or should it be silly but fun?
Leo Reynolds found a new flickr group called Word Time, in which once a week, a new list of words comes out and you read them in front of your camera. The idea is to hear people throughout the world pronounce the same words with a different accent.
The words were: because, drawer, radiator, garage, aluminum, Subaru, New Zealand, herb, oregano, route.
One of my friends saw it and asked me what the point was.
Good question! There is no point really, I guess, but I think it’s fun!
So I did it, and before I knew it, it had been blogged at Flickr Blog.
Have to get ready for Week 2…
I love it! I totally see the point… but I guess there must be a certain love for phonetics for this exercise to be of any interest!
Comment by Gail — May 13, 2008 @ 7:43 am
What a wonderful piece of serendipity. There is far too little of this in our lives and you have pointed this out with humour and a bit of poetry.
Comment by lilalia — May 13, 2008 @ 9:24 am
I think this is a *great* idea!! I went to the site to hear the others, but unfortunately it lacked variety; they all seemed to be from the US and Canada. It would be lovely to hear phow eople from all around the world pronounce the list. Hmmm… OK, I’ll give it a go with my British ex-pat accent just as soon as I get the time!
Comment by Sarah — May 13, 2008 @ 11:50 am
Yes, fun! And I’d been wondering how to pronounce your last name, Claude, so now I know! Lovely hairdo as well…
Words I would like to hear people pronounce:
pillow roof hospital
I am originally from the southern part of the state of Virginia and when I went to Richmond, VA, to college, those from other parts of the state found my pronunciation of those words quite amusing!
Comment by Sara — May 13, 2008 @ 1:27 pm
That was fun! So nice to see you. You pronounced the words very well, though in British English aluminum is usually pronounced al-you-min-ym, with the stress on
third syllable.
Comment by Susie Vereker — May 13, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
Loved Susie’s way of writing the pronounciation of aluminium. For oregano, I would say o-re-GAH-no but I’m not sure whether I’ve ever heard it pronounced.
Comment by sablonneuse — May 13, 2008 @ 7:35 pm
What a great thing to do. I loved seeing you and hearing you pronouce those words. Most of the words were the way I would say them with the exception of aluminium. That’s a tricky one.
Looking forward to week 2.
Comment by mildred garfield — May 14, 2008 @ 3:50 am
I delight in hearing the accents of English being spoken in other languages. I wish I could hear words I might produce in another language as they would sound to a native speaker of that language I was attempting to pronounce, but alas, that seems not to be possible. Your English is incredibly clear and precise, Claude.
Comment by Joared — May 14, 2008 @ 10:48 am
My, what a surprise it was to see your face looking back at me from the flickr blog! We’ll all be able to say “we knew her when…”
Comment by Jennifer — May 14, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
Oh, how I loved that!!! I have a friend like yours, the one who asked why you did this. My friend is such a box. I enjoyed your pronunciation of radiator. I say ra-d-a-tur. But, I am a Southern girl. I would give anything to speak like you.
Comment by Beverly — May 15, 2008 @ 12:13 am
claude, you keep on finding new ways to tap into this medium–admirable. loved hearing your voice again and the hairdo seems new. pretty.
yours, naomi
Comment by naomidagenbloom — May 16, 2008 @ 4:59 pm
What fun! (yes, I’m enough of a word nerd to find this fascinating). Your pronunciations are a lovely mixture of American and British, with a tiny bit of French thrown in, as befits such a cosmopolitan person. And it was lovely to hear your voice.
Comment by Jean — May 20, 2008 @ 4:37 pm
Finally getting around to catching up in the blog world.
This was a really cute idea and Francophile that I am, I just loved hearing you pronounce those words with your French accent.
BY the way……I just love, love, love your hair, Claude! VERY becoming and my goodness, how’d you lose 10 years?
Comment by Terri — May 26, 2008 @ 9:48 pm