Exercises for w sounds

[RecordingPerson]

I've worked out that one problem I have with reading is 'w' sounds. E.g. I was hoping to do Rupert Brooke's 'Day That I Have Loved' for the weekly poetry, but the line:

Close in the nest is folded every weary wing,

is tricky for me. I think that some words 'dreary' cause me problems, and just a few word problems like that make it MUCH harder to read poems and prose.

What's the best way to address pronunciation problems like this? I'm alone in my office at present, and am practicing saying:

Where will William wear his weary wing.

For me, this is a tongue-twister, and 'weary wing' keeps coming out wrong. I keep saying 'ring' for 'wing' etc. I'm using this with the assumption that if it's difficult to say, then it will be good practice. But, I'm all ears for good advice as to how to address these issues.

I'm thinking that improving my pronunciation will have benefits outside of Librivox.

[tovarisch]

I don't know the best way to address it, so my usual approach is to slow down a bit. Sometimes it helps if I make a tiny pause before a difficult word (if it doesn't break the rhythm, of course). Also, it helps to practice the phrase a few times before reading that line.

[Cori]

Do you feel the problem is with all w's (in which case practicing a variety of them should help, but you may also want to investigate their articulation and production) or with the ones that are near r's (in which case you'd be best focusing on words and phrases that mix the two throughout)?

My general recommendation would be to slow down to a literally ridiculous pace, and really focus on the feel of each syllable. Having your attention on the verbal production rather than the poetry, might help train your muscles to cope better with the 'problem' sounds. Don't try to get up to any kind of sensible speed until you feel like it's really comfortable saying the syllables that slowly ... then build up gradually too. Ideally, overshoot -- say it like it's a race -- and then if you can get to that point, you'll probably be fine doing it naturally as part of the poem. You may still stumble the next few times which would be your brain going 'ALERT, here's the dangerous bit' instead of just getting on calmly ... but if you can do it slow, you can do it right in the recording too.


My other suggestion is a hack; I use it from time to time in novels, where I don't have the patience to really get to grips with a problem phrase. It doesn't address the issue long-term, but will get you through this week's poetry while you work on it. Swapping the 'weary' for something similar that doesn't cause the same traffic jam when you get to 'wing'. Perhaps 'dewy' might be good. Literally substitute that word wherever you're recording (that is, print it out or have it typed on the screen -- don't try to just imagine the substitution because if your brain is anything like mine, it will melt down at having to do too many things at once.) And then give yourself a break when recording the original too ... since your mouth wants to say ring, let it. Record the whole thing twice like this:

Close in the nest is folded every weary ring
Close in the nest is folded every dewy wing

Then get jiggy in editing! Very small edits can be hard to get right, but in this case should sound pretty natural, because you've got the 'ee' of the preceding word both times. Listen through and decide which overall version you prefer, then either edit over the top of 'ring' or over 'dewy'.

[RecordingPerson]

Thanks. I'll put that advice into action. I would like to permanently fix it. It's not all w sounds, just some. E.g. if I say:

Will William wear his weary wings.

Then 'Will William wear' is OK, but 'weary wings' is hard. Practice seems to help, and even if there isn't more focussed ways to practice, then just repeating difficult phrases over and over will probably work. But, I know that there are all sorts of phrases used for language training, and I wondered if there were more.

I've listened to some youtube videos, and note people saying that if you practice, you can eventually sight-read well. That's important for efficiency. No professional reader could afford to spend the time practicing whole chapters etc. to get it right.

In terms of the editing, I do put in pauses thinking that it will be easier for me to edit out the pause than editing out three or more miss-takes of the line

[plaidsicle]

Literally substitute that word wherever you're recording (that is, print it out or have it typed on the screen -- don't try to just imagine the substitution because if your brain is anything like mine, it will melt down at having to do too many things at once.) And then give yourself a break when recording the original too ... since your mouth wants to say ring, let it. Record the whole thing twice like this:

Close in the nest is folded every weary ring
Close in the nest is folded every dewy wing

Then get jiggy in editing!

this is mind-blowingly cool advice. whether or not I'll ever need it, I think it is very clever.

[RecordingPerson]

this is mind-blowingly cool advice. whether or not I'll ever need it, I think it is very clever.

I'm going to be doing that!