Follow up to Alessandro and Adir's Podcast on Pronunciation

This video gives an comparison between a native English speaker and a foreign speaker. Is one easier to understand than the other? Watch the video then comment on why one was easier to understand than the other, if that was the case for you.



Intonation is defined as patterns of the pitch contours in spoken language.

It invovles the stress patterns of individual words, but also whole sentences.
Also important is tempo of speaking.

Here is some related vocabulary:
English had a Stress timed rythm.
Spanish has a Syllable timed rythm.
What kind of rythm does Portuguese have?

Alessandro mentioned that Portuguese has a different rythm than English and gave examples.
"Boys kiss girls, the boys kiss girls, the boys kiss the girls, the boys have kissed the girls, the boys will have kissed the girls."

This link has the pronunciation of the above examples:
http://redcamarocruiser.podOmatic.com/entry/2010-02-23T11_46_39-08_00

More vocabulary about phonology:
prosodic features of language
prosody -http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Prosody+%28linguistics%29
lilting -http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lilting
singsong -http://www.thefreedictionary.com/singsong
rapid-fire -http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rapid-fire

segmental features of language
segmental - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/segmental
isolable - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/isolable
vowels - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vowel
semi-vowels - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semivowel
schwa - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/schwa
consonants - [url]http://www.thefreedictionary.com/consonants
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"Accents are loose bundles of prosodic and segmental features distrubuted over geographic and/or social space."

from: Lippi-Green, Rosina. English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Dscrimination in the United States. 1st. London, New York: Routledge, 1997. 42.

Thank you Mary. Great post!

VERY interesting, Mary.

It was very easy (at least for me) to identify who was the Spanish and the American.
It was very easy as well to identify that I would be much more likely to speak the same way as the Spanish girl did

For me, is more easy to understand the foreig English speaker, because native English speaker talks very fast.

Infinitamente mais fácil entender a nativa, pelo menos para mim. Deve ser pelo meu ouvido acostumado com os filmes e séries. Mas assim como a Flávia, eu leria o texto parecido com a garota espanhola.