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Thanks, Erica. I hadn't expected me to participate in the Music Banter Voice Exchange, either! But thanks for your kind feedback on the "results". I've been told I have sort of a halting enunciation at times. It's due to a shyness about speaking, shyness in general. I remember reading a book about shyness years ago; it stated that shyness is actually a byproduct of thinking you're more "important" than you are -- feeling that all eyes (or in this case ears) are on you, when they're actually not. I think that's true. I remember that book also listing the most shy/least shy groups by ethnicity: most shy was Japanese and least shy was Chinese.

VEGANGELICA

I'm glad you surprised yourself.

I didn't hear any halting in your enunciation, but of course I was expecting spaces between your words.

That's interesting that the least shy were found to be Chinese people and the most shy were the Japanese. I am reminded of that Japanese saying, "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down," to encourage people to fit into society and not draw attention to themselves. I would have expected the Chinese culture also to suppress individuality such that people fear being the center of attention and become shy when they think the are.

I've concluded almost the same thing about shyness as that book's author: shyness involves an exaggerated sense of others' attention being focused strongly on you, scrutinizing you. Yet I'd add (the obvious) that shyness results from concern about them thinking badly of you. In reality, I think most people are focused on how *they* themselves appear, and so they don't really care much when you make a mistake. Also, so what if they have critical thoughts? That's their issue.

I suppose some lucky people out there have the opposite of shyness and think others are focusing attention on them and having wonderful thoughts about them. (In your case, this would be true! )

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G'morning, Erica. Well, I will not "halt" in saying that I always have wonderful thoughts about you. Speaking of the Japanese, one of my aunts has lived in Japan for over 30 years and brought up her family there; she holds the opinion that the Japanese people are quite shy (although of course that's a generality and there are always exceptions).

VEGANGELICA

Hee hee hee! That's very cute, sweet, and funny, Liz. You make me smile.

I've heard that as a Westerner, living in Japan can be hard because you always feel you stand out so much (sometimes literally, due to height). Your aunt and her family must have had many interesting experiences there.

I assume that after all these years Japan feels like home to your aunt and she is fluent in Japanese. Has her English pronunciation altered at all? I suspect that learning German and living in Germany caused me to value speaking very clearly and distinctly. I don't know enough about Japanese to predict how it might affect one's English.

This reminds me: I couldn't hear that your voice has a Louisiana flavor to it. I am not familiar enough with a Louisiana accent to recognize it as anything other than "Southern."

You don't talk about alligators much, do you?




Oh! Below is a very educational video about New Orleans accents, which apparently can differ by ward!

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This is true, Erica. Although my aunt has described her experiences of “standing out” in Japan as being positive; she is blonde and fairly tall and the Japanese women she works with make sweet comments on her appearance. It is done in a very nice way.

Yes, Japan feels very much like home to my aunt after all these years. I doubt she and her husband will ever leave (even though all of their grown children have moved out of the country now). She is fluent in Japanese; her English pronunciation has altered only slightly – it’s difficult to describe, but she seems to pronounce her “t”s in a more exacting way and she speaks a little more rapidly at times and her enunciation is very precise in general. But her speech has altered only slightly in my opinion.

That’s because I’m a native New Yorker. But as I mentioned, my mother is originally from Louisiana and her drawl (which she has retained over decades in New York) has perhaps had an effect on my speech a bit. Same for my sisters – I can sometimes hear the influence in their speech as well (moreso than in mine, actually).

No, but I remember some of my senior relatives talking about them a lot when I was a youngster! Such as my great-Uncle Mooney (and yes, we actually had an Uncle Mooney. )

Thanks for posting this, Erica -- New Orleans accents are extremely diverse. My Mom is not from New Orleans, but her family emanated from the Irish Channel way back when.

VEGANGELICA

^ Thank you, Liz, for answering all my questions.

I am amused that your senior relatives (including your actual great-Uncle Mooney!) talked about alligators a lot when you were a youngster. Having alligators discussed with any regularity (and in a Louisiana accent) makes your childhood sound very colorful!

I recall some discussions in childhood about raccoons...but that's not quite as exciting as alligators.

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Great-Uncle Mooney was a little looney, Erica. I think he liked scaring us "city slickers" with that alligator talk!

I couldn't find a raccoon to record a voice message for you on Vocaroo, so this'll have to do.

PoorOldPo

Rez

Vocaroo | Voice message

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https://www.instagram.com/hennas.lullaby/

ThePhanastasio

Well, I just did this at random from memory. If it's your favorite childhood poem and I butchered it, I seriously apologize. My mom and I used to read this all the time when I was a kid, and I think I have at least this bit memorized.

Vocaroo | Voice message

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• Phish: Studio Discography Reviewed
• 100 Albums I Heartily Recommend
• My last.fm

Scarlett O'Hara

Vocaroo | Voice message

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