As part of this week’s assignment, we are supposed to respond to at least two other people’s essays about their language expreriences growing up. I posted the following response to someone who noted how she has trouble doing the trilled ‘R’ in Spanish:
Hi Katie, One of the first things I ever noticed about people not being able to make certain sounds was the trilled “R’ sound. I’ve always been able to make it, but then started noticing others’ troubles as I grew up, probably around high school. Now, I am even more cognizant of it. I have a friend who is from India. They make no distinction between the ‘V’ sound and the ‘W’ sound in their language. He tells me stories of how his Australian school principal would always try to have the kids in the school practice the difference. He still has trouble though. I’m in the market for a new car right now, and because of him, I’m trying to find reasons to buy a Volvo. Or maybe a Volkswagen.