Our catch phrase is on its way.
Dear Fellow Earthlings,
In general my Jingles clients are high achievers. They refuse to let anything stand in the way of the development of their nativelike English speech motor skills employment expertise.
A fine example of this is is Ms. N. She has already acquired nativelike mastery of American English pronunciation. Today she brought her Jingles level to a new high when – for the first time in her five years of Jingles training – she actually garnered a score of “91” (the native professional level) on her slow, careful regular mode rendition of JINGLE H. She was so happy and I was so proud of her.
You see, only 15 clients out of tens of thousands have ever scored “91” on any portion of what they have tried to utter. This fact shows just what a great accomplishment it is when it takes place.
Among our fine Jingles instructors, only 3 have achieved the “91”level in all of their Jingles – and only two of them have achieved a “91” level in their everyday “regular mode” pronunciation.
….which brings us back to Ms. N. Today, on her “applied speaking” measurement, her score was 90.1, the lowest score she has recorded for her applied speaking “regular mode” score in some 15 months. Her 3 most recent applied speaking scores were 90.3, 90.2, and 90.2, in that order.
So when she heard that her score was only 90.1 today, she remarked, “My level is steadily dropping.”
To which I replied: “No, your level is not dropping. It’s just that – unlike “The Jingles”, which you have practiced thousands of times, your “applied speaking” attempts are, more often than not, novel utterances. containing unexpected gestures and gesture combinations. This means that you have no way of preparing for the obstacles they may throw your way.
Rest assured that as long as you keep working on your Jingles themselves, then your overall pronunciation will inexorably rise! And that’s not just a promise – It is A FACT!!!
Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.