Thread: How does it sound?

Could someone please tell me how it sounds?
http://www.mediafire.com/?xtb29ymz0iu

(Here is the direct link to the file:
http://download248.mediafire.com/2ne2b1 ... imagus.WAV)

An animagus is a visitory elects to turn(?) it vid animals .... has no choice.

Уж не знаю на сколько это близко к истине, слушал раз десять, может больше=). Кто это говорит?

Originally Posted by Оля

Could someone please tell me how it sounds?
http://www.mediafire.com/?xtb29ymz0iu

HERMIONE

Please, sir, an Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn
into an animal. A werewolf has no choice in the matter.
Furthermore, the werewolf actively hunts humans and
responds only to the call of its own kind --
Malfoy lets out a LOW HOWL.

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Harry-Pott ... kaban.html

In your sound file the "z" in "wizard" is difficult to hear. Listen to the correct pronunciation here (click on the red speaker): http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wizard

Originally Posted by Ken Watts

In your sound file the "z" in "wizard" is difficult to hear.

Is that all?..
Maybe something about the accent? Or about the other words / other mistakes, please...


P.S. And, is the record really unclear, as Scrabus wrote, or it's just because he's not a native?

[quote=Оля][quote="Ken Watts":10xe13rx]In your sound file the "z" in "wizard" is difficult to hear.[/quote]
Is that all?..
Maybe something about the accent? Or about the other words / other mistakes, please...


P.S. And, is the record really unclear, as Scrabus wrote, or it's just because he's not a native?[/quote:10xe13rx]
Well, your accent sounds fine to me. I did have to listen to it a few times, and I had to search Google for "Animagus" before I understood everything. But when I read the words I marked in red in the script while listening to your pronunciation, I can hear you say what I am reading. Maybe the pronunciation of "turn" could have been a bit clearer: [url="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turn"]http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turn[/url] The word "werewolf" can be pronounced in different ways http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/werewolf but your pronunciation sounds like the last example. Maybe Scrabus was thrown off because he did not realize who was speaking this and maybe he did not know about "Animagus" and that the lines being spoken are from Harry Potter. Now maybe somebody else can give more criticism, but for me I think you did very well.

Thank you.
Can I ask... Is the accent very remarkable? Does it sound Russian? Sorry for being meticulous. It's just I actually don't catch very well what "your accent sounds fine to me" means.

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Harry-Pott ... kaban.html

By the way, this is not the movie dialogs, I think it's a screenplay or sort of, because it's not exactly what the characters in the movie say.

Yes, I didn't catch the sense of it, tho). Maybe it was just because I'm not a fun of Harry Potter?

I did another record of this phrase, does it sound good?
http://www.mediafire.com/?mte3fcj1sgx
For me it better understandable. Also worried about russian accent -). Is it noticeable?

Originally Posted by Оля

Thank you.
Can I ask... Is the accent very remarkable? Does it sound Russian? Sorry for being meticulous. It's just I actually don't catch very well what "your accent sounds fine to me" means.

No, I don't think your accent sounds "Russian". I am not an expert on this, but based on what I hear from films and television and the two Russians with whom I have spoken on Skype, and the Russians I hear speaking in shops and restaurants where I live, their accents are more recognizable as Russian than what I hear you speaking in this example. You do sound like you are reading these lines while you are speaking them. So in that sense the lines do not quite sound like they may when naturally spoken. I haven't seen the film so I don't know how Hermione sounds when saying these lines. Maybe you memorized the text and rehearsed the lines several times.

Оля, русский акцент в данной записи не заметен совсем). По крайней мере для меня). Если он и существует, то он абсолютно не выражен ).

Originally Posted by Scrabus

Yes, I didn't catch the sense of it, either ("too" should be "too", not "tho"). Maybe it was (it's?) just because I'm not a fun of Harry Potter?

I've made another record of this phrase, does it sound good?
http://www.mediafire.com/upload_comp...id=34cy0ttygz1
For me it's more understandable. Also worried about the Russian accent -). Is it noticeable?

Ссылка не работает.
И ты не мог бы дать прямую ссылку на файл?

P.S. I hope my corrections... are correct.

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by Scrabus

Yes, I didn't catch the sense of it, either ("too" should be "too", not "tho"). Maybe it was (it's?) just because I'm not a fun of Harry Potter?

I've made another record of this phrase, does it sound good?
http://www.mediafire.com/upload_comp...id=34cy0ttygz1
For me it's more understandable. Also worried about the Russian accent -). Is it noticeable?

Ссылка не работает.
И ты не мог бы дать прямую ссылку на файл?

P.S. I hope my corrections... are correct.

Исправил линк). Должно работать сейчас). Спасибо за исправления

Originally Posted by Scrabus

I did another record of this phrase, does it sound good? http://www.mediafire.com/upload_comp...id=34cy0ttygz1 For me it better understandable. Also worried about russian accent -). Is it noticeable?

Hello Scrabus, I've listened to your reocrding several times. You also have trouble with the "z" in "wizard". You do a nice pause after this word and also after "animal" and so you are easy to understand. When I first heard it I thought I heard more of a Russian accent, but the more I listen to it the less I hear such an accent. I am not sure but I almost hear you saying a "v" instead of "w" like so: "[v]erewolf".

p.s. "Maybe it's just because I'm not a fan of Harry Potter?" The rest of Оля's corrections are good.

Thank for the comment Ken. It was really useful. )

Originally Posted by Оля

By the way, this is not the movie dialogs, I think it's a screenplay or sort of, because it's not exactly what the characters in the movie say.

Оля, you may be right about this, but also note that sometimes what comes out of an actor's mouth is not exactly the line as written in the script. Perhaps the film director liked what the actor said, or maybe just accepted it to avoid shooting that scene again.

To me (and maybe I'm crazy) your accent sounds more Asian-based than Russian.

The words that struck me most were wizard, turn, animal, and werewolf.

I'm not sure if you were going for a more British English or American English.

I'll come at this from my American English standpoint...

With wizard it sounds more like "wissahd." Try saying wiz-erd. (erd as in -ord "word") I think even ending with "-зэрд" would be closer (I'm sure many here will disagree).

I'd actually prefer to hear you roll the r a bit, as I think it is falling too far into a w sound (I have that problem and I'm a native speaker!)...

All in all, I think the inflection is what gives it away the most.

That said, I understood what you said perfectly and I am glad you are using Harry Potter to learn English. HP Rocks!

I don't think you should hide the accent. I have a friend who hasn't lived in Russia for the past 15 years, but every now and again he has a bit of Russian inflection - but you'd just think it was the way he was raised.

Thank you, ZelyeUrsuli, for such detailed answer.

I don't think you should hide the accent.

I think I should. I'm a perfectionist.

That said, I understood what you said perfectly and I am glad you are using Harry Potter to learn English. HP Rocks!

I'm using many movies for that, and Harry Potter far less than other. In Harry Potter, I only like the Professor Snape episodes...
By the way, here's the original scene which Hermione pronounces these words in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH3pumi_XeM
I liked very much how she pronounced the word "choice", I don't know why.

HP Rocks!

What does that mean?


P.S. The post was quite difficult to me, so please be so kind and correct my mistakes if you find any. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Оля

HP Rocks!

What does that mean?

HP - Harry Potter. Rocks something like cool, afaik -).

P.S. I also try to hide my accent because I personally hate as pure Russian accent sounds in English. It's terrible

Originally Posted by Scrabus

HP - Harry Potter.

I knew that. My question was about "Rocks!" and the whole sentence.

Rocks something like cool, afaik -).

I didn't understand you...

"Rock" (глагол) означат "быть клёвым, классным".
He rocks! = Он клевый. These guys rock! = Эти парни - просто класс!

afaik = as far as I know (= насколько мне известно)

Оля, you rock! Так понятнее?