One of the biggest problems when you begin to study English as a second language is not to have proper guidance and awareness to overcome the challenge of a non-phonetic language. That means to drill down the concept of “prosody” that implies melody, rhythm, and stress. It would have been the best to begin to study the sounds that any other thing. If I had had teachers that were concerned about this issue, I would speak it with all clarity and confidence. That’s a shame. But, today I’m working on my prosody, being engaged in conversation 3 times per week and shadowing with podcasts and movies and fortunately I have the blessing to fall back on a native friend that helps me with my pronunciation.
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Yes... prosody is difficult... listening to podcasts is GREAT because even if you dont understand every word or sentence you still hear the rhythm and melody of the language. Very nice essay
Hi Aldo, thank you for teaching me a new English word ... prosody . . . even though English is my home language! I can see already that the concept of prosody will be very helpful in my own journey to learn German. Thanks for the essay.
Aldo, the other interesting thing that you have brought to my attention is that of a non-phonetic language, like English. Sometimes in English it seems that the letters in a word are only a rough guide to its pronunciation. Fortunately for me, I have realised that German can probably be described as a phonetic language - the pronunciation seldom varies within the rules of the language. The other thing that understanding the prosody can help with, is the rhythm of syllable emphasis, which is can be quite different among different languages.
Byron, thank you so much for your feedback.
@Peet, it’s really interesting to go deeper about “prosody” It really helps me in my target language. I’m glad that my short journal entry helps you to get some clarity when it comes to cope with a non-phonetic language.