Correct pronunciation when speaking in front of an audience

Many people come to me with various pronunciation problems. They are often not aware that they have a problem with spelling, they are just aware that the audience often finds it difficult to understand them. 

Pronunciation is not only the accents, the intention and the rhythm in which the word is said, but also which parts of the mouth we use to pronounce it. For example, for the letter "sh" we need to blow air through the teeth. 

vowels and consonants

All words in the Hebrew language are made up of 2 types of sounds: vowels and consonants.

Movement is a state in which the air comes out smoothly without restraints like "Ah". All the sounds that come out of the letters Ahoy are considered a movement.

A consonant is a situation in which the air is completely or partially blocked by a certain part of the mouth or nose (as for example in French) or even in the throat (as in the sound "h" or as in many sounds in Arabic). A sound where the air is completely blocked would be for example "P" or "B" (the air is blocked by the lips). A sound in which the air is partially blocked would be for example "sh" (the sound is blocked by the teeth) or "m" (the sound is blocked by the lips but instead comes out of the nose).

The voice and speech system

The vowels and consonants are formed in different parts of the speech system. Guttural consonants (i'an, hai'at, etc.) are of course formed in the throat, hissing consonants (smach, shi'an, etc.) are formed in the teeth, and stressed consonants (Bit Degosha, PA Degosha, M" m etc.) are formed in the lips.

Therefore, any problem in the speech system will be expressed in a different type of consonant or movement.

Improving spelling and accent

Unlike stuttering problems (whose causes are completely different), spelling problems arise from improper use of the vocal system. Some of these problems can only be solved by a speech therapist, while the easier ones can also be improved within the framework of group work. For example, when working with immigrants from the USA, we will work on strengthening the guttural consonants (Hait, Ein, and Rish, mainly), and on unifying the vowels (in English there are 15 ways to pronounce the letter 'a'. In Hebrew, you can't even differentiate between h for KMC!). When working with Arabs and Druze, we will emphasize the use of zirah instead of hirik, in milre instead of milal, and of course the replacement of the accented betgosha with the accented pa. And so on.

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