Sounding Off

Teaching English as a language has been eye- (and ear-) opening in many ways. It makes you realize how much you take for granted as a native speaker. One thing I’ve realized is that Americans (especially in certain regions) tend to blur words together and soften consonant sounds more often than other native English speakers. Many of my students are petrified of the notorious Texas drawl. One even feels that it’s harder to understand Texans than Indians. They probably haven’t dealt with the likes of authentic New Yorkers, or New Jerseyites (?) for that matter. If they had to, “The Sopranos” would be an unlikely yet fairly helpful teaching tool. I may have never developed a true New Yawk accent, but I’ve become more conscious than ever that I pronounce many of my t’s as d’s and I shorten some vowel sounds, so I’ve had to work hard on EEnunciaTing. Would Tony S. or Dubya, for that matter, fare as well?

Speaking of sounding things out, I taught the alphabet to a beginner today and boy, was it an exercise in confusion. Consonants aren’t a huge stretch, but many vowel sounds are wildly different. The English “A” sound doesn’t exist in French. The French “I” is pronounced the same way as the English “E;” the French “E” is pronounced similarly to the English “uh” sound. The poor guy was in a panic when I had him spell words I was dictating. Thank goodness “O” and “U” are close enough between the two languages, or he might have passed out. This was just the tip of the iceberg, as we haven’t even moved past the most basic long vowel sounds in English. Butter, milk, eggs, apples, sauce, etc. – oh, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. (I must be hungry, because those were the first words that popped into my head.)

Idioms have been another particular challenge. Native speakers forget that although these turns of phrase seem simple enough to one another, they can send even an advanced language learner into a spiral of confusion. “Step it up,” “in the loop,” “work it out”…these, among others, have slipped out during instruction. Explaining the meaning of an idiom is harder than you think, what with the need to break it down into the simplest words possible. It’s kind of like playing Taboo (my fave game, by the way) – there are some words you just can’t ever use and you still have to get someone to comprehend exactly what you mean to say.

On the flipside, I’ve noticed some idiosyncrasies of French utterances. They tend to make certain sounds that I’ve never noticed before among the Frenchies I’ve been long acquainted with. I’m wishing I had audio-recording capabilities right about now, but I’ll attempt to articulate these sounds anyway. One is akin to a sharp intake of breath, like the sound you’d make if you were suddenly startled – but not as strong and not with a connotation of shock. It seems to be used more as a nervous almost-laugh. And I’ve heard it most frequently from older people; not sure how to explain that. The other sound is the ever-popular noise the people here make to express “Who knows?” or “I don’t have a damn clue.” The more uncouth of the population produce a ripping-fart sound, while the more elegant make a kind of air-popping fart sound. Either you’re laughing right now or you can’t at all imagine what I’m talking about, but believe me when I say that by the end of my first week here, I was ready to MURDER the next person I heard do it. It was driving me crazy. At this point, I’ve resigned myself to its ubiquity. One of my classes recently served as a therapy session for dealing with this French-fart-sound hang-up. My students were taking a practice test for a Business English exam they’re taking this spring, and they were so stumped by one section of the test that the classroom was a veritable chorus of this sound. I realized then there was no escaping it…but though I can’t beat it, I am by no means joining it. Oh, hell no. Sorry, people, fart noises are for the bathroom or the armpit hijinks of 12-year-old boys.

And now for the interactive portion of this blog: What sounds do Americans make that can be perceived as bizarre or ridiculous? Post a comment with your ideas.