Thread: critique my terrible pronunciation and grammar

I know there is at least one problem with this text (в магазин should be в магазине), but I'm going to add it here as I spoke it. All of it is basically Pimsleur stuff. What's comical is I thought my pronunciation was decent until I heard it; I round my vowels like crazy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_tr...ature=youtu.be

Привет! Как дела? Меня зовут стив. Очень приятна. Я живу в портленде уже год. Сегодня я купил много всего в магазин. Сейчас у меня только немного времени, потому что один из моих знакомых собирается приехоть в гости позже. Так я хочу пообедать до этого. Я думаю что ему нравится кофе, так я собираюсь пригласить его в кафе. Сейчас я собираюсь уехать. Спасибо. До сведания!

Grammar and spelling:

Привет! Как дела? Меня зовут Стив. Очень приятно. Я живу в Портленде уже год. Сегодня я купил много всего в магазине. Сейчас у меня мало времени, потому что один мой знакомый собирается скоро приехать в гости. И я хочу пообедать до этого. Я думаю, что ему нравится кофе, так что я собираюсь пригласить его в кафе. Сейчас я собираюсь уехать. Спасибо. До свидания!

Только немного sounds weird for me. You can say мало or совсем немного, and both are undoubtedly less than just plain немного.
Один из моих знакомых puts additional emphasis on "just one of...", один мой знакомый is sufficient.

critique my terrible pronunciation

It's pretty good. But if you insist...

Ж is too soft. Russian ж and ш are harder than English ones.
Unstressed a and o (ə) often are too clear and long. The good one is in "купил много", for example.
Т and д should never ever turn into the r-like flap.
привет: too long е
меня: too much ййй in /минйя/
год, очень, кофе: too long o, and it is of different quality
приятно: т should not be voiced
в Портленде: not /вəпорт'лэнде/, but /'фпортлэнди/
только: not /'тольки/, but /'толькə/
времени: not /'времениэ/, but /'времини/
собирается: not /суби'раитса/, but /сəби'раитсə/
пообедать: very unclear. https://ru.forvo.com/search/%D0%BF%D...0%D1%82%D1%8C/
кафе: should be /кə'фэ/. https://ru.forvo.com/search/%D0%BA%D...1%84%D0%B5/ru/

Certainly not to bad at all. God knows I started out worse.

ть - https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D1%8...%D0%B9#Russian
ы - difficult sound. Be sure to pronounce it as one sound not a sequence of multiple close approximations (you didn't particularly do this but some people do)
hard to criticize pronunciation of в портленде because it's a US city name; it almost can't sound Russian; just be sure to treat the в as part of the word following it -- "впортленде", and вгости

"во мгле"

your ж specifically seems to be coming out as a ʑ instead of ʐ. This means that you're probably using about 20% of the way back from the tip of your tongue to touch the roof, making it sound slightly palatalized (soft). Ж uses the very tip of the tongue, curled up and back and meeting (basically) perpendicular at a 45 degree angle to the center of the alveolar ridge.
ж is voiced ш, but NOT a voiced щ.
Wiki page for ж
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_retroflex_sibilant
word жар
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B...%D1%80#Russian

your к in купил is properly UNaspirated (sharp sounding)

только is a bit of a tough word for non natives for sure, not only do you need to make an ль sound, but you also need to squeeze it in before the к.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D1%8...8C%D0%BA%D0%BE
Notice the colloquial pronunciations drop it for ease

Reeeaaallly shoving those vowels into their appropriate corners helps a lot towards sounding native (especially stressed о's, since that particular sound is very un-English) You do this well in single syllable words

your 'х' is definitely better than it could be, some people seem to only be able to make a harsh gurgle sound, but yours is at least a soft hiss, however I think I hear it being a single unit too far back in the mouth. Yours is bordering on uvular, whereas х is a sound pronounced right where к touches down-- on the velum. Pronouncing хххк хк ххххк shouldn't move the tongue forward or back at all - just close and open slightly

позже is actually a pretty weird word. It is one of the uncommon examples of -зж- which can be pronounced ʑ (voiced щ)
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B...B7%D0%B6%D0%B5 - note the two varying pronunciations

I don't know how in the hell you pulled off нравится so well, do you already have experience with rolled r's?

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B5
кофе is a good example of two of the vowels that are very pushed into their respective spots. o and е are physically higher up in the mouth than the anomalous English equivalents.

ть in пригласить его was pretty good

unstressed vowels are pretty difficult to learn, pretty much takes a lot of hearing them, and unfortunately, didactic material tends to use a faux pronunciation that essentially stresses every syllable, even though nobody actually speaks that way; but as long as you're exposed to many different speech sources that'll just come with time
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Some spelling errors - all do to Vowel Reduction
очень приятнa ; this would refer to a feminine noun, приятно is the neutral "it is nice" because it's in the neuter.

приехать

when using "so" as in: "..., as a logical conclusion of that: "---- generally use ',так что' or потому or поэтому
так is reserved for... "in the manner"

так что - Перевод на английский - примеры русский | Reverso Context

до свИдания

Oh, I missed позже.
сш, зж, сз and so on are always subjected to regressive assimilation:
с жаром - /'ж:арəм/
с шаром - /'ш:арəм/
расширить - /рə'ш:ирить/

Originally Posted by xXHoax

your 'х' is definitely better than it could be, some people seem to only be able to make a harsh gurgle sound, but yours is at least a soft hiss, however I think I hear it being a single unit too far back in the mouth. Yours is bordering on uvular, whereas х is a sound pronounced right where к touches down-- on the velum. Pronouncing хххк хк ххххк shouldn't move the tongue forward or back at all - just close and open slightly

It sounds almost native in уехать, IMO.

In English there is aspiration after the consonants P, T, K (soft puff of air immediately after the consonant), in Russian, there is no such thing so your exhalation on PTK's sound to me like Кhофе, кhафе...