Trusting in The Jingles is essential if a Jingles client hopes to realize kerm pronunciation dream.
Dear Fellow Earthlings,
A few hours ago a man (whose native language is not English) came in for a trial session. His level of English competency -- including his phonological development -- is very high. Here is a summary of how the interview went:
W: Nice to meet you, sir!
T: Nice to meet you, too.
W: I understand you want to develop your England English. Is that correct?
T: Yes. My English is passable in most situations. But I often have to conduct
interviews -- and sometimes my interviewees don't understand what I am saying.
W: Where do these interviewees come from?
T: Various places: America, England, Southeast Asia....
W: I understand. (In other words, I now understood that many of the people Mr. T has interviewed
are NOT native speakers of English -- and therefore, it is THEY rather than Mr. T, whose English
speech motor skills need improvement....) Yes, now I understand your level: It is "89.8".
T: Okay.
W: Excuse me, but you should have responded by asking, "All right. So what does "89.8"
mean?" This is how we operate when we are talking English, Mr. T.
T: I see what you mean....
W: Anyway, 89.8 indicates that your level of phonological competency is very close to 90.0 -- defined
as the threshold level for nativelike target language speech production. Because your initial
measurement is so high, it will take you about 6 weeks to reach "90", to reach that threshold level.
T: Uh-huh..
W: However, since you want to sound professional when interviewing people, you need to sound
better than the average native speaker -- whose level is defined as "90.15". I recommend that you
should aim for a level of 90.2.
T: How can I achieve this?
W: One 45-minute session weekly, for three months -- supplemented by 5 minutes of specialized at-
home self-training outside of class four times a week during that same 3-month period.
T: For pronunciation or listening?
W: Both... Since you are an adult, it will develop BOTH your pronunciation AND your listening. If your pronunciation gets better, then your listening comprehension will get better automatically. So...
-- assuming that you trust what I am saying -- for roughly one hour per week (45 minutes once
a week, supplemented by four 5-minute self-training efforts at home each week). This is what I am
recommending for you, sir..........
Most of you (my readers) may be wondering whether Mr. T joined. For the present I shall refrain from letting you know if he has joined or not. But if he DOES join, then three months from now I will let you know how his development is progressing.
Steve Walker
Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.