Please listen to my AudioBlog

[yukio_michael]

yukio_michael-san, please do not worry. Kind comments and good information can never scare me, as I said elsewhere, the only things that can scare me are dog poops and spider webs, hehehe. I just write English very slow, using dictionaries. When I find a reply to my post, I minute my reply to it on the notepad and when I am ready to submit it, I find another reply, then I have to go back to my draft and re-write it Then I am ready to submit it again, then I find another reply and I have to re-re-write my post and this goes over and over again like forever, and I never get to post and I eventually have to give up. This is what happens to me here all the time, on lively threads.

Kyokosan, I admire your dedication & all of your hard work... Even though I study Japanese every day, I'm not able to write it very well; perhaps my study lacks organization because I'm not using any specific coursework...!

Keep up the great work, your spoken and written English are both fantasic, a tribute to all the time and effort you've put into to it all! If I didn't know better I'd say that you'd be living amongst the natives of New York for some time now... your speach & writings are quite natural sounding.

Otsukareta!

 

[Kyoko_desu]

misa.j-san
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu for the encouragement. I will keep on studying to become as fluent as you, epigene-san, and undrentide-san someday. You three are really my *a*ko*ga*re*.

ricecake-san
Oh, so you were that shy sometimes? How sweet! And, ahaha! unruly obnoxious posts? No way, I always enjoy your posts, so keep on posting!

yukio_michael-san
You are not using any specific coursework, which means you are studying on your own? Well, do you know this Japanese saying 継続は力なり (Keizoku ha chikara nari)? It literally means "Continuation is power" or " Persistence is power" but it's really like "Perseverance leads to success". So let's ganbari mashou with our daily study!

Originally Posted by Damicci
I wonder does anybody thaty is bi-lingual notice a change in thier voice when they speak a different language. I noticed my tone gets deeper when I speak Japanese. Maybe because I am concentrating so much.

Damicci-san, yeah~ I know what you are talking about. I think I have seen a thread on this topic somewhere before. If my memory is correct, they were saying they do change their tone when speaking a different language.

As for me, I can speak Japanese with various tones, such as "cool", "cruel", "burikko", high-pitch or low-pitch, soft or aggressive, and I can even speak with a really scary tone like Yakuza by trilling my tongue with a threatening tone. (I'm sure you will wet your pants if you hear me do that, hehehe.)

However, when speaking English, my tone is always the same, no matter how I am feeling, and my friend analyzed that it's because I'm putting too much effort into pronouncing correctly and clearly and just like you said, concentrating too much and that makes the tone always flat (in Japanese it's called 棒読み bou yomi).

 

[ricecake]

ricecake-san

Oh so you were that shy sometimes? How sweet! And, ahaha! unruly obnoxious posts ? No way,I always enjoy your posts, so keep on posting !

There are times I still look away or lower my head when talking to people face to face,shyness is a lifetime endurance.


My overall post counts actually don't fit my real life profile .... hehe ....

 

[leonmarino]

...and I can even speak with really scary tone like Yakuza by trilling my tongue with threatening tone. (I'm sure you will wet your pants if you hear me do that, hehehe.)

That's one of my favorite キャラ. I bet you a hundred bucks (or yen, whatever you prefer) that I sound scarier.

 

[J44xm]

Lastly, about having an audioblog. I really think it's fun and useful. When I have some questions about English pronunciation I can record and ask for the correction, (If you are in Japan, you can even leave your voice comment there through any phone) and oh yeah, maybe I could record some Japanese words/phrases/sentences to help Japanese learners, if they didn't mind my local accent.

I just saw this thread after your comment on my blog but I was too late to provide the information that you sought. Alas. But your audioblog is pretty cool (as, as others have said, is your voice). I'm kind of serious considering starting one myself, having always been kind of interested in audio presentation. But, yes, I would love it if you recorded some Japanese material and posted it! Since I'm studying in Okazaki , I know that I won't mind the accent at all! I get enough real listening practice like that.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

I'm kind of serious considering starting one myself, having always been kind of interested in audio presentation.

Yeeees, please let me hear your Japanese and English. I'm really really really wanting to hear the members' speaking here.

Mine is fine, but I also found Gabcast.com. If you are still interested, please check this site too.

いっしょに音声ブログろう！

 

[Davey]

Oh then, you can record your Dutch and let us know how the language sounds like!

Are you sure that you want to listen to the Dutch language (it's really not that interesting if you ask me haha)

You can learn/listen to some nice dutch in here


and another one.

 

[kooo]

Kyoko-san I really like your audioblog because your voice is so cute! Also you speak English well (not Engrish )

You inspired me to get my own voice blog to practice Japanese, but I am too shy to post it here.

 

[JTalker]

Absolutely adorable! Super cute voice. I wanna take it and put it in my pocket, my shirt pocket. So, if anyone messes with me, I can just reach in, pull it out, and throw it in their face and say "Take that!" It would hurt them at first, but you know what? They would walk away with a smile.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Dutch Baka-san, Wahaha! I love those videos, they have so many IMPORTANT Dutch words ne! Arigatou, Dutch Baka-san, aaaah, my stomach still hurts from laughing too much. But, I still would like to hear how YOU or LEON-san say those useful Dutch words, hahaha. So, c'mon! Get an audioblog!

kooo-chan, my kawaii friend, thanks for the compliment. You know what, if you got yourself an voiceblog, you didn't have to post it (if you really don't want to) here and just PM me and send the URL. Now I can't wait to hear you~~~~

JTalker-san, wow, you are from Aichi too! I listened to Sonny and Keiko and I could understand what they were saying and that made me sooo happy, I'm feeling ukiuki desuyo! Your site looks so Professional! Please keep up your good work.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

If I haven't mentioned it already, I just want to say that I was really surprised at how fluently you speak English when I heard your voiceblog.

Let me stab a guess: when you were young, did you go to an eikaiwa school and the teacher there used "eenie meenie miny moe"?

 

[Davey]

Dutch Baka-san, Wahaha! I love those videos, they have so many IMPORTANT Dutch words ne! Arigatou, Dutch Baka-san, aaaah, my stomach still hurts from laughing too much. But, I still would like to hear how YOU or LEON-san say those useful Dutch words, hahaha. So, c'mon! Get an audioblog!

Well I tried to get an Audioblog (but I don't understand Japanese, so I can't take the audioblog you have, and the other one that I found will close within a week....

 

[Mars Man]

Late...sorry !! I liked that Kyoko_desu san !! As one who has had experience in the radio world here in Japan, I can say that your voice is of a standard worth being on the air-waves. Actually, it sounds like someone I know, but I can't put a finger on who !! Your spoken English is very good !! Yeah, I hope that leonmarino can help me out (or I may use the idea and method you did) because I'm thinking I'd like to put at least one of my songs in the 'Post your Arts and Crafts' thread--since music is an art form too.

Thanks for sharing !! eeny, meeny, my-nny moe, catch a Mars Man by the toe, if he hollars, make him pay, one gray hair for every day of worring about what the hair that's done long gone !! hee, hee, hee....MM

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Mikawa Ossan, first off, please let me tell you how happy I am having you back in this forum. Arigatou for coming back! Now about your guess. Sorry, but eikaiwa school was not where I learned eenie meenie miny moe from. Actually I've never been to one. As I said in my first post in this thread, I saw several grown-up people in a movie playing it, in fact, it was an adult oriented movie a.k.a. porno. A lady was singing it in order to pick a guy to have sex with, ehehehehe. Despite the sukebe and ecchi atmosphere there, the lyric sounded so innocent and cute and that was one of the reasons I remembered it for such a long time.

Dutch Baka-san and Mars Man-san
I just saw leon-san's post at "Post your arts & crafts!" thread and he kindly explained how to create and upload a mp3 file and you two saw the post too, right? So I hope it won't take that long for you to share your voice, oh my, am I so excited!! Ganbatte kudasai ne!

 

[RockLee]

Tehehe, porn movies are funny! At least you don't say you never watched one like most girls XD

 

[kooo]

OK, Kyoko-san I am feeling less shy so here's a link to my audio blog.

I feel a little silly. My accent can be bad..

If anyone could give me tips on how to sound more natural that would be nice. Or maybe it's just something I have to acquire naturally?

BTW I am reading a little something about Odate.

 

[Mars Man]

Kyoko_desu san. . .or should I really say 'chan' ( I like that better--I call all my female students and even some male students 'chan' [even adults]) Thanks, and I'll have that there some day before or just after New Years. I also agree that it's healthy to not necessarily hide the fact that one has watched porn-oriented films or videos.

kooo san (since I don't know you so well) I liked that and could understand most of it. Some parts were a little hard to catch, probably due to the recording quality and a certain degree of 'stiffness' in the rythym. Probably speaking a lot more would help, but coming here and living here for some three to five years at the least, would make a big difference !! MM

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

So Kyoko....any plans on using your eenie meenie miny moe knowledge any time soon? I'd be more than happy to help out!

 

[epigene]

OK Kyoko-san I am feeling less shy so here's a link to my audio blog.
I feel a little silly. My accent can be bad..
If anyone could give me tips on how to sound more natural that would be nice. Or maybe it's just something I have to acquire naturally?
BTW I am reading a little something about Odate.

Wow, things are getting interesting-er and interesting-er!!
Your voice is nice, koo, and sounds a lot older than 9!
Why don't you post the script that you read? Maybe Kyoko-desu san can read it for you in her voice blog. If she's not available, I might! (This voice blog thing sounds so interesting!)

 

[leonmarino]

OK Kyoko-san I am feeling less shy so here's a link to my audio blog.

Although this post was directed towards Kyoko I listened to it if you don't mind.
But it sounds really good!! And it wasn't until Epigene pointed it out that I knew you are just 9 years old!! Impressive stuff. Sounding naturally comes.. Well, naturally really. Just try and talk as much as possible. (Without bothering people of course haha.) You're still very young and you'll probably acquire the right pronunciation and nuances much quicker than other people.
Keep it up!!

 

[J44xm]

Yeeees, please let me hear your Japanese and English. I'm really really really wanting to hear the members' speaking here. [...] いっしょに音声ブログろう！

We have a saying in English: be careful what you wish for. It's not much but I've got a little something uploaded. つまらない物ですが。 My Japanese is a little bit awkward, I think, in part because the walls in my room are so paper thin and I don't want to be too loud. (My voice is apparently fairly large, I'm coming to realize.) And in part, of course, because my Japanese sucks. This wasn't too much of a problem with the English, though. Enjoy. Comments are welcome. (The 旅 line gave me a lot of problems. Maybe I should have released a blooper reel.)

And, kooo, if you're only nine, then you'll probably end up speaking better than most of us could ever hope to if you keep studying. Keep it up!

 

[epigene]

J44xm, you have a wonderful, intelligent voice!
いい感じですよ！

And your Japanese is excellent for having studied only a year or so!!
すばらしい~！！シンジラレナ~イ！！

I really want to try the voice blog, too, but don't know what to do...

 

[Glenn]

If anyone could give me tips on how to sound more natural that would be nice. Or maybe it's just something I have to acquire naturally?

If you were older I'd have a little different advice, but since you're only nine, I'd say just listen to the language as much as possible, and you should pick up on it fairly easily. By the way, you sounded really good.

@J44xm -- That was awesome, man. You had my laughing my arse off! Your Japanese is really good!

By the way, what I was laughing at was what you were saying (not your Japanese), especially not being able to imitate the people in your area. Oh, and I could hear the Houston in your voice. I'm with epigene, I think you have a great voice!

 

[Kyoko_desu]

koo-chan, good job! It's just unbelievable you are only 9 years old and can already speak a foreign language so well, and you have such a mature voice! You said you had been to Japan, didn't you? How long was the stay? Did you have fun?

By the way, about your Nihongo pronunciation. I'm with everyone else and I could catch almost everything you said. If I have to point out something for you to practice, it's maybe the word 東北（とうほく）(Touhoku).
I recorded how I pronounce Touhoku for you. I hope it will help you to brush up on your pronunciation.

RockLee-san
ﾂ heh heh heh

Mikawa Ossan
Sure! Whenever I have to pick a guy to do you-know-what. Haha, of course, I'm just kidding. Well, telling you the truth, I have been trying to find its sound file because I can't remember how they sing the whole rhyme. Even though it doesn't have any particular music to go with, it must have some rhythm, doesn't it? I just don't want to go too off-beat. Maybe anyone will sign it for me?

epigene-san
Yeaaaah, things are really getting interesting-er and tanoshii-er ne!!!!
So it's time for YOU to get your voice blog, please get one and let us hear you please! *said seriously*

Awww, I'm running out of time, cus it's breakfast time. I will be back later and put my comment on J44xm-san's voice blog! Well, at least let me say it was HILARIOUS before going.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

koo-chan
Hmmm, I just listened to what I recorded this morning.... and I'm now thinking we probably have no stress on the word Touhoku and just say it flatly. I mean how I pronounced Touhoku there is exactly how we do, but the problem is my explanation. After hearing my own Touhoku, I realized I should rather have said that we pronounce Touhoku flatly without any stress. Sorry, koo-chan if I confused you.

J44xm-san
About your Japanese and your voice, I echo epigene-san. Yes! You do have a wonderful and intelligent voice! I really like it and you wouldn't believe how many times I have already listened to your voice! I hope you will record your Japanese as often as you can and we will do our best to help you with your pronunciation.

Thank you so much for also recording your English. Hehe, they said you have a Southern accent and guess what! I could recognize the accent here and there and I like it! I remember that I asked if Southern accent is thought to be uncool in the question thread I had created before. And nice gaijin-san answered me like it really depends on who is speaking but he finds it to sound very pleasant and soothing. Now I can fully understand what he meant there and I totally agree with him.

However, because of the lack of listening skills, I cannot say that I could catch everything you said. You said what you said was maybe a stupid joke after talking about something that sounded like reverse senpai (先輩). Did I get the word correctly? Cus you wanna learn Japanese and I wanna learn English and you were being so modest and you said you would wanna reach my level of skill, so you said I'm kinda your reverse senpai かな?

Well, I am feeling really happy about how many words I could catch from your English. You know some people speak in a more lazy way and unclearly or too fast, like a machine gun, or with too many slang words, then I cannot follow them or catch a word, but how you spoke was really clear and without a slang.

I hope you will record not only your Japanese but sometimes also in English for me and other English learners. You know what, you can just read aloud anyone's post from the forum randomly then I can check up what you said
from the script when I can not catch some words. But anything is fine~.