I second Kirk - very good American accent. Because I know you are not from the US, it biased me and I tried to pick out things I thought sounded odd. I did pick things out, but, I don't think I'm a good judge as people with NCVS sound kind of foreign to me too. I think you sounded almost exactly like a friend of mine, Angie, who is from Minnesota.
What's your English accent like?
Tiffany put it very well--since I knew coming into it that you weren't from the US I listened for certain subtle things that I might not've noticed as readily otherwise. Like with Tiffany, Midwestern accents already sound noticeably different or "other" to me (I'm from California) so if I hear someone who sounds Midwestern and they have a sound combination which seems strange to me then I just assume it's part of their dialect.
/me finds the idea that he sounds foreign, his very informal speech aside (which could definitely sound foreign to some NAE-speakers), rather funny, for whatever reason...
Well, I don't think Midwesterners sound foreign :) They just sound Midwestern ;)
Maybe foreign was a bad choice. It just sounds... off. Obviously because Kirk and I have grown up in different dialects of American English than you folks upp there :) Although I guess it's strange that we grew up on different coasts Kirk, and yet your accent sounds very neutral to me.
César,
<<Regarding the "old" thing, I was trying to avoid sounding rude, hehe. Now, honestly, you sound like a 90-year old American.>>
Oh my goodness! Are you serious? I’m asking because I’m shocked to hear it. I think I will need to be getting down in my years, immediately.
<<How about recording yourself speaking in your native tongue? It seems to me that you change the timbre of your voice in order to sound old. Do you do that?>>
I’ll try. You know, something funny, short and nice for hearing. I used to make my own recordings when I trained my voice for telephone conversation purposes.
<< The problem I find with your tricks is that when people start listening to you speaking in your mother language you might lose credibility.>>
César, on the contrary. It adds to my credibility. To be sure, I don’t think I sound like a 90-year old person in my native language. Almost nobody wanted to speak to me if that would be the case. Just imagine a 90-year old banker calls you and asks questions about your company. How would you feel about that? I think I sound like a person in his late thirties or early forties when speaking over phone. Trust me on that one. And as for my daily language -- no, I don’t think so, either – most people find pleasure in talking to me.
<< From my perspective, you exaggerate waaaay too much. You need to project energy when speaking, instead of sluggishness>>
Good point. I agree with you.
<<I would suggest you speak even faster.>>
Yes. You’re right. I’m too slow. I think I should be quicker.
<<I will take some time to record myself imitating you and speaking the way I do (in both English and Spanish languages). This might help you get the idea of which things you should change and which ones you shouldn't based on the differences you find.>>
That would be a good thing. I think with your good ear, you're better positioned to detect things that require an immediate change and all those subtle things I’ve failed as yet to capture in my speeches.
Again, many thanks for your help. I appreciate your feedback. As an English learner I find your suggestions to be of great use to me. Hope to hear from you soon.
Merry Christmas.
Roger
<<Regarding the "old" thing, I was trying to avoid sounding rude, hehe. Now, honestly, you sound like a 90-year old American.>>
Oh my goodness! Are you serious? I’m asking because I’m shocked to hear it. I think I will need to be getting down in my years, immediately.
<<How about recording yourself speaking in your native tongue? It seems to me that you change the timbre of your voice in order to sound old. Do you do that?>>
I’ll try. You know, something funny, short and nice for hearing. I used to make my own recordings when I trained my voice for telephone conversation purposes.
<< The problem I find with your tricks is that when people start listening to you speaking in your mother language you might lose credibility.>>
César, on the contrary. It adds to my credibility. To be sure, I don’t think I sound like a 90-year old person in my native language. Almost nobody wanted to speak to me if that would be the case. Just imagine a 90-year old banker calls you and asks questions about your company. How would you feel about that? I think I sound like a person in his late thirties or early forties when speaking over phone. Trust me on that one. And as for my daily language -- no, I don’t think so, either – most people find pleasure in talking to me.
<< From my perspective, you exaggerate waaaay too much. You need to project energy when speaking, instead of sluggishness>>
Good point. I agree with you.
<<I would suggest you speak even faster.>>
Yes. You’re right. I’m too slow. I think I should be quicker.
<<I will take some time to record myself imitating you and speaking the way I do (in both English and Spanish languages). This might help you get the idea of which things you should change and which ones you shouldn't based on the differences you find.>>
That would be a good thing. I think with your good ear, you're better positioned to detect things that require an immediate change and all those subtle things I’ve failed as yet to capture in my speeches.
Again, many thanks for your help. I appreciate your feedback. As an English learner I find your suggestions to be of great use to me. Hope to hear from you soon.
Merry Christmas.
Roger
<<I thought this was an interesting little passage so I made a recording, too: http://uploadhut.com/view.php/492426.mp3>>
Kirk,
I was trying to download your recording. However, I was repeatedly rejected in my efforts to access the file. I was only able to see "The requested URL could not be retrieved". I’ll keep trying. Now, I don't know if that could have been the case with the others, either. If so, could you please put up the file again?
Kirk,
I was trying to download your recording. However, I was repeatedly rejected in my efforts to access the file. I was only able to see "The requested URL could not be retrieved". I’ll keep trying. Now, I don't know if that could have been the case with the others, either. If so, could you please put up the file again?
Here is my accent.
I speak a bit different in real life.At the time of recording I had a flu plus my accent has changed a bit since then (about 2 years ago).
Where am I from?
I will tell you later..:)
I speak a bit different in real life.At the time of recording I had a flu plus my accent has changed a bit since then (about 2 years ago).
Where am I from?
I will tell you later..:)
Here is my accent.
www.travellerinfo.us/rainbow1.wav
I speak a bit different in real life.At the time of recording I had a flu plus my accent has changed a bit since then (about 2 years ago).
Where am I from?
I will tell you later..:)
www.travellerinfo.us/rainbow1.wav
I speak a bit different in real life.At the time of recording I had a flu plus my accent has changed a bit since then (about 2 years ago).
Where am I from?
I will tell you later..:)
Roger, sorry the file didn't work for you---that's weird, as it appears to have worked for Tiffany. Did you go back later and try some more?
Hey César!
I am back. Back to this Forum. I hope you had a good time in the Christmas season and did not get drunk too much on the New Year’s Eve. Now I can see that you kept busy on the Forum, arguing and advising. That’s really nice.
I’ve posted my old recording in a slightly refreshed form. I’m curious to learn about your comments. I’m wondering how you feel about it? Hopefully this will not cause you to think that I’m a 90-year old. LOL…The briefcase address is: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/pawelnowak1 (you can copy and paste it into your browser’s address line).
Again, I’ve attached the corresponding script, which you will find below:
Hi César! I’d like to give you a couple of things about myself to begin with. In this way, I hope you will get a better picture of my natural tone.
I was born in 1977 in Warsaw, Poland, moved to the city of Cracow when I was six. Then I moved to Warsaw and I’ve been living here again since 1990. I went to university in 1997. I was trying to speak English during my university days, but quickly gave it up.
Roger
P.S. Please, give me a notice just in case you’ll be having a trouble accessing the site. I had problems some problems with the Yahoo Briefcase, when posting my earlier recordings.
I am back. Back to this Forum. I hope you had a good time in the Christmas season and did not get drunk too much on the New Year’s Eve. Now I can see that you kept busy on the Forum, arguing and advising. That’s really nice.
I’ve posted my old recording in a slightly refreshed form. I’m curious to learn about your comments. I’m wondering how you feel about it? Hopefully this will not cause you to think that I’m a 90-year old. LOL…The briefcase address is: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/pawelnowak1 (you can copy and paste it into your browser’s address line).
Again, I’ve attached the corresponding script, which you will find below:
Hi César! I’d like to give you a couple of things about myself to begin with. In this way, I hope you will get a better picture of my natural tone.
I was born in 1977 in Warsaw, Poland, moved to the city of Cracow when I was six. Then I moved to Warsaw and I’ve been living here again since 1990. I went to university in 1997. I was trying to speak English during my university days, but quickly gave it up.
Roger
P.S. Please, give me a notice just in case you’ll be having a trouble accessing the site. I had problems some problems with the Yahoo Briefcase, when posting my earlier recordings.
There's a little problem: there are no shared folders. Share one and put the file in there.
César, thanks for taking attention. I even did not know there were no shared folders in my briefcase. I guess this might have also been the case with my previous recordings I put up out there. I didn’t know why things had not worked. No replies. No hints. It was really frustrating.
Here’s my new briefcase address, which is as follows: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/chrosna
I’ve tried to do my best to create the shared folder. Hope this one will prove to be working. Again, just in case you will find it inaccessible, please give me your notice, as soon as possibly you can.
Roger
Here’s my new briefcase address, which is as follows: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/chrosna
I’ve tried to do my best to create the shared folder. Hope this one will prove to be working. Again, just in case you will find it inaccessible, please give me your notice, as soon as possibly you can.
Roger