Give English s/z their due consideration!

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

Each language has its most important sounds. During my years of research into the characterization of the phonomes of thousands of languages and dialects, I have honed the skills needed to discover the various synergy levels of any given language and/or dialect.

Let it suffice here to say that a person seeking to develop a nativelike England-based English allophonome must absolutely make sure that kerm s/z gestures are developed to their fullest.

A case in point is Jingles client Ms. B.

This client can speak fluent American English (as a second language). Yet, she encounters difficulties both in catching English spoken by others (both native and non-native speakers) and in making herself understood to people with whom she is speaking.

The crux of her difficulties is that somewhere along the line in her English education she has never come to understand that while all of her English phonemes are of nativelike quality, her s and z -- which happen to be the two most important phonemes in England-based English -- are clearly deficient.

For example, when I asked her to repeat the following "test segment", she pronounced it as indicated in b);

a) I'd thought that Sydney was on the northern coast -- and was surprised to learn it's on the southern!

b) I'd taught dat did knee wa thon duh northern coat -- and was huprised to learn it dawn duh thouthern!

Starting from Ms. B's November 16, 2023 session, I have therefore asked my staff to add a special segment (taking up 25% of each 60-minute session that Ms. B takes from now on) in which we will work on her s and z gestures in an extremely rigorous fashion.

I took the step of inquiring about her hearing ability. The results of a medical hearing examination showed nothing remarkable.

Therefore, we will take steps to ensure that what Ms. B has treated as "rather easy sounds" (that is her s and z gestures) will be treated for what they are -- namely, the most important sounds of England-based English.

After these two gestures take their proper place as the "generators" for all of her other English gestures, Ms. B will finally be able to have a competency level in oral/aural English on par with that of native speakers.

Steve Walker

Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

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