Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Understanding a small audio clip

A few days ago I recorded a small passage from a radio programme with the
intent of writing it down, as a small exercise (I am quite poor at listening
comprehension...). As expected, I didn't get a few words and so I'm looking
for some help; the clip is here (mp3, 358KB, 1min30sec):
http://web.tiscali.it/Astro/test.mp3
Here is my transcription (when I didn't understand or I was unsure I either
wrote three question marks or I wrote a tentative phonetic transcription):
"...skill of a magician, who /plAks/ objects out of thin air, she caused the
letter to appear in her hand. I stealthily grabbed it, and as if I'd been
training for this moment for years, I hastily and artfully /kleist/ it into
my sash. It was a thick letter, and felt like fire against the icy skin of
my side, between my belly and back.
"Ride at an ??? /'AmbUl/", said Ester, the clothes /'spedl@(r)/
"Turn right at the corner, following the curve of the wall without ???
pricking stride ???. But when you get to the pomegranate tree, turn and look
at the house you've just left, at the window to your right.
She went on her way, and vanished in an instant.
I mounted the horse, but I ??? novice, doing so for the first time. My heart
was racing, my mind was overcome by excitement my hands had forgotten how to
control the reins, but when my legs tightly gripped the horse's body, sound
reason and skill took control of my horse and me. And as Ester had
instructed, my wise horse Ambul steadily and - oh, how lovely  - we turned
right into the side street. Where was the pomegranate tree? Was it this thin
melancholic tree here? Yes. I turned slighly to the right in my saddle, I
saw a window behind the tree, but there was nobody there. I'd been duped by
that /wintS/ Ester."
Thanks,
Lorenzo

 pricking stride ???.
Può darsi che "breaking stride" significhi "senza smettere di camminare"? 
Poi lo riascolto, a meno che nel frattempo non si faccia vivo un saggio.
Ciao, FB
-- 
Locked from the inside. That can only mean one thing, and I don't know what
it is.
(Murder by Death)

 that /wintS/ Ester."
that wench Ester.
*****
I'd say you got a good deal of it and your listening comprehension is very
good. I had to listen to a few of the passages more than once (especially
"like a novice") to fully understand it. Bravo!
-- 
If you feel the need to e-mail me, un-not my address first.

 instructed, my wise horse Ambul steadily and - oh, how lovely  - we turned
...my wise horse ambled steadily...
I meant to indicate this, too, sorry.


 I mounted the horse, but I ??? novice, doing so for the first time.
Ho pensato che potrebbe essere "but <parola> novice", dove parola è
qualcosa come "assoluto", "completo".
P.S. Il narratore è scozzese o qualcosa di simile? È un misto di rotico/non
rotico.
Ciao, FB
-- 
Se dico "siedi!" manca l'oggetto.
Siedo chi? Lei o me?
(da it.cultura.linguistica.italiano)

 mounted the horse but like a novice, doing so
Niente di piů semplice! Bel cretino che sono. Sono i suggerimenti a
fregarmi.
Ciao, FB
-- 
Mrs. Palmer, in her way, was equally angry. 'She was determined to drop his
acquaintance immediately, and she was very thankful that she had never been
acquainted with him at all'. (Jane Austen)

rotico.
Mi sembra che lui sia tedesco o forse dell'europa orientale.
Definitivamente non è madrelingua inglese.
btw: cosa significa "rotico"?

 btw: cosa significa "rotico"?
"Rhotic". In RP you don't pronounce the "r" in "her", for example, unless
it's followed by a vowel sound ("her own"); in almost every variety of
American and in certain varieties in the UK (such as Irish, I believe), you
pronounce every "r". Sometimes he sticks to one standard, sometimes to the
other. His doing so, and also his rolling some r's, led me to think he was
Scottish.
Bye, FB


Thank you all for the replies, they've been very useful. By the way, I know
nothing about this narration, not even the title of the book from which it
has been taken...
-Words I didn't know:
to pluck, sash, (to) amble, peddler/pedlar, wench
-Expressions I didn't know:
to pluck st/an idea/an answer out of the air = tirar fuori qs/un’ idea/una
risposta dal nulla
out of thin air = dal nulla
to break one’s stride rallentare, fermarsi
to race (del cuore) battere forte/precipitosamente.
-doubts of various kind: stealthily, hastily, pomegranate, melancholy
I translated the passage into Italian, just to make sure I did get
everything. Maybe it could be of some interest for someone, so here it is
(no literary claim!):
_______
...l'abilità di un mago, che tira fuori oggetti dal nulla, fece apparire la
lettera nella propria mano. Io la afferrai furtivamente e, come se mi fossi
preparato a questo momento per anni, la riposi sbrigativamente e abilmente
nella mia fusciacca(*). Era una lettera spessa e sembrava infuocata contro
la pelle gelida del mio fianco, tra la pancia e la schiena.
"Cavalca all'ambio", disse Ester, la venditrice ambulante di vestiti.
"Gira a destra all'angolo, seguendo la curva del muro senza fermarti. Ma
quando arrivi al melograno, girati e guarda la casa che hai appena lasciato,
la finestra alla tua destra.
La donna continuò nel suo cammino e sparì in un attimo.
Io montai a cavallo, ma come un principiante che lo fa per la prima volta.
Il mio cuore batteva all'impazzata, la mia mente era sopraffatta
dall'eccitazione le mie mani avevano dimenticato come controllare le redini,
ma quando le mie gambe si strinsero saldamente al corpo del cavallo, il sano
intelletto e la perizia presero il controllo del cavallo e di me. E come
Ester mi aveva istruito, il mio buon cavallo ambiò con decisione e - oh, che
gioia! - girammo a destra nella strada laterale. Dov'era il melograno? Era
forse questo esile e malinconico alberello? Sì. Mi girai leggermente verso
destra sulla mia sella e vidi una finestra dietro all'albero, ma non vi era
nessuno. Ero stato imbrogliato da quella donna, Ester.
(*) fusciacca = larga fascia di stoffa che si avvolge alla vita.
________
Did I get everything substantially right?
Finally, I decided to really *exhaust* this small text and so I recorded my
own reading of it (
http://web.tiscali.it/Astro/test_mine.mp3
 ). In
principle, it should be British-accented. In practice, besides the
awkwardness in articulating the sounds and possibly some real
mispronunciations (for example, lack of a "h" pronounciation of an "s" as
"z" instead of "sss", wrong tonic accent...) I don't know what to do to
improve myself... I think that if I'd go on like this I would probably end
up with a "good" (understandable) pronunciation but with a marked Italian
accent. How did you make it, FB? infused knowledge? ;-)
bye, Lorenzo

 accent. How did you make it, FB? infused knowledge? ;-)
Thanks for posting your Italian translation. It seems to me you've got
everything right.
As for your recording, it's very good. You sound British to my American
ears, (well spoken, too) and there are only very small hints of foreign
pronunciations, which I might not even have noticed, had I not known you
were Italian. I might just have thought them variants of British
pronunciation. I say, again, Bravo.


 How did you make it, FB? infused knowledge? ;-)
Kind of an obsession. I might try as well, but not today: it's one of those
days when I can't utter a word without getting it wrong.
Bye, FB
-- 
L'importante è che risplenda tu, sola primadonna e immarcescibile leggenda
del tuo pianerottolo.
(Lucangel su it.cultura.libri)