Written on September 14, 2008 at 11:53 pm by Jennie

How’s my accent?

Filed under In French, Website {26 comments}

I finally got David to record more mp3s for the French tutorials (we’re now halfway done with French VII, vocabulary for those living in France), and I decided to record myself speaking French as well. I just read the sentences from the first topic on French VII.

David (native speaker of French)

[podcast]http://www.ielanguages.com/mp3stwo/confusions.mp3[/podcast]

Me (native speaker of American English)

[podcast]http://www.ielanguages.com/mp3stwo/myaccent.mp3[/podcast]

I hate my voice.

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http://twentyeighthofmay.wordpress.com/ Sally

No! You have a nice voice and just un tout petit accent quand tu parles francais
http://twentyeighthofmay.wordpress.com Sally

No! You have a nice voice and just un tout petit accent quand tu parles francais
http://eileen.likeafrog.org/ Eileen

I actually think it’s a very nice text-book-recording voice! Mine wouldn’t work at all…

Eileens last blog post...
http://eileen.likeafrog.org Eileen

I actually think it’s a very nice text-book-recording voice! Mine wouldn’t work at all…

Eileens last blog post...
http://nouvellevieenfrance.blogspot.com/ Katie

I’m so jealous! I don’t know how I would sound if I recorded myself speaking french. But honestly you sound awesome. I wouldn’t know you were American if I heard you talking on the street.

btw. This is my new blog. I deleted “A Year of Stepping in the Merde” and created “Nouvelle Vie”.

Katie

Katies last blog post..I’m so exicted!
http://nouvellevieenfrance.blogspot.com/ Katie

I’m so jealous! I don’t know how I would sound if I recorded myself speaking french. But honestly you sound awesome. I wouldn’t know you were American if I heard you talking on the street.

btw. This is my new blog. I deleted “A Year of Stepping in the Merde” and created “Nouvelle Vie”.

Katie

Katies last blog post..I’m so exicted!
http://unautrejp.blogspot.com/ Justin

Not bad at all Jennie, I am impressed!

Justins last blog post..A smile on my face…
http://unautrejp.blogspot.com Justin

Not bad at all Jennie, I am impressed!

Justins last blog post..A smile on my face…
http://www.katiaandkyliemac.com/ kyliemac

hearing your own voice recorded is always weird! and the sound quality of your recording is really good! if only my accent sounded as good.

kyliemacs last blog post..k&k episode 174 – the one where they sing off-key over the music… and stuff…
http://www.katiaandkyliemac.com kyliemac

hearing your own voice recorded is always weird! and the sound quality of your recording is really good! if only my accent sounded as good.

kyliemacs last blog post..k&k episode 174 – the one where they sing off-key over the music… and stuff…
http://mrdolomite.blogspot.com/ MrDolomite

I have to cast my vote for the “I never want to have my own voice recorded and definitely never want to hear it played back.”

But once past that, I think your samples are excellent. I was able to understand them all, even though it has been dix-sept years since my last French class. Definitely very clear and fluid. I’m not an expert, but I wouldn’t have been able to notice that you’re not a native speaker.

David’s samples, however, did sound a bit more authentic, The way things connect and flow, with the natural pauses, somehow indicate he’s a native.

But hey, maybe you have found your new calling, as a textbook audio recording voice.

MrDolomites last blog post..Mary turns 2 months old
http://mrdolomite.blogspot.com MrDolomite

I have to cast my vote for the “I never want to have my own voice recorded and definitely never want to hear it played back.”

But once past that, I think your samples are excellent. I was able to understand them all, even though it has been dix-sept years since my last French class. Definitely very clear and fluid. I’m not an expert, but I wouldn’t have been able to notice that you’re not a native speaker.

David’s samples, however, did sound a bit more authentic, The way things connect and flow, with the natural pauses, somehow indicate he’s a native.

But hey, maybe you have found your new calling, as a textbook audio recording voice.

MrDolomites last blog post..Mary turns 2 months old
Rose

David’s voice sounds like my textbook recordings!
You sound so pretty. I like your voice. There was one little upward lilt in one of the sentences that sounded so Quebecois – so cute! I live across the St Lawrence River from Canada now and I hear Canadian French all the time thanks to the radio. It sounds sort of like a North American Anglophone speaking French…which it sort of is.
Rose

David’s voice sounds like my textbook recordings!
You sound so pretty. I like your voice. There was one little upward lilt in one of the sentences that sounded so Quebecois – so cute! I live across the St Lawrence River from Canada now and I hear Canadian French all the time thanks to the radio. It sounds sort of like a North American Anglophone speaking French…which it sort of is.
http://davidsswamp.blogspot.com/ David

Hey Jennie,

You’re accent is pretty good, but you should record yourself speaking natural speech…
Recording yourself reading a text, especially a text where the meaning is not relevant alters your way of speaking and especially your accent…

Davids last blog post..This tagging thing that some people do…
http://davidsswamp.blogspot.com David

Hey Jennie,

You’re accent is pretty good, but you should record yourself speaking natural speech…
Recording yourself reading a text, especially a text where the meaning is not relevant alters your way of speaking and especially your accent…

Davids last blog post..This tagging thing that some people do…
http://www.ielanguages.com Jennie Wagner

@Sally: Merci Sally, it’s the darn French r’s that give me away most. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to pronounce them correctly.

@Eileen: I should totally look into textbook recording as a career (is that a career?). That would be so cool!

@Katie: Thanks Katie, I’ve changed your link on my blogroll.

@JustIn: Merci Justin; c’est gentil de ton part !

@Kyliemac: I think the quality of your podcasts is really good too! I just open Audacity and push record, so the program deserves all the credit. heh

@MrDolomite: It’s true the flow of David’s speech is much better. I’ve always been good at pronouncing individual sounds, but the intonation of the sentence is a bit harder to master.

@Rose: Hehe, I’m sure I picked up some Quebecois intonation along the way. I love the Quebecois accent!

@David: Yeah, I should do a spontaneous recording. I know that (my) David’s accent in English changes slightly when he reads vs. when he just speaks naturally. His English accent is better when he speaks, but I have a feeling my French accent is better when I read.
http://www.ielanguages.com Jennie

@Sally: Merci Sally, it’s the darn French r’s that give me away most. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to pronounce them correctly.

@Eileen: I should totally look into textbook recording as a career (is that a career?). That would be so cool!

@Katie: Thanks Katie, I’ve changed your link on my blogroll.

@JustIn: Merci Justin; c’est gentil de ton part !

@Kyliemac: I think the quality of your podcasts is really good too! I just open Audacity and push record, so the program deserves all the credit. heh

@MrDolomite: It’s true the flow of David’s speech is much better. I’ve always been good at pronouncing individual sounds, but the intonation of the sentence is a bit harder to master.

@Rose: Hehe, I’m sure I picked up some Quebecois intonation along the way. I love the Quebecois accent!

@David: Yeah, I should do a spontaneous recording. I know that (my) David’s accent in English changes slightly when he reads vs. when he just speaks naturally. His English accent is better when he speaks, but I have a feeling my French accent is better when I read.
http://noemagosa.wordpress.com/ Noelia

Your spoken French is as good as the written one!

The only sound that can be improved is the “e” vowel sound as in: petit, de toi… Yours is too “é”
And in the word “aujourd’hui”, it’s getting from “o” to “ou” to “u” then “i”. Tricky.

I would have written in IPA, but my keyboard does not allow. I hope I helped! (BTW, I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing -recording my voice-… I have all the equipment to do it. Now, where is my courage gone?

Noelias last blog post..La p’tite bête qui monte…
http://noemagosa.wordpress.com Noelia

Your spoken French is as good as the written one!

The only sound that can be improved is the “e” vowel sound as in: petit, de toi… Yours is too “é”
And in the word “aujourd’hui”, it’s getting from “o” to “ou” to “u” then “i”. Tricky.

I would have written in IPA, but my keyboard does not allow. I hope I helped! (BTW, I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing -recording my voice-… I have all the equipment to do it. Now, where is my courage gone?

Noelias last blog post..La p’tite bête qui monte…
http://www.ielanguages.com Jennie Wagner

Thanks Noelia! That helps me – I know aujourd’hui has always been a tricky word for me.

I think you should record your voice too. I might do a German recording later…
http://www.ielanguages.com Jennie

Thanks Noelia! That helps me – I know aujourd’hui has always been a tricky word for me.

I think you should record your voice too. I might do a German recording later…
http://www.joujoulovesyou.blogspot.com/ JouJou

I thought it was beautiful!!! Bravo!

JouJous last blog post..GET YO SHI* and GET OUT.
http://www.joujoulovesyou.blogspot.com JouJou

I thought it was beautiful!!! Bravo!

JouJous last blog post..GET YO SHI* and GET OUT.
Lexie

Your accent is completely fantastic! Honestly! I am soo jealous…and very curious how you learned it so well. I came across your site because I’m going to be an exchange student in the Haute-Savoire area next year(I’ll be a junior in high school) and I don’t speak any french. Ich kann aber schon Deutsch…y un poco de espanol:) haha I actually want to be a linguist too. I really wish though that my accent (not only with french…I started studying it only about a month ago…but with German as well) were better.
Do you have any advice/tips/links that could help?
Thank you/Danke/Gracias/Merci
Lexie

P.S.- This website is so amazing! I cannot thank you enough for all you language tutorials. I really like the paired ones, too. Using the German/French one is really helping me by comparing the two and making french easier.
Lexie

Your accent is completely fantastic! Honestly! I am soo jealous…and very curious how you learned it so well. I came across your site because I’m going to be an exchange student in the Haute-Savoire area next year(I’ll be a junior in high school) and I don’t speak any french. Ich kann aber schon Deutsch…y un poco de espanol:) haha I actually want to be a linguist too. I really wish though that my accent (not only with french…I started studying it only about a month ago…but with German as well) were better.
Do you have any advice/tips/links that could help?
Thank you/Danke/Gracias/Merci
Lexie

P.S.- This website is so amazing! I cannot thank you enough for all you language tutorials. I really like the paired ones, too. Using the German/French one is really helping me by comparing the two and making french easier.