How much of me am I willing to reveal? How much do you want me to?

This is sweeeet!

An Australian... or American... on vacation here in Baguio who was struggling with a carinderia owner's translation of a "hot" (spicy...hehe) Filipino dish just told me I have a great American accent and asked if I'm from California. And to think that several months ago, my former Korean boss kept on repeating that I have a strong Tagalog accent.

Stressing the stress

No. This is not about the stress that's often the cause of my blog updates. That's a given and often unavoidable fact. This is the type of stress a communicologist, or according to Enj, a "cunning linguist", is concerned about.

The evaluation I had earlier with language consultant Martin gave me the opportunity to inquire as to why "stress", a speech communication or language acquisition jargon that refers to one of the four aspects of accent, seems to be the focus of the new language training manual we are using. I had to open that discussion as all of the previous trainings I attended and handled had either articulation or grammar as the important aspect to focus on or in aid of language acquisition, particularly English as a second language.

Martin explained that the focus on stress is actually something new in the field of English language acquisition. Stressing the correct syllable in a word or the correct word in a phrase is of primary importance as it paves the way for a clearer understanding or delivery of the intended meaning. An example I often use in class is the sentence "I love you". Stressing "I" in the phrase places emphasis on who loves somebody. Stressing "love" gives the receiver the idea that the message is really about love. And finally stressing "you" provides the message that the "love" is particularly directed to the person being addressed.

Another excellent idea that Martin came up with that is related to accent is "PREP" which stands for "Point-to-Reason-to-Example-to-Point". I don't know if he just came up with the said idea but if he really just did, it's an excellent one as it is actually based on a theory about efficiently stating one's answer or standpoint about a topic. It was during my UP Law Aptitude Exam (LAE) review when I first encountered something similar to this idea. According to my tutor, an efficient way of answering both written and oral topics is to first answer a question head on without any flowery word to use as an introduction. The introduction should be your direct standpoint about an issue. Martin's "reason-example" part is actually an expounding of your points. Martin's "going back to the point" is the conclusion.

Pretty neat, huh?

And of course it doesn't hurt at all that my efforts for today's class facilitation was noticed by both Cecilia and Martin. For that I'm rewarding myself with two pairs of shoes. Haha. :)

The long o's are driving me so nuts... Arrrghh..

Tongue Twisters

I have always, always loved tongue twisters. From my very first speech lab class in first grade to my Speech 111 (Voice and Diction) class as a Speech Communication major in UP, nothing really beats a full serving of tongue twisters that could certainly make my day.

Sounds geeky? Though finding people who share my uber-sinister passion for activities of the literal tongue-twisting kind may seem like a no mean feat, it is, in actuality, like shooting for the stars.

Korina Sanchez does it before her show, Eminem does it in his rap songs, most event and variety show hosts do it, even the "kailangan-pa-bang-imemorize-yan" DJs do it. In fact, one of my friends who used to hate anything that dealt with speech until he eventually plunged into the call center industry, used his newly-developed love affair for tongue twisters to court his beautiful accent trainer (after his training, of course!).

Being once a radio announcer/DJ myself, I should know. I would always tell my "eager" (yeah, I love you guys!) Public Speaking and Leadership studes that it really is just no more than a mind over matter task. Since the tongue is no more than a just a mechanical part of the body, it could definitely be controlled by the mind (although of course, everything is really controlled by the mind). As a radio DJ and as a speech trainer, having known that every little task I do is timed, I know I should always never let my tongue get ahead of myself. "Thinking before speaking" is my mantra therefore whenever I am or have to be in my best communicator/communicologist (haha, I wish!) mode.

Of course, never to be forgotten is the importance of breathing. Breathe, you guys! Unless you wanna die. Haha.

The road to proper breathing is no longer one of the best kept secrets of the trade what with people nowadays scrambling for accent courses that SHOULD HAVE, first and foremost, a module on the importance of breathing on speech.

Think and act like a balloon. Take in air, expand your stomach (it's really the diaphragm) and then release. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale slowly. Count 1-2-3-4. Hold 1-2-3. Release slowly. Count 1-2-3-4. Do it this time with a longer duration. And inhale....................

Breathing and tongue twisters? It's as simple as 1-2-3. First, breathing gives the necessary oxygen the brain needs in order to function properly. Second, for the brain to function properly as to what or how we may need it to be, it should be able to get used to whatever activities it involves itself into, even prolonged breathing. Third, fast and almost non-stop speech activities such as tongue twister exercises require proper control of breathing.

And before I instigate the abuse and exposure of my own "copyright" as a speech trainer, here are a list of my all-time-fave tongue twisters:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? <----- CLASSIC!

Unique New York.

Six thick thistle sticks. Six thick thistles stick.

Is this your sister's sixth zither, sir?

The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick.

Toy boat. Toy boat. Toy boat. <---- Think "Pasko Paksiw, Paksiw, Pasko"

I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit. <---- CLASSIC! Hehe. Sleet...Slit...Sheet...Sh*t...=p

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

A Tudor who tooted a flute
tried to tutor two tooters to toot.
Said the two to their tutor,
"Is it harder to toot
or to tutor two tooters to toot?" <---- Speech 111 memories with Prof. Pinzon

Shy Shelly says she shall sew sheets.

A big black bug bit a big black bear,
made the big black bear bleed blood. <---- Convergys CCT Training (We won! We won! Haha)