Our catch phrase is on its way.

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

One of my clients (Mx X) has been unable to learn how to say the word combination “gives her a bit of trouble” for over two-and-a-half years. My fellow Jingles instructors and I have made monumental efforts to help kerm deal with the issue but kee always ends up saying “gives it a bit of trouble” instead.

On the face of it, it would seem like a simple matter of having Mx X write the problem area out, record it, memorize it, make sure kee understands the meaning, and so on. But this client, genius though kee is, finds it quite difficult to master certain speech motor skills applications. Since kee is in no great hurry and is otherwise coming along very well in kerm training, my instructors and I have spent the last year or so developing Mx X’s overall English allophonome. And kerm progress has been astounding.

But kee continues to say “gives it a bit of trouble” in “JINGLE I” instead of the required “gives her a bit of trouble”. So today, I used a different tack. First of all, we just looked at the difficult segment as it appears in “JINGLE I”. I have underlined the problem area for clarity.

JINGLE I: MISS O’LEARY RARELY REALLY RAISES REALLY RED ROSES – THAT’S WHY SUE GIVES HER A BIT OF TROUBLE WHEN SHE SAYS SHE WANTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL.

Next, I used our “here-to-there” technique, taking Mx X from kerm current ability to pronounce the word “THOROUGHLY” (a gesture in which kee has atttained nativelike competency), by steps, by employing that current ability to develop the ability to say “GIVES HER A BIT OF” first at normal speed, then at slow, careful speend – and then (working backwards) all the way back to THOROUGHLY.

Here is how it looked (the syllable of highest stress is underlined):

1) THOROUGHLY to GI Vzu Ru LY to GI Vzu Ru bI duV (“gives her a bit of”) (normal speed)

DONE!!

2) Then, backwards and slowing down to normal speed:

GI Vzu Ru bI duV to GIVz HuR a bIt uhV to Gives her a lead. to THO Ruh LiyD to THOROUGHLY (ALL DONE!!!)

Mx X jumped through all the hoops and showed remarkable improvement today…

But what will kerm follow-up session next week show? Not to worry! Even if kee is a bit off target, I am completely sure that kerm overall level of English pronunciation competency will have improved! And we Jingles instructors will keep doing what we do!

Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.