Emphasis in a foreign language: why it appears and how to get rid of it - ForumDaily
The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.
Переклад цього матеріалу українською мовою з російської було автоматично здійснено сервісом Google Translate, без подальшого редагування тексту.
Bu məqalə Google Translate servisi vasitəsi ilə avtomatik olaraq rus dilindən azərbaycan dilinə tərcümə olunmuşdur. Bundan sonra mətn redaktə edilməmişdir.

Accent in a foreign language: why it appears and how to get rid of it

The reason the accent is so difficult to get rid of when speaking another language is that our ears, from childhood, get used to filtering out frequencies that are not needed to understand our native speech. In answer to the question of what to do, I figured out Russian service BBC.

Фото: Depositphotos

Last year, at one of the press conferences of the Roland Garros tournament, there was a slight embarrassment. Journalist Jonathan Pinfield asked German tennis player Alexander Zverev a question.

Zverev, who spoke English, like the vast majority of professional athletes of his class, listened to Pinfield and in turn asked: “Where are you from, mate?”

“From Yorkshire, England,” answered the unsuspecting Pinfield. “Cool,” Zverev said. - I did not get anything". Everyone chuckled, including the reporter himself.

The case at a press conference instantly scattered on social networks, but what can you do if the Yorkshire reprimand to an unusual ear is really very difficult to make out.

On the subject: Personal experience: how to learn American accent and 'bleed up' pronunciation

Pinfield later admitted to the BBC that he has to speak more slowly during interviews - and is still often misunderstood.

Jokes are jokes, but a strong accent, like an exotic reprimand, can interfere with your career.

Studies show that when it comes to more prestigious, high-status jobs, employers still prefer those who speak with standard British or American pronunciation.

World language

By 2020, two billion people in the world will speak English, predicts the British Council (an international organization designed to develop cooperation in the field of education, culture and the arts between Great Britain and other countries. - Translator's note). About 1,75 billion people now speak English.

For business, English has actually become a global language of communication, but the ideal reprimand is not given to everyone, considering the fact that for a huge number of businessmen it is a non-native language.

But the so-called native speakers also have problems: more than a quarter of all Britons believe that they have faced discrimination by their reprimand (according to a study conducted by ITV and research company Comres, engaged in scientific advice).

On the subject: Four tricks to help you speak better English

British designer Paul Spencer can attest to this. In 2003 he moved from the east of England to London. Spencer believes he was forced to abandon his natural accent in favor of a more neutral pronunciation in order to get ahead at work.

“This was a conscious decision, because before it never occurred to me that I spoke somehow differently, unlike others, in the local dialect,” he says. “However, people [in London] often looked at me in bewilderment...”
“For example, I might say something like 'that frit me, that did', which means 'that frightened me'. I thought that’s what everyone said, but it turns out they don’t.”

More and more companies are following the same choice. Audi, Airbus, Renault and Samsung have chosen standard English as the official language of their business in offices around the world.

In practice, different companies have different rules. For example, the rule to speak English may apply only to meetings at a high level of management - or it may apply to absolutely all employees at any level.

Japan's largest e-commerce company, Rakuten, is so strict about its "English only" rule that it once even replaced the menus in its cafeterias all at once - now they are all in English.

Senior executives in the Japanese auto giant Honda will have to learn English by 2020 in a year to demonstrate their fluency.

These are all part of a global trend: companies are trying to increase revenue from international activities, especially those that export goods and services, says Christine Nashberger, professor of human resource management at Odoncia Business School in Nantes, France.

"For [French] corporations like L'Oreal and LVMH, which export most of their goods, the language of business is actually English."

“But I would say that smaller companies that are planning to increase their export share are also adopting English as an official language. And if you have a strong accent, that will ultimately be your weak point.”

For example, a German company that exports its goods to 20 different countries on different continents should hardly expect its employees to have excellent knowledge of the languages ​​of these countries, nor that its local representatives will speak German fluently. But they can conduct business in one common language - English.

This trend has not gone away, despite the fact that the UK leaves the European Union, and as soon as it does, English will no longer be the official language for the rest of the 27 EU members.

But it will remain the working language of the EU. So knowledge of English (and the ability to speak it clearly, without a strong accent) will still be desirable.

Say "shibboleth"

For centuries, language has been used to somehow divide people into categories.
A classic example is the biblical word “shibboleth,” which eventually became a linguistic term (a hard-to-pronounce word by which foreigners are recognized).

According to the Bible, this word (“stream of water”, “current”) was once used to identify those for whom the dialect is not native.

When the inhabitants of Gilead defeated the Ephraimites during one of the ancient civil strifes, they had to identify the Ephraimites who were trying to flee to save themselves. To do this, they suggested pronouncing the word “shibboleth.”

The Ephraimites did not pronounce the letter “sh”, and they were immediately killed (the Old Testament says that 42 thousand people could not pronounce the word correctly).

The emphasis we are talking about is still of paramount importance to our social status, notes Carolyn Belo, pedagogy consultant and director of communications for the Sound Sense language school in Paris.

“If you slur a word or use the wrong intonation, you are, so to speak, dead for the meeting.”

Belo cites the classic mistake the French make when they pronounce the English word “focus” as “fuc-us,” which instantly undermines confidence in the speaker’s competence.

“If you are French,” she continues, “when you go abroad, you find that our way of speaking is perceived by others as cold, ironic, sometimes rude, sarcastic, even depressive - and not showing interest in the interlocutor.”

Retrain the brain

So, maybe it all comes down to somehow retrain your brain so that the accent is gone?

A French otolaryngologist, Alfred Tomati, discovered that each language sounds in its own frequency range.
And now language schools like Paris's Sound Sense are using it to train French professionals to hear English frequencies, using a device called an "electronic ear."

On the subject: How to overcome the language barrier in English

The device consists of headphones that transmit sound to the inner ear in much the same way as a hearing aid - using vibrations that send a signal through the bones of the skull.

Humans are able to perceive frequencies in the range of 20 to 20 Hz, which explains why we cannot hear, say, a dog (ultrasonic) whistle - it sounds at higher frequencies perceived by dogs and other animals.
Linguistic experts say that our speech consists of a huge number of vibrations - both fundamental tones and overtones.

Tomati's method takes into account that human languages ​​sound in different overtone ranges: British English, for example, is between 2 to 000 Hz, while French's range is much narrower, from 12 to 000 Hz and between 125 and 250 Hz.
Russian frequencies, meanwhile, vary over a surprisingly wide range - from 125 to 12 Hz.

The Tomati method is designed to train the ear to hear frequencies that are characteristic of other languages.

At the first stage, the student passes a half-hour test, which allows to establish how well he perceives different frequencies by ear.

Then, for two hours, the student listens to recorded music, usually classical, for example, Mozart, from which those frequencies are filtered that you already hear well, but those that are not familiar to your ear are left.
These frequencies are switched on and off throughout the recording - this is done in order to awaken the tiny muscles in the middle ear and strengthen them. This exercise can be done at home.

“We offer a mixture of music and a range of programs in the language you want to learn,” says Belo. “As you learn, you train your ears and mouth to hear sounds at the correct frequency.”

Sound Sense combines this method with traditional language classes and face-to-face or Skype classes.
Fabien Billa works as a digital communications and strategy consultant, which includes frequent visits to conferences in the United States. Her Tomati method seems to be useful.

“The focus in teaching is on understanding rhythm and accent, and its frequency correction,” she says. — The combination of classes and training using the “electronic ear” gives results. It's unlike anything else."

IBM France, Renault and Cisco also use the services of a school that uses the Tomati method. One more technique, Berar’s method, is also used for hearing and language skills.

Some language schools claim that using this type of ear training reduces the amount of time it takes to learn a language - sometimes by up to 50%.

Specialists from the Polytechnic University of Valencia assessed the effectiveness of the Tomati method during a recent study, recognizing it as an effective teaching tool.

The art of listening

But why is it so difficult for us to get rid of our accent? Because everything - including the habit of language - begins in childhood.

The brain of a newborn perceives all the frequencies of human speech, but then, as they mature (starting from the age of 8 months), unnecessary frequencies are eliminated, and it focuses only on those that sound in their native language.

Some linguists consider six years to be a turning point until which a child learns to speak the language fluently. Others give it a little more time, including adolescence.

On the subject: 25 ways to improve your own spoken English

For adults, it becomes almost impossible to learn a foreign language so as to speak without an accent, says Jennifer Dorman, one of the creators of the linguistic mobile application Babbel.

Thus, a French speaker will experience almost insurmountable difficulties if he wants to sound like a natural Englishman, since his brain no longer perceives the entire spectrum of frequencies of English.

Accordingly, his speech apparatus will not be able to reproduce the correct sound - after all, the person cannot hear it...

“Some people have a natural talent for learning languages,” Dorman says. “And quite often these are precisely those who grew up in a multilingual environment since childhood, and their ears are accustomed to different frequencies.”

“The brains of such people do not filter out “alien” frequencies and do not lose sensitivity to them.”

“The frequency range of French is almost identical to that of British English. Therefore, the French require extra effort to activate the right frequencies in the brain.”

Are there any other ways?

Linguistic experts believe that the best way to learn to speak English (and any other language) like a native speaker is to listen to and speak the language as much as possible.

Brazilian entrepreneur Rafael Dos Santos says that when he moved to Britain in 2002, he attended language classes and even worked with a speech teacher, but eventually discovered that the best way to get rid of an accent was to read aloud as much as possible in front of his friend. an English friend who, along the way, corrected Raphael’s mistakes and explained how to speak correctly.

But in the end, the emphasis only turns into a problem if it is difficult for others to understand you, stresses Russian entrepreneur Polina Montano.

She is the co-founder of a London-based company that advertises service jobs suitable for entry-level jobs. For many of those who use its services, English is not their first language.

“I think people in our society are ready to embrace diversity. You just have to believe in yourself."

And if you're self-conscious about your accent, Montano advises, "tell yourself: everyone has an accent, and mine is cute, too."

Read also on ForumDaily:

Personal experience: how to learn American accent and 'bleed up' pronunciation

What can shock a visit to Russia: 10 facts

Top 50 Simple Movies and Cartoons for English Learners

13 free online English courses that start now

15 English words and phrases that will make you a native speaker

Miscellanea training English Educational program
Subscribe to ForumDaily on Google News

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis. 



 
1073 requests in 1,162 seconds.