Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: A promise is a promise

I bought the mic and recorded my voice.
 
http://tinyurl.com/daskt
It's from "The picture of Dorian Gray"
'It is your best work, Basil, the best thing you've ever done', said Lord
Henry languidly.
'You must certainly send it next year to the Grosvenor. The Academy is too
large and too vulgar. Whenever I have gone there, there have been either so
many people that I have not been able to see the pictures, which was
dreadful, or so many
pictures that I have not been able to see the people, which was
worse. The Grosvenor is really the only place.'
'I don't think I shall send it anywhere', he answered, tossing his head back
in that odd way that used to make his friends laugh at him at Oxford. 'No, I
won't send it anywhere'

"Francesco.b" wrote:
[cut]
I forgot I'd love to know if I too, sound Italian to a native speaker and if
my pronunciation is fine or there's something to improve.
Thanks in advance!

 It's from "The picture of Dorian Gray"
[...]
English is not my mother tongue, so I'll just venture to suggest that you
should work on phonemes. For example, there's no proper "u" in "pictures",
however you see it, and no proper "o" in "worse", however you see it. I
really think it's fundamental not to read single words a whole (not
regarding as single units of sound), because you'd never get the hang of it
of pronunciation and you'd have to store the pronunciation of every single
word, which is terribly hard and wouldn't let you pronounce anything
perfectly -- a recorder is much more use for that, and you'll never beat it
if you "think" like it. Much better is really to understand what phonemes
come into play when you speak English, so that you won't use sounds that
just doesn't exist in that language; actually to discern how a word is
uttered. Then you're bound to create spontaneously mental patterns of words
or combinations of letters that are pronounced in the same way, or in a
limited and very precise variety of ways. It will be natural and virtually
well nigh effortless.
Bye, FB
-- 
In any case, if you say 'I gotta go' at an important job interview you're
contributing to being allowed just that privilege.
(Tony the ice man on it.cultura.linguistica.inglese)

 that used to make his friends laugh at him at Oxford.
Non sento la s del plurale di "friends".
See ya
-- 
Marco Paunescu
(Aka Pau)
Love is the Dance of Eternity

"Francesco.b" <wri...@home.invalid> wrote in message 
news:D4mre.1254$D7.2...@twister1.libero.it...

Just preparing to go off for the week to Royal Ascot at York (work that one 
out) , so only time for a few words  :
very very very fast ; and for the 'languid' Lord Henry , very very very very 
fast .
Mike 

On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 20:36:29 GMT, "Francesco.b" <wri...@home.invalid>
wrote:

You definitely sound foreign, Italian?.. it's difficult to say as I
know you're Italian. It seems to me that you're more influenced by
American English because of your mainly rhotic pronunciation, and your
pronunciation of "either". Improvements for me would be  "best",
"done" was too long, "certainly" wasn't pronounced correctly. "there
have either been so many people" you lost me here. But on the whole,
not bad, speak slower though ;)

 not bad, speak slower though ;)
I'd like to thank you all first for your precious advice :)
Do I sound foreign? An American friend of mine told me my accent
is "European" but again, I don't know what she means :)
About "either" instead, I had always heard it pronounced that way but
I know what the british pronunciation is for it :)
I checked and noticed I should improve "best" and "done" :)
I'll record it again maybe :)
thanks a bunch :)

I can't comment in detail because the sound quality was too poor on my
system, but you sounded slightly Irish at some points - have you had an
Irish teacher, by any chance?
-- 
Mary


no, never... which points?

thanks a bunch :)
NP. 

 I'd like to hear you speak in Italian BTW, where in Italy are you?
I'm from Taranto, south Italy... what do you want me to read?
do you have any preference?

 I know what the british pronunciation is for it :)
I don't believe it's very important: both the Americans and the Brits
pronounce "either" and "neither" both ways.
[...]
Bye, FB
-- 
Domanda: "Era il figlio di Iside e Osiride".
Risposta: "Thor".
(quiz televisivo)

 pronounce "either" and "neither" both ways.
I thought "E [th] &r" was mostly used by Americans while "I [th] &r" was
used by Brits...



I know for certain that Brits pronounce it both ways. Julie Andrews says
['ni:D3:], for example. And Fabio, I think, once said that he heard
Americans saying ['naID3r].
Bye, FB
-- 
After a year of speculation, inventor Dean Kamen unveiled his mysterious
"It", which is a battery-powered two-wheel people mover. Many believe it
will completely revolutionize the way people get hit by cars.
(Saturday Night Live)

do you have any preference?
This please 
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uczlwww/itald95.htm
 (con gli occhi
aperti) not all of it of course :) Please don't speak too quick.
Thanks!

 Thanks!
http://digilander.iol.it/Dilan3/fraspeaking.mp3
It will be available.... as soon as I finish uploading it, I have the
slowest internet connection on earth :)
it's around 1,30 Mb anyways :-)
if you want I can record the the second part of course, you're welcome as
always.

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 16:37:35 GMT, "Francesco.b" <wri...@home.invalid>
wrote:

Thanks for not not speaking too quickly, blimey. As soon as you said
"con gli occhi aperti" I knew I was in trouble ;) Were you speaking in
your regional accent? I noticed you didn't pronounce the "i" in
"occhi" pronounced "cinque", "scinque". The rest was a blur ;)
seriously though, thanks. I looked up Taranto on the map, you're next
door to me, in Bari! I see it's right on the coast it must be a
popular tourist destination. For Italians and stranieri alike. 

 your regional accent?
A vvery little bit (smiling face). It's very very clear, though.
[...]
Bye, FB
-- 
"What meaning of this, Mitter Twain?" "I will tell you, Mr Wang, if you can
tell me why a man who possesses one of the most brilliant minds of this
century can't say his prepositions or articles"
(Murder by Death)

 popular tourist destination. For Italians and stranieri alike.
it's on the coast but there is a series of problems that affects Taranto's
tourism, the first one is pollution.

"Francesco.b" <wri...@home.invalid> wrote in message
news:1bAre.2305$yM4....@twister2.libero.it...

gone there, pictures, worse.
They sound like my Irish father pronounced them, but the idea didn't
occur to me until Mary mentioned it.
Joe from Massachusetts

"Francesco.b" <wri...@home.invalid> wrote in message
news:wxCre.2698$yM4....@twister2.libero.it...

Most Americans with their feet on the ground say E thr,
but those with their noses raised high say I thr.
Joe from Massachusetts


Really? well that's not very good. Pollution is not something I've
ever associated Italy with.

 ever associated Italy with.
and you should, taranto, if I'm not mistaken, is one of the most polluted
cities
all over Europe....

 Just preparing to go off for the week to Royal Ascot at York
Isn't that the place where women parade in the strangest hats? I saw some
pictures in today's paper and I rather liked the head gear of the Countess
of Wessex, with a satellite dish for video transmission to...where?
-- 
Xakero

 popular tourist destination.
I don't know... I've never went so South.
:-))))
Tschuess,
Enrico il Pentolaio.

 system
Anche nel mio computer il suono era molto disturbato.
Alla fine ho dovuto leggere il testo perchè altrimenti non ci capivo
niente.
:-))
Tschuess,
Enrico il Pentolaio.

 I don't know... I've never XXXwentXXX so South
...gone...
:-/
Tschuess,
Enrico il Pentolaio.
P.S. Temo che comunque in quella frase l'uso di South non sia corretto.

 P.S. Temo che comunque in quella frase l'uso di South non sia corretto.
Maybe "I've never been so further South"?


 ...gone...
...been...
-- 
Mary

 P.S. Temo che comunque in quella frase l'uso di South non sia corretto.
Ops, ho spedito troppo in fretta l'ultimo messaggio.
Si dice "I've never been so far south".
-- 
Mary



Direi in questo caso: "I've never been that far south"

come in "Europa", troppo chiuse.
I'll take note how he says them.
thanks.

 thanks.
Ok :)

 Non troppo, ma si sente che è meridionale.
Never got to study diction, sorry :)



Oh, sure! I don't know why I wrote "further".
Bye, FB
-- 
"It sounds appalling!"
"Interesting and appalling. The others just sound appalling!"
(Cold Comfort Farm, the film)

BTW What does "che ci vuoi fare" mean in English?
Avevo detto:
"Sì, al di sotto dell'Emilia-Romagna, a parte forse le Marche e
l'Abruzzo, dicono tutti così... che ci vuoi fare."
The expression you asked me to translate means more or less:"you can do
nothing to make them pronounce that sound in a correct way."


:-))
Thanks.

 :-))))
Is there anything wrong with that?

 enjoyed it.
By the way, are you on skype now?
I have a problem with skype, I don't know whether the same problem occurs to
you too,
but sometimes when I connect to its server I see no online users...who
suddently
contact me but they're always marked as offline users!

 Is there anything wrong with that?
Well, I think a foregneir shouldn't say "dodisci", unless he exactly
wants to imitate that sound, knowing that in a correct Italian he
should say "dodici".
It's more or less like when Sebapop writes "watchoo saying?" or
something like that.
:-)
Tschuess,
Enrico il Pentolaio.

Francesco.b ha scritto:

Neither have I.
It's not a problem, unless you want to become a (good) actor.


 something like that.
Well, I don't think so, since "watchoo saying", after all, is not wrong, 
it's a possible and correct way to say "What (are) you saying". While 
"dodisci"... actually I'm not sure I'm really getting this, I've never 
heard anyone say "dodisci" (Or "fascile" or anything of the sort!) 
anywhere!
-- 
Laz - [
http://www.dimensionedelta.net
]
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and 
they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that 
had all those people on it. Damn." 

 register me" it should be "I'll register myself".
Holy..., what a stupid mistake!
:-)))
Tschuess,
Enrico il Pentolaio.

 anywhere!
Ti sei mai mosso dalla Padania?
:-DDDD
Tschuess,
Enrico il Pentolaio.

 :-DDDD
Era sottointeso con l'"anywhere" :P
Certo, se con "sc" indicate una "c" che tende al "sc" allora ok, ma di 
certo non *esattamente* "fascile"!
-- 
Laz - [
http://www.dimensionedelta.net
]
"I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it." 

 certo non *esattamente* "fascile"!
Credo si possa definire [tS] senza [t]. L'ipa è ingannevole, perché per il
suono di "change" e "cena" ci vorrebbe un unico simbolo, perché non si
tratta di una [t] di "time" o "toro" seguita da un [S] di "shore" o
"sciamano". Il suono cui mi riferisco è quello di "k" o "kj" (o tremila
altre combinazioni, credo) seguito da vocali... dolci, mi pare, come la
"i", in svedese.
Ciao, FB
-- 
Io ho deciso di rifiutarmi di vederlo: Ettore con la faccia di Eric Banana
mi fa venire i conati.
(commento sul film "Troy" apparso su it.fan.scrittori.tolkien)

 certo non *esattamente* "fascile"!
Se lo dici tu... a me pare comunque che dicano dodisci.
Allora quando il FB mi disse che dico "tzin tzin" al posto di "cin cin"
che dovevo dire?


 dolci, mi pare, come la "i", in svedese.
Sono sicuro che tu abbia scritto molte cose interessanti e sicuramente 
giuste, ma io no ci ho capito un accidente :-)
-- 
Laz - [
http://www.dimensionedelta.net
]
"Remember in this game we call life that no one said it's fair" 

 :-))))
lo "tz" al posto della "c" e' invece molto diffuso :-))
-- 
Laz - [
http://www.dimensionedelta.net
]
"I bought me an illusion and I put it on the wall" 

 it's a possible and correct way to say "What (are) you saying".
While
If you want to provoke laughter when you speak, then "Watchoo
sayin'?" is correct.
To say it is correct without qualification is to lead innocent people
down the primrose path.
Joe from Massachusetts
I shall th' effect of this good Lesson keepe,
As watchmen to my heart: but good my Brother
Doe not as some vngracious Pastors doe,
Shew me the steepe and thorny way to Heauen;
Whilst like a puft and recklesse Libertine
Himselfe, the Primrose path of dalliance treads,
And reaks not his owne reade
(Shakespeare, "Hamlet")

 down the primrose path.
I wasn't assuming there were innocent people here O:-)
-- 
Laz - [
http://www.dimensionedelta.net
]
"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, 
you're gonna see some serious shit!"