I've been using for years to improve pronunciation with great effect is listen to how speakers of your target language mispronounce your native language. As you obviously know your own language much better than something you are just trying to pick up, it's far easier to spot subtle differences.
I still hear in your accent the fact you picked up english in Landan/sarf east Engaland.....! Fact, you have great English. Speak to some of the 2nd3rd generation Welsh /Italians, welsh accented English spoken with an Italian rhythm! I love it.
"Just DO IT!'
- Raphael LeBouf
I learned English by first watching South Park with my native language subtitiles. Later when lot of verbs and sentenced repeated, i got sorta used to it and know what these words mean in my language. It continued to the point, that i didn't need subtitles anymore. So i tried movie without subtitles, and lo behold, i could clearly understand what they mean. Sure some words get lost, but i remember each sentence. Later on Red Dwarf. David had different accent, yet not hard. Just different words for same meaning one. Then i found barrier. Doctor Who. Especially accents. I thinked David Tennant Scottish accent was hard to understand, then Peter Capaldi come out and i was fucked to the point, that i needed subtitles to understand. Later i didn't need them anymore and start practicing Scottish accent, because it have very similar pronunciation to my language. Then i changed basically every media to use to English. English news, English mobile language, English UA-cam channels of course. Now im creating subtitles for my language from English. All this took less then year.
Good pronunciation can get you into trouble...I speak minimal conversational Japanese, but I work to get the pronunciation correct. The person(s) I am speaking with assume I know more than I do and start speaking very quickly!! Of course this encourages me to expand my vocabulary and phrases too!!!
Loved the video, good education and good comedy. I wish you had spoken more about the psychology of learning different languages. Since there are so many morphemes and phonemes between cultures, and also how language is developed and learned. Once again great video, and thank you for all your awesome content.
Ciao Metatron!
Would you happen to know anything about iTalki? If so, I'd love to know your opinion on it.
I'm an American of Italian descent and I've been studying Italian for a year now trying to reintroduce it back into the family so your language videos are some of my favorite and are really inspiring.
Our cable carrier dropped NHK and Japan TV. 💔😢 My friend Takashi moved. SAD.
Ya must visit Na' Yawk, Lawn Guyland and Joisey.
Your comment on listening to native speakers reminded me of the scene in "The Thirteenth Warrior" where the Arab listened to the Norsemen and slowly learned their language.
Also different dialects of some areas makes language learning hard in my opinion. Even if there is a form that specific language sounds or should sound in general technicaly, it doesn't guarantee that the language is spoken that way in daily basis.
You have a nice English accent. I think they call it "RP", but whatever it is it's clear cut and easy to understand. I wish I was that good at my Japanese pronunciation. I gotta keep working.
I want to say that Metatron, you have a fluent british accent. Bravo. I'm American with Italian and Scottish ancestry. I have a very basic understanding of French, Italian, German and Hindi (I lived there for a time). I think everyone should learn at least 1 other language, it helps expand your mind and brings people together.
For some reason I have a non rhotic New Yorker type accent( people often mistake me for being Italian American)and I am from Texas. No one I know speaks like me and I honestly don't know where it came from lol but I'm glad I have this accent cause it would be harder for me to learn Russian with a thick Texas accent like most people I know
作為一個壞學生，我的英語非常差，但我很喜歡刀劍，歷史，所以常常看您和Scholagladiatoria的頻道，以前的youtube好像沒有字幕的，也或許是我不會弄，總之一年後我發現我已經基本能聽得懂您們的內容，也能和外國人作基本溝通，到國外旅行時我都是負責為我親友溝通翻譯，溝通算不上流暢，但也能傳神逹意，不過我身邊的朋友不怎麼相信我的經歷。
抱歉我沒有寫英文，因為我的讀寫能力和以前一樣，沒怎麼改善，不過我也記得您說過歡迎任何中文留言，如果我沒有聽錯的話。
absolutely love your language videos. your tips are really practical. your own language abilities are at an exceptionally high level. keep it up Metatron!
Thank you. I feel like you made this video for me. With my northeast "Yankee " accent is so strong. We joke up here. We say my English is horrible. But, my "Bostonian " is excellent.
I am from The Great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Yes that's the official name for Massachusetts.
Have a great day.
I'm working on the common tongue, Mandarin, at the moment and I try to learn strictly through native speakers, either in person or recordings preferring the former. I find watching big budget movies from the local countries in between sessions helps finding accents that widely understandable to others that speak the dialect, especially if the actor in question is very popular amongst locals. Of course immersion is always the best method since you'll naturally start imitating those around you to fit in as a survival instinct. Also language is a skill easier learned for some than others, but I find practicing impression of those that speak your own language but with a dialectical difference also help learning new sounds in other languages as well, like another form of workout. Skilled impressionist pick up languages easier.
I literally got notified that you uploaded this 'as' I was watching your language video's, YESSSSSS! Brilliant content 😌
I'm glad you are happy ^^
A very interesting video. I have a few point to add though:
1) I don't know if you've watched your own videos but you use a lot of gesticulation which is sort of like your non verbal accent. There's nothing bad about it, actually it somehow puts the things in a more explanatory way. In one of your future videos you might compare non verbal expressions when speaking other languages because it definitely adds a new dimension to the communication
2) I'm a L2 English speak, my level might be around B2-C1 but I couldn't ignore your pronunciation of the final -s sound. When you say "stupid ones" shouldn't be the final -s pronounced as /z/? Just an observation.
3) Regarding the varieties I have to say that in case of Spanish particulary you can achieve neutral pronunciation, intonation and what's called "accent" because there is such a thing as neutral Spanish. I'm a neutral Spanish speaker myself and no native speaker can actually tell where I'm from while they're convinced I'm a native speaker. In case of Spanish, speaking it's neutral variety will give you an advantage in international environment for sure.
Keep up with the great work,
Greetings from the Czech Republic
I seriously thought you were a native english speaker. Wow. Your pronouncation struck me as really good when you said "Zweihänder" in a video. There are very few people who get German right without speaking it! But choosing an English dialect, wow. Just wow. Tricked me. Native German speaker here.
I do get mistaken for a native speaker when I actually speak a language I'm learning, so I guess I have an ear for it. Thanks for the "daily" recommendation to tell my brain it needs to remember this stuff.
Thank you so much for this video's. I learn a lot with you.
on an unrelated note you should do a video on Tomoe Gozen or Hattori Hanzo, both seem like interesting topics that you might have a lot of information on!
Mate I have a video on Tomoe Gozen
I am improving my pronunciation with your videos ;)
Wow, I've been telling the exact same thing to all my friends since i noticed it myself, and i'd often use the word 'word' as an example as well, curiously enough :v I feel like more people should see this video, pronunciation is a vital part of every language and one can't justify neglecting it with their having an 'accent' (which in most cases shouldn't even count as an accent but quite simply, a set of pronunciation flaws one refuses to deal with)
I was once bothered with the fact that people from different countries can be just as fluent and have the same
level of understanding of a language and yet some will sound much better than others because their native tongues share more common phones with said language, I thought it's unfair, and i feel many people think the same because they're not taught properly. After i started analysing the English pronunciation, intonation and rhythm and began to pay attention to my own mistakes, it took me less than a year to get rid of my accent completely as well as to adopt many features of the English one to the degree than most Europeans take me for a Brit and the English themselves at the very least don't have a clue where i'm from as my accent, much like yours, while not being quite native-like, is still visibly English (or hearibly, rather... is that even a word? xD) I just wish i could have been taught all of it as a child, pronunciation is often overlooked in early language education, causing kids to use their own, native phones for foreign words, this issue should at last be addressed
Pronunciation is linked to remembering sounds exactly, then mimicking them. Voice acting, singing etc is in the same field.
Very interesting video, thanks for the tips, I'm sure they will prove very useful.
Could I suggest 2 videos I would be interested in watching?
Help in perfecting English accent, you could use the one you chose to perfect yours and Japanese as well.
Thanks a lot!
I've noticed my pronunciation gets better by spending time and talking in a foreign country. Too bad it doesn't happen often enough. Thank you for the advise on 15 minutes a day.:) Good excuse for following youtubers.
A video or two on how to attain particular Italian accents would be great!
As I have told you a few times now. I speak English with a Massachusetts accent. My grandparents were from Sicily. So when I speak Italian. I have a very strong accent.
As much as I try. I don’t ever think that I can correct my accent.
Your accent is terrific! It seems to be Estuary - on the spectrum between Estuary and Received Pronunciation.
23:35 that ‘British’ was top notch!
"if I watch a video in stead of spending time with my wife, she will flipping murder me!"
Metatron: "not a problem".
me: XD
¿Qué dijiste? No te entendí
@@fedesh883 "si me la paso mirando videos en vez de estar con mi esposa, me va a cagar matando"
Metratron: cero drama Master
Yo: equis de
Question. Why do the subtitles on the video need to be off? I would think that it would help with with vocabulary and grammar. I'd also love to see a video (or series of videos) on the different Italian accents.
Am adding this video to my second language study playlist
Definitely you should do a video teaching people how to have different Italian accents.
Personally I'm mostly here for the historical videos. But this one was very interesting for me too, being both a historical and language student. Not really new to me, but a very important topic! What I realised about myself one day: they way I pronounce english isn't only influenced by me being german. That's obvious. But one of my teachers pointed out some pronouncation issues I had which were quite unique to me and I couldn't wrap my head around where they came from. But one day I had an enlightening revelation: it's not because of me being a native german speaker but because of my german dialect! It was unique to me, compared to my classmates, since I moved to another region of germany som years ago. My dialect helped me a bit with english because the way you move your tongue in my dialect is closer to english than with high german. But as I realized there are some issues too..... I wonder if Metatron recognized something similar one day, coming from Sicilia.
Being from the US, I have to agree with you about the letter "E". Hearing people pronounce the "e" as "ey" in other languages is at times weird. I don't know if you have ever noticed...but have you ever heard people from the US (and sometimes England) pronounce "xie xie" as "shay shay"? I remember 15 years ago being in China for the first time, and I kept hearing this guy tell the waitress "shay shay". I couldn't figure it out what it was he was saying. The Chinese people I was with laughed, and said that he was saying "xie xie", and that at times foreigners will say "shay shay" no matter how many times you correct them. So yes, I know what you mean. Plus, I hear it when they speak Spanish.
Also, don't forget the breath that is made after a consonant in most cases for English. You used the example of Tempo. If you really listen hard to how you said it in both the English and Italian way. You'll notice that in the English way there is an "h" sound after "T" and the "H". So it's like you said "T-hemp-ho". I didn't notice this about English at all till about a couple years ago. Someone pointed it out to me about English speakers speaking Russian. I realized there are other languages that don't have this subtle breath after the consonants as well. For example listen to how Indian people pronounce their "T" and "D". Think about how you do it in Italian. Since you speak so many languages, just think about all of the ones you speak, and listen for that breath.
For me I found that learning an accent, and getting used to pronunciation, was easier if I listen to a person who speaks another language natively speak it in English. So for example, I have been learning Russian off and on through the years. Before I learned it, I listened to how Russians spoke English. I mimicked their pronunciation, and accent in English. Then as I was starting to learn Russian, it wasn't hard to get the feel of the words. Granted I still have a hard time with stresses on words in all languages. My father's side of the family is Mexican, and so even my Spanish is hit or miss with the stresses sometimes, but pronunciation and accent isn't hard. Though I enjoy accents anyway, so it's very fun for me to learn it. Still listening to someone from another country who speaks a different native language, it really helps. The reason why is that they are using a familiar language for me. So I can separate the words, and sounds much easier in my head. Then I can mimic and formulate the sounds. It's almost like learning how to play a song on my guitar from ear. I hear the sounds, each bend, every slide, and each accent on the notes or chords. So for an accent and pronunciation it's very similar.
I don't think deciding which accent to learn should be a particularly hard question to answer. If we're talking about a language that is spoken in several countries, then any standard variety of any of those countries will do, but it would be wise to choose either General American or Received Pronunciation (Estuary is probably better, though), just because it would be easier for everyone to understand. As for the Italian language, I don't see why anyone would want to learn the accent of Rome, Naples, Milan etc, Neutral Italian will be the most effective in most cases, even though your average Italian will not speak like that, it's still the pronunciation that's easier to understand for everyone.
The situation is different if you're living in the country of your target foreign language, it's completely understandable if a foreigner living in Milan develops an accent that's closer to the Italian spoken my Milanese people :P
I get a smile everytime I hear your voice and the intro.
This is my sign. I'm a care giver. N work with alit of Africans. Who watch football...or..soccer..so I don't know my mainland or it's language... bt I'm learning.. mainly African and Mexican and I struggle with my Mexican accent when speaking Spanish. Bt I can speak.. it's the spead n fluency.. and I'm learning how to pronounce Japanese words even those it's one word answers or sentences. I tend to play my video games where I know what's being said ... in a specific language bt with English subtitles so I hear how the words should be said..generally.. bt a tru bilingual individual helps
Brillant analyses, your right.
Your British accent is amazing! By the way, I just adore the thick Italian accent. It makes me want to order a large pizza.
What do you think about Meritocracy? Do you like it? You seem to have very strong mindset in this direction, as far as I can tell from your videos, but would you prefer different?
...another reason that i chose a british accent as opposed to an american one, is because the vocabulary is a lot more similar. for example, theres no translation for the word "taşak" in american english
(its pronounced tashaq, all straight, single sounds) but it does in british english, which is "bollock"
also i prefer the spellings as well, and its closer to how i normally speak turkish, not close, but closER
As a Brit who speaks multiple languages I cringed when you added an English accent to the Italian
The best way to get your accent to sound more natural is just to listen to a lot of native speakers speaking. If you do it often enough, your brain WILL eventually pick up on how things are said, and your foreign accent will begin to disappear. Of course, if you have a technical understanding of phonetics and you can read IPA, that will help you a lot, but (at least for me) learning pronunciation just by reading phonetic transcriptions just leads to me technically pronouncing everything, whilst spitting and stuttering every half a second. You need to actually hear native speakers talking, because then your brain will naturally perceive how they are making the sounds, and it will naturally begin to imitate them. Even better if you can practice speaking, maybe even have a conversation buddy that you can talk to regularly. Your accent still may not be perfect, you still may have a slight foreign accent, but if you do this regularly your foreign accent WILL get less and less noticeable.
To get the chicks, your accent you must keep.
^this
buineto Truth
Depends oon the accent. I don't imagine a Russian or Arab accent will be much of a panty dropper ^^.
MacX1985 Another truth
buineto I'm Italian and sorry not sorry, American accent with Italian words is not attractive to me.
I was in a call today with a french girl who works for a client, and since I don't speak french and she doesn't speak dutch we use english as the lingua franca. She speaks with a french accent, which is super cute. I don't think anyone can be offended by such a cute accent :).
Pronunciation is very important to make yourself understood. I am a native Russian speaker and when I hear foreign people talking in Russian I sometimes barely understand them.
Hey metatron! Great video. I think italki is a worthy mention if you cannot easily access native speakers. Also, I'd love to see a video on how to "do" various Italian accents.
9:17 OH MY GOD HOW CAN YOU DO THAT THAT BIT WAS AMAZING
YOU’RE RIGHT I DIDN’T REALIZE IT
"Czenglish" sounds great :D but no one would understand me because our pronunciation (I mean in Czech language) is the same as our spelling. Also, I remember you mentioned in one that Japanese are great at butchering pronunciation of English and gave word "energy" as an example. I love your examples and rant bits in language videos. I would appreciate a bit more of these language videos because I am increasingly interested in languages lately. I would like to learn british accent but I am very bad in recognizing specific accents. Of course, I can hear the difference in vocabulary and pronunciation of specific words, but I listen English from many different people with different accents and all of it is kinda mixed in my head.
Accents here are painful as we have some of the oldest dialects still alive and spoken today, many pigeon languages. You should look up Newfoundland and it's dialects. Keep up the amazing videos!!
I really hate it when people complain that someone is "Fakin an accent" :S Like, at least he TRIES, you know? xD
But on another note, it can be quite challenging to develop a British accent simply because we hear American accents all the time. It can get quite confusing at times :O
Ardhacandra In Italian school we learn British pronunciation and words. For example: Flat, not Apartment.
We also learn british words in the Netherlands or at least we SHOULD. It all depends on the quality of the teacher what you will get, which varies greatly here.
SAME! I speak English as a second language. I'm from Venezuela and my family moved to America when I was 12, I could already speak English, but I had a HEAVY Venezuelan Spanish accent. "Jelo, Jawaryu?" but then I went to school and started being on the internet more in English, so I developed a "General American" accent. (Some people said I had no accent at all) But during a summer I started listening to many British people on the internet, so I developed kind of a "General British" accent, so when I returned to school, (this was my first year of highschool so I didn't know anyone) people started asking if I was British. (Although I still think my "General British" accent is not good enough) People need to understand that accent is a fluid thing that changes depending on what you're exposed to. XD
21:57 - 22:05 That's an interesting point. Never thought like that. Funnily enough, I've got an exact opposite impression. It's like "England is not that huge, gosh, why so many accents?" I don't think my native language even has accents in itself.