I agree. Intonation and rhythm are sooo important. When I do any exercises that contains audio, I try to speak alound whild doing it, but I try to imitate everything. At the beginner level I might struggle with accents, so I might focus more on accents but after a while, I try to imitate all the intonations and rhythm.

Great video Robin. I think it's very much a case of " noticing " as Steve Kaufman says. It's ok having all the materials to build a house but not using them correctly. Time spent at the start getting pronunciation correct is paramount. That's why listening is so important. We should give our brains more credit for remembering. My advice is to take it slow. We will never know our target language completely so why the panic ?

Just found out my problem😅 thank you very much!

I totally agree with everything here. My target language is Brazilian Portuguese and spend a good amount of time in Brazil (I'm American). My fiancée is a non-English speaking Brazilian. Sometimes when speaking I have no doubt that I'm using the right words but can have difficulty to be understood by native speakers. I was talking to an English teacher in Brazil about this and he said that often the listener is simply lazy. There are not many Foreign Portuguese speakers in Brazil particularly away from tourist areas and they simply are not accustomed to hear their language spoken with a foreign accent. They don't want to have to really listen. Sometimes I will say something and they will look confused and turn to my fiancée to "translate" and she simply says the exact same thing using the exact same words and they immediately understand. I recently got a bit angry with a friend who did this and said, hey talk to me, not her (in Portuguese). She was shocked. But, afterward during that same conversation, she actually listened and understood every word that I said without any difficulty.

When I was in French Immersion, I had difficulties pronouncing my "R" s as well. The instructor got me to ROAR like a lion in the mirror and now my "R" s are fantastic! Or try being a pirate lol "Arrrgh"

Dear Robin, many thanks for talking thoughtfully and insightfully about things that aren't discussed enough! (Not just in this video, but in all your videos, in general)

For me, as an Italian person, it's incredibly difficult to manage my intonation while speaking English (with all those ups and downs). Sometimes I find myself listening to the audio messages I send to my friends (English speakers) and I feel sorry for them because I sound sooooo boring. Do you have any advice? Shadowing? How could I do?

For me as a learner, I tend to nail the pronunciation, rhythm and the intonation first (i.e at A0 level). And when I delve deeper into the language, I tend to pay less attention to the pattern of pronunciation when learning an expression so I can focus more on other aspects. But I am terrible (still) at the syntax of my current target language which throws my target audience off speaking to person, because they cannot understand what I am talking about due to the fact that I tend to struggle with string up different components of the sentence together. I can so resonate with you when you're trying to complete a sentence in Mandarin, as I am really struggling with German and constantly need to tell myself to keep moving forward.

I've noticed that those native speakers who struggle the most with that are the once who haven't even left the country, even on vacation

Very good info/thoughts, thanks!

Now I want to improve my listening skills in English but at first it's very hard coz it's very fast and I can't understand everything U speak but I hope I will get used to it

Hi! I watch all your videos but never write comments! I love your channel ! Could you please explain how to do that? I don't know how to be aware of my rhythm! I mean, how can I fix something that I can't be aware of, right? I would like to know exactly how to fix this. I already watched lots of videos about this subject but in the end, I always thought that those who master this, have some talent for languages (im not saying that they don't work to improve that). I live in the USA, but I am from Brazil. I can read, write and understand very well, but it is difficult when I need to talk. It's so frustrating... God bless your weekend! Thanks for your videos 🙏✨😊

I am of the same opinion. But wird choice is Essential, too. Problem is to Pick the right Register

good topic. Rarely mentioned although

Can't agree more

Oh my God thank you for the Russian ЫЫЫ it was hilariously accurate :)

keep up great one I just have started learn English and Ifind it difficult with accent and Ihad searched for along time to find you I am an arabian so my english is bad ....

I hope there is a livestream tomorrow

Where in the United Kingdom are you from? You pronounce the Rs. I’m interested in British English and I’d like to know if you have some specific British accent. Thanks.

What kind of light is that, @Robin MacPherson? It’s not a ring light. Not to be off-topic but visuals can be distracting (not just poor enunciation), and for those of us with glasses having to do Zoom meetings, trainings, interviews or lessons on KZfaq, it’s a concern.