Conversation started Jul 13, 2015 at 2:42.
Anonymous
Jul 13, 2015 02:42
Cutler's book makes a lot of interesting points, by the way.
Anonymous
One is that we're always tuning our phonetic perception.
Anonymous
We're really very flexible! That never stops, even as we get older.
Anonymous
We constantly adjust to new speakers.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@snailboat nods -- That's good news!
Anonymous
We learn very rapidly when we interact with a speaker who speaks a little bit differently, and we get better and better at identifying where the boundaries between phones lie for that speaker.
Anonymous
Jul 13, 2015 02:43
And without trying, we remember
Anonymous
We stay better at identifying the sounds from that particular speaker.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
nods
Anonymous
And it doesn't affect our ability to understand other speakers.
Anonymous
Like, if the boundary between [f] and [s] has to be adjusted for a new speaker,
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Have you seen Manny Paquiao's spot?
MANNY PACQUIAO | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL 'SAFE STEPS
►
Anonymous
Jul 13, 2015 02:44
the boundary remains the same for other speakers
Anonymous
What is this?
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
(The first time I saw it, I barely understand anything he said!)
Anonymous
A-ha!
Anonymous
An illustration of the concept.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Yes!
Anonymous
Jul 13, 2015 02:45
What's interesting is that for this sort of learning, we don't really have to keep practicing.
Anonymous
Once we can understand a particular speaker, we don't generally have to re-learn to understand that speaker, even if we don't hear from them for quite a while.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Indeed! I hadn't seen that spot for a while, and last week I saw it again. Suddenly, I could pick up what he said almost 100%!
Anonymous
Oh, it does take me a fair bit of concentration to understand that video.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
The spot broadcast over here starts at around 0:33 in that clip.
Yes, his accent is was very unfamiliar to me.
Anonymous
I didn't miss any words, but my comprehension was delayed a number of times
Anonymous
Jul 13, 2015 02:49
Interestingly, you can train your ear to understand a particular speaker even if they're saying nonsense words―as long as those nonsense words are possible given the rules of English phonotactics.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Oh!
Anonymous
So, words like sprounth or flortaines
Anonymous
So for this kind of listening, understanding is not crucial
Anonymous
Although understanding is an important part of ear training in general
 
Conversation ended Jul 13, 2015 at 2:50.