Portuguese and English: two different musicalities

Do you sometimes feel English is spoken this way?

Every language has a system of sounds, stress and intonation that gives it a peculiar rhythm and melody. We can call these specific rhythm and melody the language musicality. Portuguese and English have very different musicalities. A lot of Brazilian people say that is difficult to understand English because the natives speak too fast. Actually, it’s not a question of speed. Most likely, the reason is that the stress and intonation patterns are not recognized or understood.

Portuguese is a syllable-timed language. It means that most syllables receive equal stress.  Take the word CHOCOLATE for example. In Portuguese all the syllables receive almost the same stress: CHO-CO-LA-TE.

English is a stress-timed language. In this type of rhythm just one syllable is stressed. It is the syllable that has the stressed vowel. It means that the stressed vowel sound in that syllable is said louder, is said in a higher pitch, and it is held longer than the other vowel sounds in the same word. Take again the word chocolate as example. It’s the same word in both languages. While in Portuguese we have 4 sounds /ʃo-ko-‘la-te/ in English we have just 2 sounds  /ˈtʃɑ-klət/. In English, just the syllable /cho/ is stressed, all the others are reduced.

That’s why in Portuguese any change on the number of syllables compromises the comprehension. For instance: if somebody says “parato” nobody understands it. But if the person says the right number of syllables “pra-to”, everyone can understand it. That change in English doesn’t interfere at all in the comprehension. We can say: E-ve-ry or E-vry; DI-ffe-rent or DI-ffrent or even DI-ffernt. All of them are correct. What is important is that the stressed vowel is said louder, in a higher pitch and held longer.

The two videos below show the musicality difference between English and Portuguese.

Doesn't it look like the way the comediant Flávia Garrafa was imitating an American woman speaking?

Compare: duh duh DUH duh duh DUH   and "You knOW, I was like UH, you knOW, whatEVER, but I like it THOUGH, uh...UH...uh..UH..". For her (the comediant) the language is a sequence of low and loud uhs, like uh uh uh UH uh uh UH uh uh uh UH, and unhappily for many Brazilian learners of English as well.

In English, most syllables are almost not pronounced. They're, actually, mumbled. On future posts I'm going to talk about their reduction and the schwa sound.

VOCABULARY:

TO MUMBLE: to say something in a way that is not loud or clear enough so that your words are difficult to understand, e.g.;

He mumbled something about not wanting to go to work.


That is the reason why William Bonner’s and Rubens Barrichello’s English are so different. Listen to them and try to identify if they speak English or Portuguese rhythm.

Can you see that although William Bonner speaks a fluent English he pronounces every syllable with the same time extension? You may say, "ok, but what is the problem of speaking that way, he's speaking English and communicating, isn't he?" Yes, he is. But the problem is: how much a person that speaks with this rhythm listens into English. You can speak that way, but the natives won't speak like that to you. And if you're not used to that rhythm, you'll most likely have difficulty in listening to English.


This topic about differences between English and Portuguese is going to be continued. Every week we’re going to post something different that can help us, Brazilian speakers, to improve our pronunciation. Next posts will be about content/function words and schwa.

see ya,

by Vivian Barone

Phonetic symbols, do they help?

See why it’s worth learning them.

Who understands the phonetic symbols gets independence on his/her English learning.

We’re gradually going to post each symbol on our blog. Follow it.

Barone English encourages your learning autonomy.

by Vivian Barone

TH sound

Having problems in communication?

 Maybe, they can be caused by some pronunciation mistakes like the one the boy on the commercial made. He understood “think” instead of “sink”.

Actually, TH is one of the most difficult sounds in English. But with some training we can easily learn and say it naturally.

You know that there are two TH sounds in English.

the voiced (vocal cords vibrate)

represented phonetically by this symbol.

Examples:

THY
CLOTHES
THIS 

the voiceless (vocal cords do not vibrate)

represented phonetically by this symbol.

Examples:

THINK

THANK

THOUGHT

The videos below can help you.

She pronounces the word THOUGHT

She pronounces the word THY

See how the voiced TH is pronounced.

Now see two specific words pronounced: 

THOROUGHLY 

RHYTHMIC

Here follows some parts of films where the actors pronounce words with TH.

If you want to have some more practice watch the video below and do some practice on 

http://international.ouc.bc.ca/Pronunciation/

I hope this post can help.

by Vivian Barone

Do you know what is a “danda”?

Believe it or not it’s a mix of a dog and a panda. In 2008, the biscuits company Fox's launched a TV commercial campaign fronted by an animated character dubbed a "danda", a cross between a dog and a panda.  

What does dub mean?

To dub /dʌb/ (mainly used in  journalism) to give someone or something a particular name or description, often a humorous one, e.g.: The press have dubbed her “the Silent Star.”

Well, coming back to the commercial, Vinnie is the name of the "danda" on the commercial.. He has black-and-white colouring like a panda and a face like a dog. Fox's TV campaign introduces Vinnie the "wise-guy Italian American" panda/dog who extols the virtues of company's biscuits.

What does extol mean?

To extol /ɪkˈstoʊl/(formal) to praise someone or something in a very enthusiastic way

The report extolled the virtues of Internet technology.

Vinnie announces that he will be on the TV making a commercial for Fox’s. See how funny is he talking to his mother about it.

And now some of  the commercials aired.

 Have you noticed his Italian accent? Of course you have! It’s impossible not to notice it. 

Have you seen what sound is difficult for Italian people to say in English? Yes, the same sound that a lot of Brazilian speakers have problem as well. The infamous TH. Notice that he says /t/ instead of /ð/ or /θ/. It’s very clear to  listen to this exchange of the /ð/ or /θ/ for the  /t/  when he talks to his lawyer. See it.

Have you liked the danda commercial? Post a comment.

by Vivian Barone

Do you sometimes feel this way?

(subtitled video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wV7NqZk3sk

Scene taken from the film Pink Panther 1

 Or if you already speak a nice English have you ever felt like inspector Clouseau on the scene above?

Yeah, sometimes learning English  is not an easy task. Everybody has a moment that the tongue doesn’t obey, either the tongue simply refuses to stay between the teeth or you stress on the wrong vowel like the infamous “develÓp” hehehehe... And to make things worse, the teacher starts saying “put your hand palm on your throat”, “feel your tongue”, “be careful! you can’t open your mouth as you open on /T/ just stay with your mouth closed and blow”. What??? You must think “she’s crazy”, I would say “maybe”. But one thing is sure “I don’t give up like inspector Clouseau’s teacher gave up”. I love what I do! More than that, it’s an enormous joy when I see a person who had difficulty speaking English speak fluently. And I’ve seen many of you doing it!

Now, let’s understand the scene context . It’s not the case that inspector Clouseau can’t speak English. He already speaks it. At the beginning of the scene he’s speaking English and he also speaks in English with the teacher. He just wants “to speak a flawless accent...  so as not to arouse suspicion” as himself said on the scene. That’s why he asks for “an accent coach”.

Imagine that a so discreet French accent would arouse some suspicion!!! You must watch the film to see if he can change his accent.  The film in English of course, after all you observing the accent!

flaw (noun) /flɔː/a mistake or fault in something that makes it useless or less effective

flawless /ˈflɔləs/(adj) without any mistakes, marks, or bad features

accent coach: it is a professional who helps to reduce accent. On the scene the accent coach is trying to reduce inspector Clouseau’s French accent.

 Although sometimes the learning process can be a little difficult we can make it fun and pleasant. Did you like the song at the  scene end ? Why don’t you learn to sing it?

Here we go.

GOT TO BE REAL Performed By Cheryl Lynn – 1978

"Got to Be Real" is a song by Cheryl Lynn released in 1978 and still makes success. The song is currently being used for the UK TV Advertising Campaign for 'Marks & Spencer'.

Post a comment about what you think difficult on learning English or a funny experience you’ve had. Anything you want. Remember this space is for us to change ideas and experiences. 


by Vivian Barone