>
> Chris wrote: (Snip)"BTW, I have a serious problem with my students' [u]
> vowels. I thought they'd
> all be too closed, but they aren't. They're this bizarre mix of [I] and [u]
> that I can't even begin to describe with a single syllable and it REALLY
> affects the resonance. And they don't hear it. When they DO find an [u],
> they can hear the difference, but they don't feel it when they do this weird
> mixed vowel thing and have no idea they're doing it wrong."
>
Laura replied:
>
> Many of my kids (students) do too! I thought it was an Albany thing, since
> I'd never heard it before. And you're right, they have no clue. I have to
> keep a list of what each has to think or think they're doing to produce [u].
> And it seems to be the hardest vowel for them to get a physical memory of!
>
> We always go through all the vowels and see what the tongue is doing and
> where it's touching and how it changes as we move through the vowels. They
> produce a beautiful [u] while we do this. But when we go to sing and they
> get to a familiar words with an [u], it all reverts to habit. The most
> common shift mine seem to need to make is to 'think' [o] while they sing
> [u]. Eventually they get it of course, but for some, they just don't hear
> it! They dutifully do what I ask, but only because they love me - not
> because they can hear that it's an [u]!
>
> Funny, aren't they? I still think it's the result of a dearth of good
> diction role models.
>
May I join you in this one?! There seems to be a reluctance in really
projecting the lips and dropping the jaw, making lots of space inside the
mouth.And yes. the vowel sound that the students produce just cannot be
described because it is a "none-vowel" Could one call it lazy or
self-conscious articulation, especially amongst the teenagers. And then
one can see them smiling to themselves as poor teacher exaggerates the
position and probably looks like a fish out of water! What we won't do to
get some kind of action!
Regards
Susi
Cape Town
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