2A The General Types of Articulation Errors
Leaving melody aside, to mispronounce something simply means to move the articulators differently than how a native speaker would. Now that you know all the articulators and their dimensions of movements, you now also know all the possible types of pronunciation errors.
In the videos below, I quickly review all the possible types of errors for vowels and consonants. Later on when you practice, your goal is to map these error types to your ear, so you can better identify when errors occur in yourself and others.
After watching the videos, post to
#learn with your three biggest takeaways. 2B Intentional Error Practice
One way to learn how to NOT make a pronunciation error is to practice intentionally making it. This maps the error in your ear and muscle memory, so that you recognize it more quickly if it slips out in speech.
For this exercise you will record a video for each of the seven error types. For each error, choose a sound to perform the error on, go to the audio word list for that sound, and practice pronouncing each word with that error.
When you think you've got the error down, record yourself echoing erroneously, then share your loom to the new
#feedback channel (click here to join). After you post, go to the person before you and see if you can guess what error they did by replying on their post.
When posting your recording, do NOT say which error you're doing. Just write that you are doing an "Intentional Vowel Error" or an "Intentional Consonant Error", and invite the next poster to guess which one it is.
You are done with this exercise once you've posted a video for each of the 7 error types and commented on all the posts of the person who posted before you. (Note: don't worry if the person who posted before you is posting for a different languages - you should still be able to hear). Audio Word lists
🇪🇸 Spanish
🇫🇷 French
🇩🇪 German
🇵🇹 Portuguese (Pt)
🇧🇷 Portuguese (Br)
Vowel Errors
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Consonant Errors
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2C Giving Feedback to Self and Others
Now that you know how to intentionally perform and critique an error, it's time to explore your real pronunciation errors.
Return to your sound inventory audit and find the sounds that you are not fully confident in yet. Record a loom of yourself mimicking, then share the recording to #feedback, along with a brief writeup on what you think the error might be, and a solicitation of feedback from your peers (e.g. "What do you guys think?).
After posting, go to the person who posted before you and reply with feedback to their post. Don't worry about being wrong in your feedback. If you're unsure of your feedback, indicate as much (eg "I think your tongue might be too low, but not sure).
Obviously, be respectful and encouraging in your feedback as well. And don't take it as as a condemnation of your moral character if someone suggests your tongue might be positioned a micrometer away from where you thought it was 😉.
If you're on a team, share your recordings back to your team. Then as the week progresses, be sure to give feedback on all your teammates to complete the team challenge for this week. Also feel free to resubmit recordings to your team channel and/or the
#feedback channel if you think you've improved any sound. Audio Word lists
🇪🇸 Spanish
🇫🇷 French
🇩🇪 German
🇵🇹 Portuguese (Pt)
🇧🇷 Portuguese (Br)