Analysing speech patterns: Steve Jobs
By The English Farm, December 03 2022There are many different ways to speak well and many different people who do so. Today, let's look at Steve Jobs's speaking style.
There are many different ways to speak well and many different people who do so. Today, let's look at Steve Jobs's speaking style.
English speakers like to use strong language, and one way they do that is with questions that are not really questions.
Pronunciation is completely different from other language skills—pronunciation is a muscular skill.
"Uptalk" is when you say everything with a rising tone like it's a question. It makes you sound weak and underconfident. Here's how to solve it.
Intonation is sometimes described as the music of language. Without it, our voices are flat and lifeless, but with it, even simple language can be funny, memorable or moving.
Some pronunciation strategies are ineffective. But, by using the right strategy, you can sound much more like a native speaker.
Stressing a word when speaking, by saying it longer, louder or with higher intonation, will show the listener which word is key.
Do you know what a foreign accent is? It's a sign of bravery. —Amy Chua
Many people think that accents are beautiful, a part of your identity, and as Amy Chua says, a sign of bravery. Learning a language doesn’t come easily but requires a lot of hard work and dedication. In addition to that, using the language even when it’s not perfect requires bravery!
Sometimes the reason we say words wrong is because we don't know the right rules. There are actually two ways to pronounce "-ate" words: /-eit/ (as in "eight" or "ate") and /-it/. To know the correct pronunciation, you have to know the function.
There is no such thing as a "native English accent". English speakers from Boston sound much different than those from South London, Sydney or Delhi. Sometimes the differences in accents between native speakers can be so great, we can't understand each other!