English Speaking Challenge Renewed

Started by Josietta, April 28, 2011, 11:48:20 AM

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Josietta

The other night, Ket and I were discussing this little thing we did a couple years ago. It was interesting to hear our fellow Elliquians try this out. The original post is quoted below, so I can continue to give credit to the OP. This little test is not as easy as it may look. We challenge you to give it a try and post up your results!  I, personally, urge you to record it once, and post your original trial. Its a fun little exercise and very educational for everyone, not just the native English speakers. You can upload the files (which can be a little large) to a file sharing website, like Fileden and post your link in a reply.

I'll share my file first, just so you can get an idea. If you have already done this and want to give it another try please do! Or you can just post a quote/link of/to yours from the previous thread.


Quote from: Josietta on November 17, 2008, 05:18:25 AM
Uneditted... Uncut... breathless.. sweaty.. restless Josie tryin this tongue twisting challenge of doom!

Josi's English Speaking Challenge Attempt



Good luck to all!

-Josi <3


Quote from: adventurer on November 09, 2008, 01:45:09 AM
   
If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be
speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in
the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he'd prefer
six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud.

Try them yourself!  Have fun!

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.

(Mind the latter, how it's written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;

Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?

Won't it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

– B. Shaw

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                                 O.Os   / A.As / Ideas 
                           Warning:  Finicky Muse Ahead!


Josietta

I've had a few people interested in doing this. Just remember it may look intimidating but its not about necessarily doing it correctly! its about trying it out! having fun!

So please do give it a try! I look forward to hearing those of you brave enough to letus have a listen!

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                                 O.Os   / A.As / Ideas 
                           Warning:  Finicky Muse Ahead!


Amelita

that was... terrible and DIFFICULT! But fun  XD

poem.wmv


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Josietta

Quote from: Amelia on May 03, 2011, 04:39:38 PM
that was... terrible and DIFFICULT! But fun  XD

poem.wmv

Yay!!! You did wonderful for a Non Native speaker!

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                                 O.Os   / A.As / Ideas 
                           Warning:  Finicky Muse Ahead!


consortium11

The audio qualities pretty poor... using the built in mic on the laptop.

E English challenge

Josietta

Quote from: consortium11 on May 03, 2011, 06:50:39 PM
The audio qualities pretty poor... using the built in mic on the laptop.

E English challenge

*applauds!* yay!!  A male!   I love those aussie accents! <3

I got to hear WaterLily on mumble a few nights and she was giving us lessons on how to speak Australian.. was very funny to hear me and Mr Corven trying to speak with our southern accents. 

You did rather well with it I thought! 

Think we can get a Brit in here next? Maybe an Irish or Scott? Some Danish?

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                                 O.Os   / A.As / Ideas 
                           Warning:  Finicky Muse Ahead!


consortium11

Em...

I'm English... and certainly not Australian...

:P

Josietta

Quote from: consortium11 on May 03, 2011, 07:35:28 PM
Em...

I'm English... and certainly not Australian...

:P

*huge blush* OMG.. i'm sorry.. I swear in all the time we've rp'd together I've thought you were in Australia.

my oops. *hides now*

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                                 O.Os   / A.As / Ideas 
                           Warning:  Finicky Muse Ahead!


consortium11

No worries of course... It's interesting to see how people place you from your accent... I've had people suggest hints of South African before but never Australian. :)