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17072. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 10:23:24 AM yes Wonk, the Rs are the only sticking point for the pronunciation. I am incapable of rolling them. God, it's taken me twenty years to get the French R roughly right.
Luckily I have a good tutor... my girlfriend used to live in Chile... maybe I'll pick up the accent. 17073. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 10:28:41 AM Yes Mago, if I put my mind to it, I'm sure I can make rapid progress... if I have time. As soon as I get a bit of grammar into my head, I'll start laboriously deciphering newspapers, and watching Almodovar films.
I probably won't get much chance to practice in Madrid : English is the working language for the project. It's more that I don't want to be a complete foreigner. Also, it's high time I learned another language. 17074. Macnas - 10/20/2005 11:19:30 AM Do you know, I am one of the few people who cannot roll the "r" sound.
And I don't mean bad at it or not doing it the right way, it's just physically impossible for me to do it.
17075. Macnas - 10/20/2005 11:20:01 AM Well, me and alistair. 17076. Macnas - 10/20/2005 11:20:19 AM Hello Mago. 17077. thoughtful - 10/20/2005 3:22:41 PM Mac, can you curl your tongue? 17078. Macnas - 10/20/2005 3:36:12 PM Trust me thoughtful, I cannot roll the "r" sound. 17079. wonkers2 - 10/20/2005 4:20:45 PM Cap'n Dirty sez, "Alistair, all you need is two phrases: "Otra cerveza, por favor." and "Tu cuarto o mio?" 17080. Macnas - 10/20/2005 4:32:02 PM I know cerveza is beer, I reckon I can guess the other. 17081. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 4:36:29 PM well, Cap'n... my language tutor worked out that the Spanish wasn't actually necessary for my work... now she wants to come with me to Madrid! 17082. Macnas - 10/20/2005 4:39:12 PM This isn't the same person as is the climbing instructor is it? 17083. thoughtful - 10/20/2005 4:47:19 PM Mac, yes but can you curl your tongue? It's a dominant genetic trait. 17084. Macnas - 10/20/2005 4:50:26 PM Curl it which way? 17085. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 4:54:47 PM Oh yes it is Mac... many talents. 17086. PelleNilsson - 10/20/2005 5:16:54 PM It seems to me most Anglos (except Scots and some other odds and ends)have difficulties with the rolling 'r'. An Anglo-Swedish accent is very easy to imitate. You just move your tongue back a bit and let the long wowels take on a somewhat diphtong-like quality. 17087. jayackroyd - 10/20/2005 5:33:47 PM "wowels"
Pretty good, that. 17088. Ms. No - 10/20/2005 5:35:53 PM I can roll r's easily but haven't figured out where in the throat those African click languages are formed. The closest I've come is a kind of "I swallowed a bug" inhale-click at about the uvula or just a little behind. 17089. Ms. No - 10/20/2005 5:36:40 PM Not that I've ever spoken with anyone who is actually fluent such and might be able to teach me the sound. 17090. PelleNilsson - 10/20/2005 5:58:34 PM On the other hand I cannot do a proper French 'r', just a croaking noise very far from Piaf quality. But from what I understand the rolling 'r' is used by in some dialects and by many-excolonials, so what the hell. The croak goes very well with German, thoughy. 17091. Ms. No - 10/20/2005 6:43:20 PM I have a hard time with flattened vowels. The Texan and Australian accents really don't sound alike, but they are similar sounding to my mouth and I can duplicate neither. This is a bizarre state of affairs for me since I can mimic most things that I hear....well, except for that click thing.
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