Senior Stories

 My Speech Journey

by Norman Lim

My journey in better spoken English started when I joined radio broadcasting in 1967. I thought then that I had a good voice and diction and so applied for the job as an announcer when I saw the advertisement in the Straits Times. The reply calling me for an audition came many months later after I had given up hope that they would ever grant me an audition. Why did it take so long? Maybe in those days things moved slowly. Or perhaps I was on the reserve list.

Well, after I got in, I realized I had much to learn and was not up to the standard in my pronunciation. In fact, I did not go on the air until maybe about 5 or 6 months later. I stayed on for close to 30 years and learnt much, especially in pronunciation, reading skills and presentation.

Besides picking up the technical skills of broadcasting, like how to handle the gramophone player, the microphone, tape machine, splicing and editing tapes, I had, most importantly, to learn the correct pronunciation of composers, musicians and conductors when I was moved from the English Service to the newly established FM Stereo Service of Radio Singapore in July 1969 which played classical music and cultural programmes.

When I started reading the news on radio and later television, that was when my English improved a lot. I had to check and make sure that I pronounced the words correctly. Not only of English words, but names of people, places and political figures and world events. Above all, my reading skills and articulation improved. As a newsreader, you must make sense of what you are reading and communicate the news with understanding to the listener or viewer.

 

As a radio broadcaster on the English Service Programmes , renamed later to Radio 1, now Gold 90.5, I had to produce all sorts of programmes, music, of course, requests and sports. In all of these, I learnt the pronunciation of various artistes, the different genres of music, athletes and sports terminology.

Learning to speak well with correct pronunciation takes a long time and interest. I was fortunate I had the good fortune to practice and hone my articulation and speaking skills on radio and television. But this requires an inquiring mind and constant checking of dictionaries. It’s a habit that has stayed with me until now in my retirement. Every time I come across a word I’m not familiar with I would make a note of it and check its pronunciation, meaning and usage. If I hear a word pronounced differently from what I’m used to, I will counter check it in the dictionary or from other sources like the internet. Sometimes I surprise myself to learn that I had been mispronouncing a certain word all along. At other times, I discover variants of pronunciation which are also perfectly acceptable.

English is a difficult language. Some have called it a crazy language. For one, it’s not pronounced the way it’s spelt, e.g.:

The letters “ou” can be pronounced in so many ways:

As “OW” in Cloud

As “OO” in Soup

As “UH” in Country

As “OH” in Though