# Forum Other Languages English for Russians - Изучаем английский язык Practice your English  Pronunciation. Update.

## Maxim Vaganov

*UPDATE*
Do you understand? What do you think?
Attempt 9. Latest. http://www.mediafire.com/?xz20mzzkagi
Original text
In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the riverbank near the boats, in the shade of the Sal-wood forest, in the shade of the fig tree is where Siddhartha grew up, the handsome son of the Brahman, the young falcon, together with his friend Govinda, son of a Brahman. The sun tanned his light shoulders by the banks of the river when bathing, performing the sacred ablutions, the sacred offerings. In the mango grove, shade poured into his black eyes, when playing as a boy, when his mother sang, when the sacred offerings were made, when his father, the scholar, taught him, when the wise men talked. For a long time, Siddhartha had been partaking in the discussions of the wise men, practising debate with Govinda, practising with Govinda the art of reflection, the service of meditation. He already knew how to speak the Om silently, the word of words, to speak it silently into himself while inhaling, to speak it silently out of himself while exhaling, with all the concentration of his soul, the forehead surrounded by the glow of the clear-thinking spirit. He already knew to feel Atman in the depths of his being, indestructible, one with the universe.

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## Ken Watts

> Do you understand?
> Content http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F83LxRQG698

 I've tried the youtube link several times. I see the video but I cannot hear any sound.

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## Maxim Vaganov

[quote=Ken Watts] 

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F83LxRQG698[/url]

 I've tried the youtube link several times. I see the video but I cannot hear any sound.[/quote:3fgma8dc]
I check this. I can hear.

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## Оля

> I've tried the youtube link several times. I see the video but I cannot hear any sound.

 Strange... I do hear the sound. (... and the famous Russian "з" instead of "th"   ::  )

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## rockzmom

Hi Maxim! 
I could hear and see you. Welcome to MR. I am a native American English speaker. 
First, you skipped a bit of your reading. You went from "when his mother sang, when the sacred" and then skip to "partaking in the discussions" missing all the text inbetween. 
Okay, while I can understand what you are saying, you do need a lot more work if your goal is to have no accent. Most of your words have a strong accent to them and some of them you are pronouncing completely incorrectly.
example: "knew" you are pronouncing "know"  
Other times, you pronounce a word correctly one time and another time you do not: 
example: "in the sunshine of _the_ riverbank near _the_ boats," the first _"the"_ you pronounce correctly the second and third ones you add a "z" sound to it. 
mango grove, this one it sounds as if you merge the two words together like "mangrove" make certain you pronouce each one "mango (space) grove" 
Do you want me go through this word by word? Have you heard this text somewhere already? Are you looking for American or British sound?

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## Maxim Vaganov

Hi community! Hi Rockzmom!
Thanks for your comment, Rockzmom.
>Do you want me go through this word by word?  
Difinitely. What i need to do?
>Have you heard this text somewhere already?
No, i don't.
>Are you looking for American or British sound?
Good question. I like them both. But if i need to choose...British.

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## rockzmom

> Hi community! Hi Rockzmom!
> Thanks for your comment, Rockzmom.
> >Do you want me go through this word by word? 
> Difinitely. [s:1x4ky0n5]What i need to do?[/s:1x4ky0n5] What do I need to do?
> >Have you heard this text somewhere already?
> [s:1x4ky0n5]No, i don&#39;t.[/s:1x4ky0n5] No, I haven't
> >Are you looking for American or British sound?
> Good question. I like them both. But if i need to choose...British.

 Okay, I have not read this book before and I went online to see if it had any clues to help with the pronounciation of some of the words like "Siddhartha" and I found that the American English version is slightly different. Here is the text that I found:   

> http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Siddhartha/Hermann-Hesse/e/9780553208849#EXC[/url]]In the shade of the house, in the sunlight on the riverbank where the boats were moored, in the shade of the sal wood and the shade of the fig tree, Siddhartha grew up, the Brahmin’s handsome son, the young falcon, together with his friend Govinda, the son of a Brahmin. Sunlight darkened his fair shoulders on the riverbank as he bathed, performed the holy ablutions, the holy sacrifices. Shade poured into his dark eyes in the mango grove as he played with the other boys, listened to his mother’s songs, performed the holy sacrifices, heard the teachings of his learned father and the wise men’s counsels. Siddhartha had long since begun to join in the wise men’s counsels, to practice with Govinda the art of wrestling with words, to practice with Govinda the art of contemplation, the duty of meditation. He had mastered Om, the Word of Words, learned to speak it soundlessly into himself while drawing a breath, to speak it out soundlessly as his breath was released, his soul collected, brow shining with his mind’s clear thought. He had learned to feel Atman’s presence at the core of his being, inextinguishable, one with the universe.

 Not that it is a big deal or anything, just thought it was interesting. 
I will try to make a recording for you of how I would read this so that you can hear it; however, note that I am a female! Maybe one of the guys here can make a recording for you...maybe even a Brit??? 
I wil also try to go through your recording and let you know of the words that I hear need work.

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## Maxim Vaganov

Attempt 2.  http://www.mediafire.com/?wglnmjzzwyz
Thanks Rockzmom for the reference.

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## rockzmom

Review of your 2nd try... 
Maxim.. this was much better.. I have colored the words which I heard you to have problems with. Do you want me to make another recording for you, this time with only these words?   

> In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the riverbank near the boats, in the shade of the Sal-wood forest, in the shade of the fig tree is where Siddhartha grew up, the handsome son of the Brahman, the young falcon, together with his friend Govinda, son of a Brahman. The sun tanned his light shoulders by the banks of the river when bathing, performing the sacred ablutions, the sacred offerings. In the mango grove, shade poured into his black eyes, when playing as a boy, when his mother sang, when the sacred offerings were made, when his father, the scholar, taught him, when the wise men talked. For a long time, Siddhartha had been partaking in the discussions of the wise men, practising debate with Govinda, practising with Govinda the art of reflection, the service of meditation. He already knew how to speak the Om silently, the word of words, to speak it silently into himself while inhaling, to speak it silently out of himself while exhaling, with all the concentration of his soul, the forehead surrounded by the glow of the clear-thinking spirit. He already knew to feel Atman in the depths of his being, indestructible, one with the universe.

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## Maxim Vaganov

I change my mind. I want to have American English sound, not British.)
>Do you want me to make another recording for you, this time with only these words?
Yes.
I don't know how to pronounce _Siddhartha_correctly. I listen your record many times and i can't repeat.

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## rockzmom

> I changed my mind. I want to have an American English sound, not British.)
> >Do you want me to make another recording for you, this time with only these words?
> Yes.
> I don't know how to pronounce _Siddhartha_ correctly. I listened your recording many times and i can't repeat it.

 And you think I do???   ::   I was just guessing!    ::   No problem. I'll make it a few minutes and record that word a few times to the best of my ability.

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## Maxim Vaganov

Attempt 3. http://www.mediafire.com/?djgvimtmjzj
Thank you Rockzmom for your participation.

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## rockzmom

> Attempt 3. http://www.mediafire.com/?djgvimtmjzj
> Thank you Rockzmom for your participation.

 You are doing much better! I think I only heard one "the" mispronounced. 
I don't have the time to mark it all up right now and won't have much time tomorrow. I can tell you that you are still having troubles with:
when (you are still saying ven)
sang 
taught (is coming out tauff)
depths (you are not saying the "p") 
Work on it some more and then try it at just a little faster pace. Not too fast. At this slower pace you did much better so you might need to stay at this pace until you can consistently correctly pronounce the words. Then if you want to work on getting rid of your accent some more you can AND then finally you can ramp up your speed. 
Next time, you might want to pick an easier piece of literature.   ::   
Post your next try and I'll take a listen as soon as I have the time.

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## Hanna

Wow Rockzmom you are a superstar - you are clearly managing fine without any help here.. !   ::   ::   ::   ::

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## Maxim Vaganov

Attempt 4. http://www.mediafire.com/?gm1mo2mt2mo
Text(chapter 1) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2500/2500-h/2500-h.htm

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## rockzmom

> Wow Rockzmom you are a superstar - you are clearly managing fine without any help here.. !

 Oh contraire mon ami!  
I can always use help. I am certain Maxim could use first hand help from someone who had to ACTUALLY learn English! I can only help him with how I personally think words should sound and make recordings for him of how I, a native female speaker of American English, sound. Many of you can assist with helping him to learn how to pronounce the words and let him know how you learned to correctly pronounce the words which he is having difficulties with.

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## rockzmom

> Attempt 4. http://www.mediafire.com/?gm1mo2mt2mo
> Text(chapter 1) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2500/2500-h/2500-h.htm

 Maxim, 
You are doing much better on your pronunciation. You of course still have an accent on most of your words, but the words themselves are at least being pronounced correctly. Your vowel sounds are going to be the hardest. I know this has been mentioned recently that Russians have a sound as if they are from the New England area of the U.S. when they speak English. Like the Boston area. If you have heard a Kennedy speak (John or Ted) then you will  know what I am talking about. They have a very distinctive hard sound to some of their words. It will take some work to get rid of that hard sound; however, you seem determined to do this, so I have faith in you. 
I have highlighted the more "offending" words and words that you really missed the mark on. As you mentioned to me that you obtained an audio of this book, let me know if you still want me to make recordings of these words for you.   
In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the riverbank near the boats, in the shade of the Sal-wood forest, in the shade of the fig tree is where Siddhartha grew up, the handsome son of the Brahman, the young falcon, together with his friend Govinda, son of a Brahman. The sun tanned his light shoulders by the banks of the river when bathing, performing the sacred ablutions, the sacred offerings. In the mango grove, shade poured into his black eyes, when playing as a boy, when his mother sang, when the sacred offerings were made, when his father, the scholar, taught him, when the wise men talked. For a long time, Siddhartha had been partaking in the discussions of the wise men, practising debate with Govinda, practising with Govinda the art of reflection, the service of meditation. He already knew how to speak the Om silently, the word of words, to speak it silently into himself while inhaling, to speak it silently out of himself while exhaling, with all the concentration of his soul, the forehead surrounded by the glow of the clear-thinking spirit. He already knew to feel Atman in the depths of his being, indestructible, one with the universe.   Joy leapt in his father's heart for his son who was quick to learn, thirsty for knowledge; he saw him growing up to become great wise man and priest, a prince among the Brahmans.    Bliss leapt in his mother's breast when she saw him, when she saw him walking, when she saw him sit down and get up, Siddhartha, strong, handsome, he who was walking on slender legs, greeting her with perfect respect.  
Love touched the hearts of the Brahmans' young daughters when Siddhartha walked through the lanes of the town with the luminous forehead, with the eye of a king, with his slim hips.  
But more than all the others he was loved by Govinda, his friend, the son of a Brahman. He loved Siddhartha's eye and sweet voice, he loved his walk and the perfect decency of his movements, he loved everything Siddhartha did and said and what he loved most was his spirit, his transcendent, fiery thoughts, his ardent will, his high calling. Govinda knew: he would not become a common Brahman, not a lazy official in charge of offerings; not a greedy merchant with magic spells; not a vain, vacuous speaker; not a mean, deceitful priest; and also not a decent, stupid sheep in the herd of the many. No, and he, Govinda, as well did not want to become one of those, not one of those tens of thousands of Brahmans. He wanted to follow Siddhartha, the beloved, the splendid. And in days to come, when Siddhartha would become a god, when he would join the glorious, then Govinda wanted to follow him as his friend, his companion, his servant, his spear-carrier, his shadow.

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## Maxim Vaganov

Thank you, Rockzmom!
I will try to consider your review.

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## Maxim Vaganov

5 http://www.mediafire.com/?mznvywjgtnh

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## rockzmom

> 5 http://www.mediafire.com/?mznvywjgtnh

 Let me know if you want me to do another recording.   ::   
playing as a boy, when his mother sang (you are making an "O" sound and not an "A" sound)  
father, the scholar, taught him, when the wise men talked. For a long time (taught is still sounding like "tauff", you need to make the T sound at the end of the word. Bring your tongue up and have it touch very quickly the roof of your mouth. understand?  ::  ) 
the word of words 
the forehead surrounded 
He already knew (you just slipped back to "know" on this one) 
with the luminous forehead, (you still are not pronouncing this word correctly... You are doing a "LIE" instead of  "Loo" make an O with your mouth. Try going back to the recording I did to hear how I pronounced it and make the O with your mouth.  ::  ) 
decency of his movements, (you have too many syllables here you are saying movAments) 
fiery thoughts, his ardent will 
not a mean, (you have too many syllables here you are saying meON)

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## Maxim Vaganov

6. http://www.mediafire.com/?kqzmidnqjgz

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