how do i sound?

[kman1]

me reading Latvian:
http://readingproficiency.mypodcast.com ... chive.html

tips, corrections, pronunciation rules I'm missing?

[Sol Invictus]

Did you consider to try several times before recording ? You were stuttering all the time, which doesn't make it easy to tell you how well you are doing with the language You are puting the stress on the end of the words (should be on the first syllable), I guess it is also the reason why you mispronounce vowels (and diphtong o), plus your c is weird, it sounds right only in the end of the text, when you correct it after mispronouncing it as k

[kman1]

So I need to work on stress, vowels, and a more smooth reading. (plus my 'c' sound) Thank you!

[kman1]

I re-recorded the Latvian reading. errors from the last reading were I needed a smooth reading output so this time I spoke very slowly and tried to minimize the stuttering. please let me know of any errors or areas of improvement.

[Sol Invictus]

You are making the same mistakes - pronouncing c as in English, mixing up diphtong o with vowel o (BTW vowel is foreign sound, so it mostly is diphtong, except in very end of the word, where it is long vowel) and you mix up vowel lenghts, which I think is because you are putting on wrong stress. Look, I recorded it for you, so you can listen to native pronounciation: http://rapidshare.com/files/233688493/k ... e.mp3.html it is not exactly perfect, because I'm not used to reading out loud, but I think pronounciation of seperate words is more important to you than me reading expressively

[kman1]

third time's a charm. I just re-recorded it again.

I stumbled onto a very good Latvian pronunciation website though. For those struggling like me, check this out:

http://www.latvianstuff.com

In your recording, Sol Invictus, you spoke rather rapidly and it seem liked you mumbled a lot of words. I'm saying this because I'm wondering is all Latvian like this. From what I've heard, Danish is very much like that with sounds mumbled and omitted and whatnot but I didn't think Latvian was. I could be wrong, so that's why I'm asking. Also it seemed like there were a number of silent letters and syllables, most notably the letter 'j' and syllables that started with 'j'. Are there any pronunciation rules that I'm not aware of that address this? I did a search on Google for silent letters but I didn't find anything.

[Sol Invictus]

third time's a charm. I just re-recorded it again.

I stumbled onto a very good Latvian pronunciation website though. For those struggling like me, check this out:

http://www.latvianstuff.com

In your recording, Sol Invictus, you spoke rather rapidly and it seem liked you mumbled a lot of words. I'm saying this because I'm wondering is all Latvian like this. From what I've heard, Danish is very much like that with sounds mumbled and omitted and whatnot but I didn't think Latvian was. I could be wrong, so that's why I'm asking. Also it seemed like there were a number of silent letters and syllables, most notably the letter 'j' and syllables that started with 'j'. Are there any pronunciation rules that I'm not aware of that address this? I did a search on Google for silent letters but I didn't find anything.

Hey, I allready apolgised for not being perfect, I tried to slow down, so my speach would be clear and the text has some unusual wording, which confused me. I don't know anything about silent letters, I managed to swallow a in second ka and first e in interesanti (common pronunciation), I was prononcing j and I don't hear much difference in the way you prononce them, so I don't know what makes you preceive them as silent. I rerecorded the text going word by word http://rapidshare.com/files/233851218/k ... s.mp3.html hope it is better

[kman1]

Hey, I allready apolgised for not being perfect, I tried to slow down, so my speach would be clear and the text has some unusual wording, which confused me.

no, i didn't mean to say your reading was bad or anything like that, I was just curious about the prosdy of Latvian. that's all. your reading was great in my opinion! you're a native and it doesn't get much better than that.

So, what did you think of my reading this (3rd) time around? was it better or are there other areas to improve upon? Once I get the ok from you I'm going to move on to another easier text to read. Know of any online Latvian children stories that I can read? I did a search for "Latvian children stories" but I haven't found anything so far. You mentioned that the text I choose had some unusual words that confused you so if I read something easy like a children's story then it'll be easier for everyone hopefully.

[Sol Invictus]

No, I did understand the words, the structure is bad. I suggest you don't try children stories they are way more complicated than you think, you should search pasakas (i.e. fairy tales). This site is really cool http://www.pasakas.net You are improving, it doesn't sound as if you were learning to read anymore you seem to pronounce c and o correctly (you are hesitating and have accent, however), you are still mispronouncing vowel lenghts sometimes, but it is consistent with having accent, so I think you could move on to something else, otherwise you'll just learn that text by heart not to pronounce, if you want a story, try http://www.pasakas.net/pasakas/citu_tau ... _kamielis/ you can listen to it too, just note that they give a bit information about the Fairytale in the begining (from where the tale is (I picked Mongolian), it's name and who is reading it)

[Levo]

Sol Invictus - despite of her mature voice - speaks like other Latvians.
Anytime I listen to Latvian, all the people put less effort in pronouncing the vowel in the last sylabelle.

[Sol Invictus]

BTW maybe you could try looking up some information about word stress in English - I'm not sure, if you are pronouncing it wrong, because you don't know what stress is or for some other reason, but, if it is the first case it might acctualy help - quich search on Google shows that pronounciation of some English words differs only by stress, and since in English you put stress either on first or second syllable, you might learn how it sounds when it is on the first syllable and how to put it on correctly.

[kman1]

You are improving, it doesn't sound as if you were learning to read anymore you seem to pronounce c and o correctly (you are hesitating and have accent, however), you are still mispronouncing vowel lenghts sometimes, but it is consistent with having accent, so I think you could move on to something else,

That is soooo awesome!! I'm very glad that I am improving even if only a little bit. I spent a couple of hours specifically on Latvian pronunciation so it helps to know that little by little I'm getting a bit better remedying some of my previous errors. (namely 'c' and the vowel 'o') You know, actually I pronounced the 'c' like I was pronouncing a 'z' but not fully. I just thought I should say that just in case anyone else is having a hard time pronouncing the Latvian 'c' like I had previously.
Yes, i'll gladly move on to another text. I was getting a bit sick of reading that text over and over again. Actually I took the day off today since I studied so hard yesterday. I played PES 09 on my Wii for about 9 hours straight today. I know it's bit excessive but that's my personality I guess. I'm trying to beat the season but anyway back to Latvian.