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English Pronunciation: Choose Your Voice


We choose our careers, our clothing styles, our friends. We can also choose our voice.

I enjoy studying the pronunciations of different languages.  Each one is both liberating and unique. German has many wonderful "sh" combinations. French brings out the throat and nasal passages. Somali combines a heavy use of the throat with more flowing sounds. Every language has differences as to physically where the sound happens--is it mostly on the lips, the tongue, the middle of the mouth, the front of the mouth, the back of the mouth, the throat or the chest? Does the language stress vowels (a, e, i, o, u) or consonants (all the other letters)? Why do the people change their pitches--to express ideas, rhythm or some combination of these?

To me, learning a new pronunciation is not only about fitting in when you travel or move. It is the learning of a new art. If you learn to paint, make music, write or exercise in a new way, you find that a part of yourself is becoming developed. It feels refreshing.

American English has a lot to offer. The vowel patterns combine many languages. The vowels are stressed and yet also spoken in a relaxed way, so that we often let the vowel form in our mouths while we are speaking. It is less precise, but also less demanding--once you are used to it. Overall, we form our sounds in the middle of the mouth which is also a relaxed way of speaking. On the other hand, our R sound requires more effort than in some other languages. Also, we like to stress important information and pause so that the information is understood. This is much different than languages that are more ritualistic or rhythmic in quality. 

No matter where you are from, you have probably made some choices about your voice consciously or unconsciously. You may speak with:

The Voices

The chest voice is a low, breathy, full voice. You often hear it with people who love to talk! The breath is full, the chest is open and this leads to that round, developed sound in speech. The throat voice is tighter than the chest voice. People who become silent when angry typically have this voice. It is a bit edgy and often used by people when delivering necessary information. The face voice is usually higher. Sound is reverberating off the cheekbones. This voice tends to be brighter than the chest voice, and it is also used by people who love to talk. If you sing, your highest notes happen in a reverberation behind the top of your nose, between your eyes. This is the home of the nasal voice. Some languages/dialects prefer this sound-location.

Choose Your Voice

As you practice the art of learning a new pronunciation, remember that you can choose your voice along with it. It is most healthy to keep all the passages in the body open. This essentially means to speak with all of the above. You may need to be careful of the throat and the nasal voice, however. You do not want to constrict your throat passage. This is a voice to be used when the situation calls for it. If you are living with "a lump in your throat," work on bringing the sound through your chest and face. Also, the nasal voice can be too high and pinched for some language groups. If you move from a place where it is appreciated to one where it is not, you may benefit from reducing it--or vice versa.

Enjoy sound and  language. Enjoy your voice!


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Speakmethod.com: Learn English Pronunciation, Seattle, WA