A few days ago, I challenged all of you with the exercise: Translate from phonetic text into English. So many students submitted the answer and this is my chance to show you what is the correct one.
Question: Translate the text below into English
/spiːk/ /ˈsləʊə/ /ðən/ /ˈjuːʒʊəl/
/ðɪs/ /maɪt/ /saʊnd/ /laɪk/ /ən/ /ˌʌntrəˈdɪʃənl/ /tɪp/ /bət/ /traɪ/ /ɪt/ /ənd/ /jʊ/ /wɪl/ /siː/ /ðə/ /ˈdɪfrəns/!
/məʊst/ /ˈlæŋgwɪʤɪz/ /laɪk/ /ˈhɪndiː,/ /ˌʧaɪˈniːz,/ /ˈtæmɪl,/ /ˈspænɪʃ/ /ənd/ /ˈrʌʃ(ə)n/ /ə/ /ˈspəʊkən/ /ət/ /ə/ /ˈfɑːstər/ /reɪt/ /ðən/ /ˈɪŋglɪʃ/./ /ɪf/ /jʊ/ /spiːk/ /ˈɪŋglɪʃ/ /ət/ /ðə/ /seɪm/ /spiːd/ /jʊ/ /spiːk/ /ðiːz/ /ˈlæŋgwɪʤɪz,/ /ɪt/ /bɪˈkʌmz/ /ɪksˈtriːmli/ /hɑːd/ /fə/ /ˈneɪtɪv/ /ˈspiːkəz/ /tʊ/ /ˌʌndəˈstænd/.
/səʊ/ /sləʊ/ /daʊn/ /jər/ /ˈɪŋglɪʃ/ /ˈspiːkɪŋ/ /ʤəst/ /ə/ /ˈlɪtl/ /bɪt./ /gɪv/ /jə/ /sɛlf/ /ə/ /ˈlɪtl/ /mɔː/ /taɪm/ /bɪˈtwiːn/ /wɜːdz./ /ðɪs/ /wɪl/ /dʊ/ /ˈmæʤɪk/ /tə/ /ðə/ /weɪ/ /jʊ/ /prəˈnaʊns/ /wɜːdz/ /ənd/ /meɪk/ /jʊ/ /saʊnd/ /ə/ /lɒt/ /ˈklɪər/.
Answer:
This might sound like an untraditional tip but try it and you will see the difference!
Most languages like Hindi, Chinese, Tamil, Spanish and Russian are spoken at a faster rate than English. If you speak English at the same speed you speak these languages, it becomes extremely hard for native speakers to understand.
So slow down your English speaking just a little bit. Give yourself a little more time between words. This will do magic to the way you pronounce words and make you sound a lot clearer.
Listen to the Youtube clip above to practice speaking while reading along with the text.
