syllable word “bliss” is full of meaning. On the
other hand, the word “to” is not. A single syllable in
the midst of a longer word, such as the short “i” in
merrily, has no independent meaning at all. When
scientists listened to a minute of speech in all of
the languages studied they found that each language
conveyed about the same amount of information in
that minute. They concluded that while Spaniards
"sprint” and Chinese “stroll” when they speak, both
tell the same story in the same amount of time.
In English, there’s growing concern that many
people are speaking too quickly. Our fast-paced
lives mean we try to say more in less time. But
is it working? Experts fear that fast speech means
listeners comprehend less and less of what is said.
As language learners, we need to remember that
speaking fast is less important than speaking well
and that one key to speaking well is listening well.
In fact, eighty percent of what we learn comes from
listening. That’s why we need to learn strategies to
help us listen. We need to be prepared to politely ask
speakers to slow down, repeat what they’ve said or
clarify. Above all, we need lots and lots of practice!
(Source:
www.gov.mb. ca/ctt/invest/busfacts/
overviews/d_language.html)
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