What if I Suck?

Post your questions & get help from friendly LibriVoxers
vanarp
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Location: India

Post by vanarp »

thanks for response.
mjfillen
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Joined: June 8th, 2014, 2:31 pm

Post by mjfillen »

What would constitute a recording that is rejected because the reader's way of speaking is not good enough? That is, it's loud enough and every word is there, but the recording is rejected.
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

If it's not understandable by a native speaker of that language.

It happens VERY rarely.
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mjfillen
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Joined: June 8th, 2014, 2:31 pm

Post by mjfillen »

What about if your cadence is uneven, the flow does not flow? That is the way you talk, unevenly, so your reading is that way too. All the words are there... it's loud enough, but... you stammer... and... bunchwordstogether and ... talk... slowly... sometimes, but... thewordsare... there, just not flowing evenly. Would the... recordingbe rejected for... that... reason or... similar things? That is an exaggeration but you get the idea, I'm sure. I can think of one woman who reads very mechanically, saying every syllable according to a pattern that the text doesn't usually follow. Something like " duh DUH duh duh duh DUH duh, duh Duh duh duh duh DUH duh duh" over and over. So reading mechanically by a pattern is accepted. If the best you can do is uneven cadence then is that okay?
wildemoose
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Post by wildemoose »

mjfillen wrote:What about if your cadence is uneven, the flow does not flow? That is the way you talk, unevenly, so your reading is that way too. All the words are there... it's loud enough, but... you stammer... and... bunchwordstogether and ... talk... slowly... sometimes, but... thewordsare... there, just not flowing evenly. Would the... recordingbe rejected for... that... reason or... similar things? That is an exaggeration but you get the idea, I'm sure. I can think of one woman who reads very mechanically, saying every syllable according to a pattern that the text doesn't usually follow. Something like " duh DUH duh duh duh DUH duh, duh Duh duh duh duh DUH duh duh" over and over. So reading mechanically by a pattern is accepted. If the best you can do is uneven cadence then is that okay?
No, it would not be rejected for that reason. The only reason a recording would ever be rejected would be if it does not meet our technical specifications, or if it is literally not understandable. As Tricia said above, this happens extremely rarely.
ClaudiaSterngucker
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Joined: February 8th, 2017, 9:03 am
Location: St. Moritz, Zurich, Switzerland

Post by ClaudiaSterngucker »

Hi everybody,

Does anybody have advice for me on how to make less mistakes while reading? I need to practice reading even short texts, in order not to stumble over words in almost every sentence. Back in school, I was much better at reading out loud, teachers just always told me to slow down and put more color into my reading, as I sounded like a robot. I could never 'cold read' a text, it would be horrendously tedious to edit; but it absolutely sucks, too, to having to nearly learn a text by heart, in order to reduce the mistakes to an acceptable amount. I know that there isn't a magic trick, but maybe one of you has developed a helpful strategy to read better.

Mille grazie! <3
Claudia

"Aus Druckerschwärze entstehen Dinge, Menschen, Geister und Götter, die man sonst nicht sehen könnte." Erich Kästner
tovarisch
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Post by tovarisch »

Making mistakes while reading is inevitable. That said, I have two methods that help me (I vainly believe) to reduce the time of delivery and increase quality of the final product.

First, and it helps especially with short pieces, do look over the text (even pre-read it). I put most in MS Word to read, which accomplishes two things for me: spell checking (unusual words are identified and highlighted) and the ability to "look up" if I want to. Essentially MS Word pre-reads it for me to some extent. Also, pre-read all foreign language expressions (I seem to encounter French mostly, sometimes Italian and German). Use ForVO or howjsay to verify pronunciation. I also use Google translate.

Second, practice pronouncing independently from reading and a bit behind. It's not easy, yet with practice it's doable. You basically look ahead a few words or a couple of phrases. Yes, long sentences present a problem. In which case you take it easy and probably pre-read it.

That's it. The rest you already know.
tovarisch
  • reality prompts me to scale down my reading, sorry to say
    to PLers: do correct my pronunciation please
ClaudiaSterngucker
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Location: St. Moritz, Zurich, Switzerland

Post by ClaudiaSterngucker »

Thank you very much, Tovarisch! <3 I will try out your method with MS Word, especially because of the spell checking and highlighting of unusual words. As a Swiss who speaks Swiss German, German is indeed sort of a 'foreign language' for me - the words are the same, but the pronunciation and rhythm of speech often differs quite a bit.

I try to read ahead while narrating and at the same time, I try to put my focus on every word I read out loud. Honestly, I can only record a text that I already know and practised. When doing a 'cold reading' I often stumble over words and can't figure out fast enough which words to emphasise and how exactly. The more sections I read for librivox, the more I'm in awe of professional narratore that mostly do cold readings...with few mistakes and 8 hours a day!
Claudia

"Aus Druckerschwärze entstehen Dinge, Menschen, Geister und Götter, die man sonst nicht sehen könnte." Erich Kästner
lurcherlover
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Post by lurcherlover »

Well I think it's really practice. It could also be that you are reading too fast. I tend to sight read and immediately repeat when I mess it up. I then edit out the bad sections, leaving the acceptable ones. But it's easy to get into a mess and sometimes the editing is simple and smooth and at other times quite a headache. I have good days and bad days.

With poetry I tend to make several recordings of the poem (if it's not too long) over a couple of days and try and improve on it each time. But that's for a special group who need it to be very, very good. On the other hand sometimes I just bash it out -and I know it's rubbish!

I'm trying to slow my readings down, as that can lead to less mistakes and less editing. But it's never easy for any of us including the professionals. The worst things are the writers who make up words, like the writer I'm recording at the moment. It really throws me ...
carolb
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Post by carolb »

ClaudiaSterngucker wrote: July 23rd, 2018, 6:58 am Back in school, I was much better at reading out loud, teachers just always told me to slow down and put more color into my reading, as I sounded like a robot.
Wise teachers, Claudia! There you have the secret :wink:

Carol
maya98
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Joined: June 7th, 2018, 2:05 pm

Post by maya98 »

hey, it's ok. It's something that I can 100% guarantee that everybody here worries about; so, while it is admittedly easier said than done, don't worry about it. I'm sure you are doing great, and on the off chance that you weren't, LibriVox, as I understand it, is a community, so let me just speak for everyone and say we support you.
maxgal
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Joined: June 8th, 2019, 10:24 am

Post by maxgal »

OK, this isn't necessarily about sucking per se, but...

I seem to read aloud more slooooowwwwwly than anyone else I have ever heard!

No matter what ... it can be a political essay, a fairy tale, a scary/spooky story, a humorous story, a Grand Guignol narration, a nonfiction piece for the Insomnia collection (which I know is supposed to be slow-ish), etc...

My recording speed (even with trimming the pauses) is consistently about 125WPM.

I've tried to speed it up, but then I trip all over the words & run out of breath & generally get stressed out. :roll:

For the most part, I think I sound OK, but sometimes it seems that "everyone else" is on the ball & I'm not!

Or something.

On the other hand, I've been told a number of times that I'm "very calm" and "very calming" to be around.

Anyone else got this particular weirdness?

...LJB
Louise
"every little breeze..."

Fun Fact: 40% of all statistics are wrong.
KevinS
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Post by KevinS »

maxgal wrote: August 31st, 2019, 4:13 pm OK, this isn't necessarily about sucking per se, but...

I seem to read aloud more slooooowwwwwly than anyone else I have ever heard!

No matter what ... it can be a political essay, a fairy tale, a scary/spooky story, a humorous story, a Grand Guignol narration, a nonfiction piece for the Insomnia collection (which I know is supposed to be slow-ish), etc...

My recording speed (even with trimming the pauses) is consistently about 125WPM.

I've tried to speed it up, but then I trip all over the words & run out of breath & generally get stressed out. :roll:

For the most part, I think I sound OK, but sometimes it seems that "everyone else" is on the ball & I'm not!

Or something.

On the other hand, I've been told a number of times that I'm "very calm" and "very calming" to be around.

Anyone else got this particular weirdness?

...LJB
Your pace is not unpleasantly slow. It is leisurely and relaxed and has a quiet sort of dignity to it.

I can help you with that and make you sound as wretched as I do. Just ask.
lurcherlover
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Joined: November 10th, 2016, 3:54 am
Location: LONDON UK

Post by lurcherlover »

Personally I think the worst thing is to speak too fast. We hear it all the time on radio and TV here in the UK. People "gabble" and you can't understand a word they say, especially if they have an accent, say foreign or Scottish, or North country. Steady pacing is much better with little spurts at dramatic moments ... then it keeps the tension up but remains coherent. Sometimes lengthening certain words gives more meaning and interpretation, if not done too often, as intonation (slightly higher or lower pitch).
annise
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Post by annise »

I think most would agree - I get a number of reader complaints (and thank yous too) and can't remember 1 complaining about slow speed or admiring fast readings. But I do get many about too fast to follow, and thank you's for clear well paced readings. LV is international and multi accented and too slow is better than too fast for most listeners.

Anne
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