Some Tips on Learning to Pronounce Foreign Languages

there is an article over on Slate’s language blog Lexicon Valley making the linguistics rounds called “7 Ways to Fake-Pronounce Any Foreign Language” and as a linguistics major, i feel it’s my duty to help publicize it.

uhh, wait, what’s linguistics again?

so you’re probably asking yourself, what good is linguistics? well, this goes to the heart of the tips the author posted: linguistics is all about treating language as an object of scientific study, so we (broadly speaking; i don’t do much with my college major) are trained to “decompile” a language into investigatable pieces: sounds (phonology), how words are put together (morphology) and what they mean (semantics), and how words come together to form sentences (syntax). there are other aspects, but these are the most helpful when you’re getting to know a language.

the tips

here’s my summary of those tips from that blog post, but you should read the original for more details:

• learn the alphabet (especially if it’s Latin-based, like English is) and remember that in most languages, each letter means something and should probably be pronounced. English, i hear, is horrible for language learners because of all the silent letters — think words like though — and wacky (lack of) pronunciation rules — like how the ends of though and tough and trough look the same but are pronounced differently. most languages, on the other hand, have spellings that closely match the sounds.
• repeat words exactly as you hear native speakers pronounce them.
• pay special attention to the vowels and don’t pronounce them like you would pronounce English vowels. key points: keep vowel sounds pure and be sure to pronounce all of them fully. in English, we use a particular vowel (schwa, sort of sounds like “uh”) in most unstressed syllables — so like a word like “garage” in American English is like “guh-RAZH” but listen to how it’s pronounced in other languages: German, Italian, Danish, and Dutch. you’ll see, and going back to the spelling thing, generally speaking, one letter, one sound, always.
• get your r sound right — most languages don’t pronounce rs like (American) English, where we make the tip of the tongue go behind the ridge behind your teeth (get ready to say the word rough and see where your tongue is at the start of the word).
• read up on the target language, and on non-English sounds. maybe i’m biased as a linguistics major, but you just might find it fascinating! things like how Hangul, the script Korean is written in, is basically the features of each sound, drawn out in symbol form.

my tips on pronunciation and more

• expose yourself(!) early and often to native speakers whether that means watching YouTube videos, movies, or listening to radio stations. thanks to the interwebz, this is easier than ever. before i moved to Germany, i watched so many German films (some of my favorites: Run Lola Run, aka Lola Rennt, and Was Tun, Wenn’s Brennt) which helped not only with vocabulary, but sounds and local color in general as well. also, look for streaming radio stations in the country you’re visiting. you’ll get the local top hits and hear native speakers bantering about. it’s admittedly hard when you can’t actually understand the language, but it’s helpful to at least expose yourself to the sounds. and then, once you start to get a feel for a language, it’s amazing how much pop culture (movies, tv, music) will help you learn.

  i was in a pop punk phase when i first started learning German, and fell in love with several bands. i learned the lyrics, sang along, and got used to the sounds! (sadly, the original video is not available to stream in the US)

• practice your guttural r sound especially if you are visiting certain countries in west/central Europe. yes, i actually sat around just saying words to nobody in particular like German “rennen” or French “rose” before moving up to harder combinations like “trennen” (luckily i was alone in my dorm room). it took some work but i think it’s paid off. (since you’re practicing, might as well learn the trilly/rolled R as well!)
• beyond the pronunciation thing, pick up on the little words that make you sound more like a local and just toss ’em in. for instance, the German tag question formation “oder?” to mean “eh?” or “right?” when placed at the end of a sentence (like, “Your name is John, right?” “Du heißt John, oder?”). or, French “ouais”, meaning “yeah” (use it in informal situations instead of “oui”) or filler words, like Japanese “ano” which is similar to English “uhh”. keep an ear out for these!
• imitate as much as you can. i still remember the first time i walked into a restaurant in Prague, how i was greeted with “Dobrý den!” — even nine years later, i still say it just like this lady said it to me, same intonation and inflection, same cheerful way. i’m not even sure i can say it without sounding cheerful?

the moral of the story: pay attention to the way a language sounds, and imitate. yes, knowing some basic phrases is great, but putting the extra effort in and saying those basic phrases like a local? even better.