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. :duh:
Один из моих знакомых puts additional emphasis on "just one of...", один мой знакомый is sufficient.

Quote:

---

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
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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/

Quote:

---

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...