Quote Originally Posted by translationsnmru View Post
Rockzmom, I've listened to your recording out of curiosity.
Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought it back!

Quote Originally Posted by translationsnmru View Post
Pronunciation of individual sounds or words aside, your speech has struck me as an excellent illustration of the stress-timed nature of English.
Wow, excellent? One day I'll make a better one for you, I did this one in a hurry!

Quote Originally Posted by translationsnmru View Post
If there are two stressed syllables side by side, many English-speakers tend to pronounce them slower. If there are several unstressed syllables between two stressed ones, most native English-speakers tend to pronounce them considerably faster. This makes the cadence of spoken English so different from many other languages. Some of us Russian speakers tend to do a similar thing in our own language too, but it is not nearly as pronounced as in English.
translationsnmru, to see in writing your description of the "way" I speak is rather interesting.

I do think about the cadence when I speak for "public consumption" but as to it based upon syllables, I never thought about it that way.

I read "visually" for lack of a better word. I see the story or text in my head as a movie. When I read aloud or lecture, I then try to make the text the same way as I see it in my head so it will come alive in my voice and hopefully not be boring to the listener. I also try to speak as if we are having a conversation. So, if you can't see my facial expressions or hand gestures, I try to add them into my voice.

Does any of that make sense?