Meet Nareman, a master’s student in Bioinformatics from the Tel-Aviv University who talks about why she decided to improve her English at Say What English Training.

As a public speaker of [important] subject matters, why do you think it is important for you to have clear spoken English for lectures, seminars and networking?

As a master’s student, I have a lot of lectures and seminars in English, but I don’t have enough courage and self-confidence to speak out loud, ask questions or express my opinion. This situation makes me feel stupid and embarrassed. On the other hand, feeling this way has pushed me into making the right decision, and I decided to improve my English to overcome these barriers.

Do you think it is a necessity to speak proper [correct] English to convey your message and be taken seriously as a public speaker?

I think it’s very important to speak proper English, because speaking an international language correctly can give us a lot of new opportunities and make others take us seriously.

With cross-border business communication mostly conducted in English, is having good and clear English a useful tool to reach more people around the world?

As I mentioned, I think having fluent and clear English can create a lot of opportunities, give us a lot of self-confidence and enable us to connect with anyone.

As a public speaker with ESL (English as Second/Third Language), what are some of the challenges you have faced when writing a lecture/speech?

Arabic is my first language. As an Israeli citizen, Hebrew is my second language and English is my third language. I face many challenges when I try to speak English. Sometimes I try to translate from Arabic to English, while other times I try to translate from Hebrew to English. As you might expect every language has different grammar rules and this makes the task of writing [in English] difficult.

Do you think that some important messages are not conveyed because they are not communicated correctly in English? The “lost in translation” effect?

Absolutely. When people don’t understand us and we don’t speak clearly, they even stop listening to us.

Do you think that speaking English well will help you communicate with people from countries all over the world, not just English-speaking ones? If so, in what ways?

Sure. Speaking English properly will help me communicate with people from all over the world. First, English is the third most spoken language in the world. Furthermore, it is the official language of science, and all the articles are published in English.  Many companies around the world interview people in English to make sure their employees can communicate with everyone.

הפוסט Lost in Translation? Communicating Better in English הופיע לראשונה ב-SayWhat English Training.

As a professional singer with ESL (English as Second Language), what are some of the challenges (e.g. accent barriers) you have faced when singing in English?

The main challenge was my accent. I never knew if I was consistent and clear and what it sounded like, even though I didn’t have an accent that was distinctly Israeli. So as someone who wanted to perform internationally, I always questioned whether I was clear enough. Even when writing lyrics [in English], I was never sure if I was writing a word that I knew how to pronounce correctly.

Had you ever had any diction training prior to studying at Say What?

No. The truth is that I wasn’t even aware that such a thing existed. I mean I’ve been taking voice lessons for many years and my [voice] teachers worked with me on my English a little, but it wasn’t from someone who is a native speaker.

Why did you feel it was important to get speech and accent training (for singing)?

The truth is that at first, I only thought about it for recording an album in English, which I wanted to sound clear and consistent, just as I would if I sang in my mother tongue (Hebrew). I wanted to use the language at the same level, in terms of grammar and pronunciation, so that it would sound very professional. After we finished working on the songs I was about to record, I realized that diction and accent training is equally important for me for live performances as well, and for everything else.

How has learning the sounds of English helped/ improved your confidence on stage and recording sessions? Are you able to express yourself more, when singing?

Definitely. I think that especially when you’ve already got the lyrics, and you have to work on the performance – for example on a cover or a song I want to record for another artist or another producer, or on something’s that’s not my own material – I can do it in the best possible way now, when it comes to accent and pronunciation (which I wasn’t even aware of before). It makes me feel more confident when I approach any song and not just vocally. 

The ability to express myself has improved because until now I only relied on the rules of my vocal training in my singing, not considering the language I sing in and there are many rules which apply which are valid when singing in Hebrew but not when singing in English, and that awareness makes me sound much better when I sing in English now. I feel that writing lyrics [in English] now has also became much easier and correct.

As a vocal coach as well, do you think that diction training should be taught separately or simultaneously in the lesson? Why?

If a non-Native student sings and writes in English, then the focus should be on improving their accent [and pronunciation]. It can be integrated into the singing lessons in my opinion, only if the vocal coach is a native speaker who can teach it correctly. If not, then it’s better to separate it like I’m doing now. In any case, I think that it’s better if it’s taught at a later stage, when the student is at a more advanced level vocally.

Finally, would you recommend speech and accent training to other professional singers? If so, why?

Absolutely. If you sing in a foreign language like English which is not your mother tongue and you want to do it professionally, and not just as a hobby then the training ultimately pays off if you do it thoroughly. I think that now, after all the lessons I’ve taken to improve my accent and pronunciation in English, I feel that it sounds much better, and you can definitely hear the difference between singers who have good pronunciation and a better accent, and singers who are probably not even aware of how they sound at all.

הפוסט Close-up with singer-songwriter Kalla (Lost Lights) הופיע לראשונה ב-SayWhat English Training.

In any given sentence, depending on the focus and type of information conveyed in that sentence, you need to determine which words to stress by raising and lowering your pitch. A single sentence can have totally different meanings depending on which word is stressed each time. So, the best way to describe intonation would be to say that it refers to the way we use the pitch of our voice to express particular meanings and attitudes.

One example which illustrates just how important intonation and proper communication really is, is the very funny comedy routine “Who’s on First” made famous by Abbott and Costello. The premise of the sketch is that Abbott is describing the players on a baseball team for Costello, but their names and nicknames can be interpreted as non-responsive answers to Costello’s questions, mainly because the names of the players on the baseball team have “peculiar” names like “Who”, “What” “I Don’t Know” “Why” “Because” “Tomorrow” “Today” and “I Don’t Give a Damn”. Needless to say, Abbott’s explanations leave Costello hopelessly confused, frustrated and upset because Costello is using “Wh”-questions”, which have the same falling intonation as statements. Would Costello pick up on the players’ names sooner if Costello would emphasize intonation, to remove the ambiguity? Probably, but chances are we wouldn’t have laughed so hard when hearing it then.

הפוסט Intonation: How important is it? הופיע לראשונה ב-SayWhat English Training.

This is nerve-wracking and causes them to lose confidence on stage, usually at the expense of a good performance. Learning the sounds of a language is a serious challenge but comes with a serious reward.

[Israeli] singers feel comfortable when singing in their Native language because they can fully express themselves and not have to worry about accent barriers. However, singing in English is a challenge because most Israeli students have almost no diction classes and very little speech and accent training by the time they are out of High School and University. Little emphasis is put on learning the sounds of English and how to say them accurately. As a result, most [Israeli] speakers are likely to mix the sounds of their native language and speak English with a heavy accent and a lot of mispronunciation. 

IPA – International Phonetic Alphabet

A helpful tool for singers is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) because it enables them to see every sound in a word and to eventually hear how to pronounce it. By seeing the word in IPA, you can pronounce it correctly with a little bit of practice and avoid bad accent habits.

Take the word “The” for example: Many Israeli singers sing “De” instead of “The“ because Hebrew doesn’t have the phoneme “Th” which is therefore incorrectly replaced with “D”. “The” in IPA is written /ði/. By seeing how the phoneme “th” is spelled and understanding it, you can then learn how to pronounce it correctly.

Eventually you start to hear the word in your head after you see how it is spelled in IPA. (For more examples check out: https://saywhat-now.com/talkenglish/

Accent training consists of various steps but the reward is for a lifetime! Once you get a feel for the sounds, how they are spelled and what the differences are, many barriers start to slowly fade away and Israeli singers will start to feel comfortable on stage singing in English!

הפוסט Performing on stage in English: A serious challenge with a serious reward הופיע לראשונה ב-SayWhat English Training.