As an "American" (that's what people from the USA call themselves,
despite the millions of other people who live in the Americas - North
America and South America) myself and teaching this for over a decade, i
have seen some patterns that are common to US English speakers.
Here is a list of Esperanto words that are also perfectly good English
words. What i have noticed is that (at least for English speakers)
students of Esperanto do not have much trouble pronouncing words when they
immediately seem "foreign" looking. But when they start off looking like a
familiar word, their minds will switch into the familiar pronunciation of
their native language. So, i've made this list for practicing
pronunciation of what looks like English words. NOTE that not a single one
of these words should sound anything like California English (maybe they
sound like British or Australian or some other English i'm not familiar
with). Try to get your mind into an Esperanto mode and read these words -
by columns so you don't run into words that are very similar, as you would
by row:
al
|
bane
|
bare
|
blue
|
brake
|
dance
|
divide
|
do
|
fame
|
glue
|
gusto
|
hare
|
have
|
idea
|
image
|
invite
|
jam
|
jen
|
june
|
lace
|
lame
|
lite
|
literature
|
male
|
mane
|
mare
|
minus
|
minute
|
mole
|
move
|
note
|
nun
|
nature
|
opinion
|
ore
|
pace
|
page
|
pane
|
para
|
penis
|
per
|
pike
|
plane
|
plume
|
plus
|
police
|
pro
|
pete
|
pure
|
radio
|
range
|
religion
|
ride
|
rule
|
sale
|
same
|
sane
|
sate
|
save
|
science
|
side
|
simile
|
simple
|
sole
|
solve
|
spice
|
stare
|
strange
|
sub
|
table
|
time
|
tire
|
trove
|
vera
|
vice
|
vine
|
vole
|
|
fido
|
|
How'd you do? If it sounded like English then you need to practice
some more. If you are from the USA then you should read the list again.
This time OPEN your mouth A LOT and use your lips A LOT! This should get
you much closer to the sounds. Maybe "flash cards" would be good for
practicing these? Again, come to class to hear AND SEE how they are
pronounced.
|
There are also combinations of letters that are not usually put
together in US English. Try reading these sentences normally. Then read
them again very precisely, without slowing down.
The birds in the nests see us.
|
The black van stopped in front of the brick, vine-covered
wall.
|
US English speakers should have no problem reading these sentences and
sounding normal. In Esperanto we often have the letters "sc" and "kv" next
to each other, which is unusual in English. As you saw when reading the
above sentences, it's not that you can not pronounce those letters, one
after the other, but that it is not usual. So, try to pronounce these
Esperanto words again, knowing that you can indeed do it:
Practice makes perfect.
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