LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

 I’d like to share a powerful language-learning aid that has served me well since childhood. Simply put: read aloud, write by hand, and savor the process. Read in a soft voice or whisper to practice the sounds of your new language—this alone sharpens pronunciation and rhythm. Then write out words, phrases, even whole paragraphs by hand, whether in cursive or block letters. This engages your neuromuscular visual system and forges stronger connections in your memory; your hand, eye, and ear work together to anchor the language deep within you. While you’re at it, treat this as a kind of meditation. Practice calligraphy or simply enjoy the gentle flow of ink on paper. Notice the graceful forms of the letters and the way sentences take shape under your hand. Images are easier to remember, especially when tied to the movement of writing and the soft echo of your own voice. Try it. You have little to lose and much to gain.  

I advocate reading out loud every day, at least five minutes per session, slowly, mindfully, stressing the sounds, flavoring them, and enjoying them. This exercise helps us deliver our speech better and be understood right away. If you do this, you will not hear people ask "what?" to you anymore.  I also advocate copying paragraphs longhand. Writing is a neuromuscular activity that helps fix language in your mind. Use cursive instead of printing. Sherlock Holmes, long ago, in his The Adventure of the Red Circle , said: "... why print? Printing is a clumsy process. Why not write?" And why do the above, anyway? Again, Holmes tells us in the same adventure: "It is art for art's sake. Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last."

  In my earlier post, I urged you to read out loud, both the language you are endeavoring to master and your own. But as these posts must be short, I failed to explain why we should read out loud.  Language is sound, sound with meaning. The sounds of a language are made by means of vocal cords, lips, tongue, alveolar ridges, teeth, and nose. All must be trained to be in an exact position to make a certain sound. The position of the tongue when we produce a /t/ in English is not the position of the tongue in Spanish when we make the /t/ sound. (Cf. Tiempo and time.) And this is why I believe that we must train ourselves in producing sounds in context by reading out loud, not shouting, but in a whisper, lest those around you think you are losing your marbles.  No need to say that I presume you have been trained in phonetics. Of course.  

  Just as exercise is vital in keeping our body fit, LOL (laughing out loud) is required to keep our mental health fine-tuned. I will not dwell on this because it is common knowledge: a good guffaw does wonders for our mental well-being once in a while. And for language? How can we keep it fine-tuned on a daily basis? Practicing ROL (reading out loud) often. I read out loud ( ROL ) in English and Spanish as often as possible. Reading in silence or to oneself is fine, of course, but this practice of ROL does drill the vocal cords or the movement of the tongue and lips which are essential in oral communication. ROL slowly, pronouncing carefully, using the proper intonation and modulation. A short paragraph will do and will only take a few minutes of your valuable time. Fancy you are an actor declaiming to an audience, book in hand: make them become interested in your reading and try to charm them with your voice. Enjoy the sounds of the language and vibrate with them. Thus read, ...

Leer en voz alta es una práctica eficaz que conduce a ejercitar las complejas técnicas de la pronunciación inglesa. Trata de leer, de declamar , textos como si fueses el político, el actor, el conferenciante, ante un público que te escucha -y que debe entenderte-, con sentimiento, con el ritmo y cadencia apropiados. Lee con cierta lentitud, saboreando los sonidos, con un estilo relajado y normal. Esto te ayudará a modular la voz, a vocalizar bien, a emitir sonidos de manera clara y con fluidez. La clave de la comunicación es hablar bien, eficazmente y con buena enunciación y dicción... Expresarse bien está ligado al éxito en la vida y es la piedra angular de las relaciones entre personas y en la sociedad en general. Podemos practicar los sonidos leyendo, declamando, escritos, despacio, poniendo énfasis en los fonemas, disfrutando de ellos. Inténtalo y verás como la pronunciación inglesa se torna más fácil, menos complicada… y si no, consulta mi PHONÉTICA INGLESA ...