They asked ME?
This morning was really funny. Me and the slavs discussing the nasal vowels and practising distinguishing brin (for this vowel I do my silly grin) from brun (for this I just relax everything and push)
The phonétique exam has opened a real can of worms. It turns out that almost everyone has immense hang-ups about the nasal vowels, with the possible exception of the portugese-speakers who have problems with the oral vowels!
Added to that we all have our own difficulties with different consonants - for the anglophones it's the r and the t/d (which we make too hard). For the arabophones b/p just doesn't exist!
So we were all sat in a joyous circle chanting "un bon vin blanc, un grand pain rond" and observing and discussing the way you hold your mouth and where to poke your tongue and when to grin and when to let your jaw drop and when to do the goldfish with your lips.
Then the phonétique lecturer hurried through to use the loo... Poor woman. I bet she cries herself to sleep each night.
The phonétique exam has opened a real can of worms. It turns out that almost everyone has immense hang-ups about the nasal vowels, with the possible exception of the portugese-speakers who have problems with the oral vowels!
Added to that we all have our own difficulties with different consonants - for the anglophones it's the r and the t/d (which we make too hard). For the arabophones b/p just doesn't exist!
So we were all sat in a joyous circle chanting "un bon vin blanc, un grand pain rond" and observing and discussing the way you hold your mouth and where to poke your tongue and when to grin and when to let your jaw drop and when to do the goldfish with your lips.
Then the phonétique lecturer hurried through to use the loo... Poor woman. I bet she cries herself to sleep each night.
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