Cha kha hc cch pht m

Truyn thuyt k rng, bn khng th c c ging chun nu bn bt u hc sau 7 tui, hoc 12

tui, hoc mt tui nht nh no . Nhng iu ny r rng l khng ng. Cc ca s v din vin
hc mt ging mi bt k tui, v tnh theo trung bnh, h khng thng minh hn nhng ngi khc
(v kh chc chn l h khng bt u hc trc 7 tui).
Vy rt cuc l sao? Ti sao ai cng ni l bn khng th hc c cch pht m tt khi trng thnh?
V nu iu ny khng ng, vy th ci g ng?
Trong bi ny, chng ta s i vo mt nghin cu v nhn thc ging ni v pht m, v chng ta s
bn v vic hc pht m mt cch hiu qu khi l ngi trng thnh. Nhng trc khi i vo vn
, hy cho ti c php di dng mt t.

S quan trng ca pht m

y l mt ch ln, v vi t cch l mt ca s, y l mt ch v cng gn gi vi ti. i vi
ti, ging l mt th c bit quan trng.

y l mt ci
fnykpezgp
Theo c nhn ti, nu bn khng hc cch nghe c m thanh ca mt ngn ng mi, bn s tn
nhiu thi gian vt v nh n. Chng ta da vo m thanh hnh thnh tr nh v t, v nu bn
thm ch cn khng phn bit ni cc m thanh m bn nghe, bn gp bt li ngay t u. (Th nh

hai t Hungary ny xem: my nh fnykpezgp v ga xe la - vsutlloms. Hai t ny nghe tht

kinh d cho n khi bn cm c ting Hung.)
Nhng ngoi chuyn tr nh ra, mt ging pht m tt cn lm tng s kt ni gia bn v ngi khc.
N cho nhng ngi t mt nn vn ha khc thy l bn khng ch dnh thi gian v cng sc hc
t vng v ng php ca h, m cn dnh thi gian hc cch h di chuyn ming, mi v li. Bn
bin i c th bn v h bn cho h thy rng bn quan tm ti h v chnh v vy h s m lng
v bn.
Ti thy chuyn ny nhiu ln khi ti i ht hoc xem biu din ti Chu u. C nh l mt quy
lut, bnh thng th khn gi cng d thng, nhng h m bn ht bng ting m ca h, h li
chun b ln tinh thn. H sn sng ci khch l v ni Ting ht nghe tht d thng! hoc Nhc
nghe rt hay!. Nhng trong thm tm, h ang chun b tinh thn bn bm vm ting ni v vn
ha ca mnh ngay trc mi. , ng ly lm p lc nh.
Ngay lc , nu bn lm h ngc nhin bng mt ging ht chun, h s m lng ra. khng cn l
n ci lch s na, m l mt n ci tht. Bn cho h thy l bn quan tm n h khng ch bng
tinh thn, m cn bng th xc, v s quan tm ny tht kh m cng li c.
Nhng m thi, lng mn vy ri. Gi lm sao bn c th tht s lm mt ci g pht m
y?

Mt nghin cu v luyn tai v pht m

Kh nng pht m chun l mt s tng hp ca hai k nng chnh: luyn tai v luyn ming. Bn hc
cch nghe mt m thanh mi, v bn hc cch to li n trn ming. Trong hai k nng, ci u tin l
ci kh lm nht; nu bn nghe c mt m thanh, th ri bn cng s hc c cch to ra n mt
cch chnh xc. Nhng trc khi t c iu , bn s phi vt v ( nghe c). Cho nn by gi,
chng ta s tp trung vo luyn nghe.
Khi ang tm ti liu cho quyn sch ca ti, ti bt gp mt lot cc nghin cu tuyt vi thc hin bi
James McClelland, Lori Holt, Julie Fiez v Bruce McClandiss, khi h c dy ngi Nht trng thnh
nghe ra c s khc nhau gia Rock v Lock. Sau khi c my bi bo ca h, ti gi in cho
Ts. McClelland v Ts. Holt v phng vn h v nghin cu .
u tin h pht hin ra l luyn nghe khng n gin, c bit khi ngoi ng
cha hai m cc k ging nh mt m trong ting m ca bn. Trong
trng hp ny l ting Nht, m R [] ca h nm ngay chnh gia m R []
v L [] trong ting Anh M. Khi bn kim tra ngi Nht trng thnh v s
khc nhau gia Rock v Lock (bng cch cho h nghe thu m ca mt trong hai
t ny v hi h y l t no), kt qu khng khc g nh hn xui (50%). Ti
y th khng c kh quan cho lm.

Cc nh nghin cu mi th hai phng php luyn tp. u tin, h c cho ngi Nht trng thnh
nghe Rock v Lock trong mt thi gian, v xem xem liu h c kh hn sau khi luyn tp khng.
Khng.
Tin ny rt xu. N cho thy l tp luyn chng c tc dng g. Bn c vic nghe Rock v Lock c ngy
(hoc vi ngi Anh s l // [bul/pul/ppul] trong ting Hn) v bn s chng tm c s khc
nhau gia chng. Ci ny ch t xc nhn cho ci truyn thuyt qu tr hc cch pht m. Kh
tht.
Phng php th hai l khuch i mt cch nhn to s khc nhau gia L v R. H bt u bng
nhng v d cc k r (RRrrrrrrrock), v nu ngi nghe c tin b, h s nng dn kh cho ti khi
ngi nghe t c s phn bit nh gia hai bn thu mt cch tng i. Phng php ny kh hn
cht t. Nhng ngi tham gia bt u nghe c s khc nhau gia Rock v Lock, nhng li khng
nghe c s khc nhau ca mt cp t khc, nh Road v Load. Li l mt ng ct na.
Sau h th cho thm s phn hi, v tt c mi th lin thay i.

Th nghim thm phn hi vi cp t

H lp li y chang th nghim, ch tr ln ny, khi mi ngi tham gia a ra cu tr li (Ci ny l
Rock), mn hnh my tnh s ni cho h bit ng hay sai (ding Chnh xc!). Ch trong ba ln, mi
ln 20 pht s dng loi luyn tp ny, ngi tham gia tht s nm c kh nng nghe R v L,
trong mi hon cnh.
Khng phi l ngu nhin, khi y chnh l cch ca s v din vin hc. Tuy ta hc c ngi hng dn
ch khng hc qua my, nhng nguyn l th vn l mt. Ta ngi k bn gio vin luyn ging v nh
h c mt on ch. Sau ta s c to on ch ln, v ngi gio vin s ch cho bit ta c
ng ch no v sai ch no. H cho chng ta s phn hi. H s ni nhng iu i loi nh Khng,
ci anh ni l siehe, khng phi sehe. SieheSehe. Nghe ra khng? V h vn tip tc a phn hi
d cho ta gn t (Anh ang ni [mt ci g ging sehe], nhng khng phi sehe.) Sau khi
c hng dn, chng ta v nh, nghe li on thu m ca nhng bui tp ny, v dng nhng on
thu ny cho ta thm nhiu phn hi hn.
C mt vi lu cho vn ny. Ngi tham d khng hon ton t ti trnh hon ton nghe c
s khc nhau gia Rock v Lock. chnh xc ca h cao nht ch khong 80%, so vi ~100% nh
ngi bn x. Tm hiu su thm s cho ta bit ti sao.

Ph m c rt nhiu cu t khc nhau (gi l formant). V c bn, mt ph m rt ging mt hp m

trn piano. Trn mt cy piano, nu bn chi mt nhm cc nt nht nh cng vi nhau, bn s nghe
c hp m. i vi ph m, nu bn to mt nhm cc nt (phc tp hn), bn s nghe c mt
ph m. y khng phi l li ni n d; nu bn c mt cy piano c my tnh ha, bn thm ch
cn c th dng n pht ra ting ngi.
Ngi Anh bn ng c th phn bit c s khc nhau gia R v L nh vo mt im mu c tn l
formant th ba v c bn n l nt th ba trong bt k hp m R hoc L. Ngi Nht bn ng tn
nhiu thi gian cho mu cht ny, v sau khi h vt qua bi kim tra, h cng khng tht s nghe
c n tt hn. Thay vo , h hc cch s dng mt im mu d hn l formant th hai nt th
hai trong hp m R/L. Ci ny cng c tc dng, nhng khng m bo 100%, v th gii thch c ti
sao h khng th c c kt qu nh ngi bn ng.
Khi ti ni chuyn vi cc nh nghin cu qua in thoi, h hu nh dng cuc nghin cu ny,
kt lun l h khng bit lm cch no tng chnh xc ln trn 80%. H cng kh tht vng v
kt qu ny.

Tim nng cho tng lai

Nhng hy nhn li mt cht v nhng g chng ta t c.
Trong vng ba t, mi t 20 pht, h h gc mt trong nhng thch thc ngn ng kh nht hc
cch nghe mt m mi v tng chnh xc t 50% (on m) ln n 80% (khng t cht no).
Chuyn g s xy ra nu chng ta c cng c ny mi ngn ng? Chuyn g s xy ra nu ta c th
khi u mi th bng vic nghe th mt vi bi kim tra c phn hi v c mt i tai c chnh xc
l 80%, trc c khi chng ta bt u hc phn cn li ca ngn ng?
Chng ta c nhng cng c luyn theo cch ring ca chng ta. Tt c nhng g bn cn l mt h
thng lp li sau tng khong (spaced repetition system) c h tr file m thanh, nh Anki, v mt b
tt cc thu m mu ca cc t d nhm ln (mt nhm cc t nh rock/lock, thigh/thys v niece/knee
trong ting Anh, hoc sous/su, bon/bans v huis/ouis trong ting Php). Ci ny tn nhiu cng
lm, nhng n ch cn c lm mt ln, sau c cng ng s c hng li.
Nn l ti s lm iu .
Pht m cc k quan trng, v gii php ny tht gi tr i cho mt cng ty ln no chu lm.
Trong vng 9 thng ti, ti s bt u to cc danh sch t mu tt, thu m chng v xy dng cc b
t (trong Anki). Ti s tuyn nhng ngi song ng, v nh c h, ta s c nhng bn thu hc s
khc nhau khng ch hai t trong ngn ng ch, m cn hai t gia ngn ng ch v ngn na m
ca bn (sous vs Sue). Ti c c tng ny nh Ts. McClelland, v ng cho rng nh ci ny ta
s hc cn tt hn na (eo, ta s c th c kh nng ph v ro th 80%). V ti s lm mt vi bn
beta m chnh cho ti lc hc n va c hiu qu li va vui.

Hi vng l, vi ng cng c, ta s a truyn thuyt qu tr hc pht m vo d vng. Ta cng

s c nhiu thnh thi hn khi hc ngn ng, v ta cng s d dng hn thuyt phc mi ngi qun
i ting m ca chng ta v ni bng th ting ca h (tc gi c ting Anh l ngn ng m ).

Ooker dch 5 Dec 13

The Key to Learning Pronunciation

As rumor has it, you cant learn to have a good accent if youre above the age of 7, or 12, or some other
age that youve most definitely already exceeded. But that cant possibly be true. Singers and actors
learn new accents all the time, and theyre not, on average, smarter than everyone else (and they
certainly dont all start before the age of 7).
So whats going on here? Why does everybody tell you that you cant learn good pronunciation as an
adult? And if thats not true, what is?
In this article, well take a tour through the research on speech perception and pronunciation, and well
talk about learning pronunciation efficiently as an adult. But first, allow me a moment on my soapbox:

Pronunciation is important
This is a big topic, and as a singer, its a topic close to my heart. I find accents extraordinarily
important.

This is a
fnykpezgp
For one, if you dont learn to hear the sounds in a new language, youre doomed to have a hard time
remembering it. We rely upon sound to form our memories for words, and if you cant even
comprehend the sounds youre hearing, youre at a disadvantage from the start. (Try memorizing

Hungarians word for camera - fnykpezgp or train station - vsutlloms. These words are brutal
until you really get a feel for Hungarian sounds.)
But in addition to the memory issue, a good accent connects you to people. It shows people from
another culture that youve not only taken the time and effort to learn their vocabulary and their
grammar; youve taken the time to learn how their mouths, lips and tongues move. Youve changed
something in your body for them youve shown them that you care and as a result, they will open
up to you.
Ive seen this repeatedly when I sing or watch concerts in Europe. As a rule, audiences are kind, but
when you sing in their native language, they brace themselves. They get ready to smile politely and say,
What a lovely voice! or Such beautiful music! But beneath the surface, they are preparing for you
to butcher their language and their heritage before their eyes. No pressure.
At that moment, if you surprise them with a good accent, they open themselves up. Their smiles are no
longer polite; they are genuine. Youve shown them that you care, not just with your intellect, but with
your body, and this sort of care is irresistible.
But enough romanticizing; how do you actually do something about pronunciation?

Research on Ear Training and Pronunciation

Good pronunciation is a combination of two main skills: Ear training and mouth training. You learn
how to hear a new sound, and you learn how to make it in your mouth. Its the first of these two skills
thats the trickiest one; if you can hear a sound, you can eventually learn to produce it accurately, but
before then, youre kind of screwed. So for the moment, well focus on ear training.
While doing research for my book, I came upon a wonderful set of studies by James McClelland, Lori
Holt, Julie Fiez and Bruce McClandiss, where they tried to teach Japanese adults to hear the difference
between Rock and Lock. After reading their papers, I called up and interviewed Dr. McClelland
and Dr. Holt about their research.
The first thing they discovered is that ear training is tricky, especially when a foreign language contains
two sounds that are extremely similar to one sound in your native language. This is the case in
Japanese, where their R [] is acoustically right in between the American R [] and L []. When you
test Japanese adults on the difference between Rock and Lock (by playing a recording of one of these
words and asking them which one they think you played), their results are not significantly better than
chance (50%). So far, so bad.

The researchers tried two kinds of practice. First, they just tested these Japanese
adults on Rock and Lock for a while, and checked to see whether they improved
with practice.
They didnt.
This is very bad news. It suggests that practice doesnt actually do anything.
You can listen to Rock and Lock all day (or for English speakers, //
[bul/pul/ppul] in Korean), and youre not going to learn to hear the differences
between those sounds. This only confirms the rumors that its too late to do anything about
pronunciation. Crap.
Their second form of practice involved artificially exaggerating the difference between L and R. They
began with extremely clear examples (RRrrrrrrrrock), and if participants improved, stepped up the
difficulty until they reached relatively subtle distinctions between the two recordings (rock). This
worked a little better. The participants began to hear the difference between Rock and Lock, but it
didnt help them hear the difference between a different pair of words, like Road and Load. In terms of
a pronunciation training tool, this was another dead end.
Then they tried feedback, and everything changed.

Testing pairs of words with feedback

They repeated the exact same routine, only this time, when a participant gave their answer (It was
Rock'), a computer screen would tell them whether or not they were right (*ding* Correct!). In
three 20-minute sessions of this type of practice, participants permanently acquired the ability to hear
Rs and Ls, and they could do it in any context.
Not coincidentally, this is how actors and singers learn. We use coaches instead of computerized tests,
but the basic principle is the same. We sit with an accent coach and have them read our texts. Then we
say our texts out load, and the coach tells us when were right and when were wrong. Theyre giving
us feedback. Theyll say things like No, youre saying siehe, and I need sehe. SieheSehe. Hear that?
And as we get closer, theyll keep continue to supply feedback (Youre saying [something thats
almost sehe] and I need sehe.) After the coaching, well go home, listen to recordings of these
coaching sessions, and use those recordings to provide us with even more feedback.
Now, some caveats. Participants didnt reach a full native ability to hear the difference between Rock
and Lock. Their accuracy seemed to peak around 80%, compared to the ~100% of a native speaker.
Further investigation revealed what was going on.

Consonant sounds have lots of different components (known as formants). Basically, a consonant is a
lot like a chord on a piano: on a piano, you play a certain combination of notes together, and you hear a
chord. For a consonant, you make a certain (more complex) combination of notes, and you hear a
consonant. This isnt just a metaphor; if you have a computerized piano, you can even use it to replicate
human speech.
English speakers tell the difference between their Rs and Ls by listening for a cue known as the 3rd
formant basically, the third note up in any R or L chord. Japanese native speakers have a hard time
hearing this cue, and when they went through this study, they didnt really get any better at hearing it.
Instead, they learned how to use an easier cue, the 2nd formant the second note in R/L chords. This
works, but its not 100% reliable, thus explaining their less-than-native results.
When I talked to these researchers on the phone, they had basically given up on this research,
concluding that they were somewhat stumped as to how to improve accuracy past 80%. They seemed
kind of bummed out about it.

Possibilities for the future

But step back a moment and look at what theyve accomplished here.
In three 20-minute sessions, they managed to take one of the hardest language challenges out there
learning how to hear new sounds and bring people from 50% accuracy (just guessing) to 80%
accuracy (not bad at all).
What if we had this tool in every language? What if we could start out by taking a few audio tests with
feedback and leave with pre-trained, 80% accuracy ears, even before we began to learn the rest of our
language?
We have the tools to build trainers like this on our own. All you need is a spaced repetition system that
supports audio files, like Anki, and a good set of recorded example words (A bunch of rock/locks,
thigh/thys, and niece/knees for English, or a bunch of sous/sus, bon/bans and huis/ouis for French).
They take work to make, but that work only needs to be done once, and then the entire community can
benefit.
So Im going to do it.
Pronunciation is too important, and this solution is too valuable to wait for some big company to take
over. Over the next 9 months, Im going to start developing good example word lists, commissioning
recordings and building these decks. Im going to recruit bilinguals, because with bilinguals, we can get
recordings to learn not only the difference between two target-language sounds, like sous and su, but
also the difference between target language sounds and our own native language sounds (sous vs Sue). I
ran this idea by Dr. McClelland, and he thought that may work even better (hell, we might be able to
break the 80% barrier). And Im going to do a few open-ish beta tests to fine tune them until theyre
both effective and fun to use.

Hopefully, with the right tools, we can set the Its too late to learn pronunciation rumors to rest. Well
have a much easier time learning our languages, and well have an easier time convincing others to
forget about our native languages and to speak in theirs.

Fluent Forever, https://fluent-forever.com/learning-pronunciation/#.VdmjdfAQ8Y1