Hello, dear friends!
Today you will learn why mastering correct foreign pronunciation is crucial.
This will be aided by the beginning of Elena Vladimirovna Averina’s new book, “German Pronunciation Training”. Although the book focuses on German pronunciation, its advice applies to learning any other language.
Elena Vladimirovna is accepting pre-orders for “German Pronunciation Training”. The book will be distributed electronically on CD with MP3 audio materials.
For inquiries, email Elena Dmitrievna: eaverina@yandex.ru.
Visit her website: https://eaverina.ru/.
Enjoy this insightful reading!
Yours,
Newsletter Host
Alexey Vinidiktov
AVERINA, E.D. GERMAN PRONUNCIATION TRAINING
(Book Text)
(Bold text indicates a reference to supplementary material located to the right)
Read the supplementary text when you see a word in bold.
Hello, dear friend!
Settle in comfortably as we discuss why mastering pronunciation is vital when learning a new language—and the challenges involved.
When communicating with a foreigner, you face two distinct tasks:
- Expressing what you wish to say, and
- Understanding what is said to you.
For speaking:
Your speech apparatus (tongue, lips interacting with teeth/palate, pharynx, larynx) produces specific sounds. To sound like a native speaker, you must train the same muscles natives use—developing the skill for instantaneous, precise tension and relaxation. Compare →
How quickly is a skill formed?
Psychologists know this: Depending on imitation and learning ability, a movement requires 12 to 240 repetitions. Astronauts train a single movement up to 900 times consecutively (“Want to Help Your Child Learn Successfully, Easily, Joyfully?” Norma, St. Petersburg, 2004, p.5). This repetition is your primary challenge. We will make it engaging!
Diagrams of muscles and tongue positions for foreign vs. native speech can be found in any phonetics textbook for your target language.
Compare diagrams of tongue positions for similar sounds in both languages.
If incorrect muscles move, the foreigner hears an inaccurate auditory image and fails to recognize their own language’s words.
German Example: German has the Knacklaut (glottal stop) before vowels at word/stem beginnings. Omit it, and the second word merges with the first. I witnessed a German fail to understand after five repetitions when the stop was omitted: für alle was heard as one non-existent word füralle.
For listening:
Your ear captures auditory images (engrams) during conversation. Comprehension depends on recognizing these engrams by comparing what you hear with those imprinted in memory. If imprinted incorrectly, you won’t recognize familiar words → and thus won’t understand.
This is where misunderstanding and speaking inability originate.
Personal Example: In the 1950s, I was taught the tongue-tip “r”. Arriving in Germany, I couldn’t recognize words like wir (we) or vier (four), sounding like “wia” and “via”.
Speech is the functioning of a multi-level system of speech mechanisms.
The foundation is the “recognition and reproduction of long sound sequences”. If insufficient time is spent here (lacking repetitions), the foundation collapses. Higher-level speech mechanisms cannot form. This is why people cannot speak.
By dedicating time to pronunciation and intonation, you will build the foundational subsystems (Levels 1–3) and prepare the brain for higher-level language work. Don’t rush this. Remember: “Slow and steady wins the race” (German: “Eile mit Weile”).
Key Insight:
When learning a language, the brain first imprints sound images. Meaning is acquired later (Neurophysiologist N.P. Bekhtereva). This resembles loading data into a computer—without data, it cannot operate. Yet most students (and teachers) read a text once, translate it, and consider the task done.
To achieve mastery, material must be memorized so thoroughly that the brain automatically produces subsequent words upon hearing the first word of a phrase or sentence.
Why doesn’t comprehension occur?
Because engrams matching the words are absent—they weren’t properly imprinted.
Key Conclusions:
- Mastering intonation and pronunciation through repetition with native speakers isn’t just about sounding pleasant. It’s essential—without it, you won’t speak or understand.
- Create engrams in your brain for words/phrases you’ll encounter later. Discovering their meaning later will be rewarding. For now, ignore meaning—it distracts from sound focus.
- Adults struggle more to imprint sound sequences than to remember meaning. Mechanical memory (for sounds) weakens with age, while logical memory strengthens.
STRUCTURE OF THE SPEECH MECHANISM SYSTEM
(Read the table from bottom to top)
| Level | Mechanism |
|---|---|
| 9 | Recognition/reproduction of text models |
| 8 | Recognition/reproduction of syntactic models |
| 7 | Recognition/reproduction of semantic models |
| 6 | Recognition/reproduction of word-formation models |
| 5 | Recognition/reproduction of word roots |
| 4 | Recognition/reproduction of morphological models |
| 3 | Recognition/reproduction of letters |
| 2 | Recognition/reproduction of sounds |
| 1 | Recognition/reproduction of long sound sequences |
| ===================== |
Supplementary Text for Bold References:
→ Compare:
Observe how tongue position differs for similar sounds (e.g., Russian “р” vs. German “r”). Incorrect muscle activation distorts the auditory image, preventing word recognition.
→ and therefore not understand:
Without correctly imprinted engrams, familiar words remain unrecognizable. Example: Mispronouncing German wir as “wia” makes it incomprehensible to natives.
About the Author:
Elena Dmitrievna Averina’s system for translation-free language mastery is detailed in “Foreign Language in 200 Hours” (St. Petersburg, 1994), now available electronically.
Contact:
- Email: eaverina@yandex.ru
- Website: https://eaverina.ru/