Is this how you speak in everyday life? It seems to me that some expressions wouldn't be said in real life. For example: "Wait a minute", "That's what I call...", "I bet...", etc. Or can I as a non-native learner of English take THAT for the real way you'd speak?
2006-06-22 05:09:16 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
A case in which I feel the language is most artificial is the series "CSI Miami".
2006-06-22 05:15:20 · update #1
The short answer to your question is: somewhere in-between.
Phrases like "wait a minute", "that's what I call", and "I bet" are phrases that Americans would use in everyday life. However, there are characteristics of the dialogue on movies and television shows that are not like realistic language. For one thing, on television the things that people say don't overlap with each other much, while in normal conversation there is a lot of overlap between utterances. In addition, people on television never have a misunderstanding and have to repair it like people in real life sometimes do. The structure of conversations is different, and so forth.
I think you might be able to discover the answer to this question if you think about television programs in Spanish. You'll be able to recognize that there are similarities and differences.
2006-06-22 13:45:45 · answer #1 · answered by drshorty 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
On American TV, newscasters try to speak with a Midwest dialect. This is easiest for the greatest number of Americans to understand, and is most easily accepted.
On British TV, most speak with a slightly upper class accent. Shakespearean actors often speak with what is known as "received pronunciation," a very stllted upper class dialect. "Where have you bean?" doesn't mean they are looking for unground coffee.
I have seen Sir Ian McKellen, a master of received pronunciation, adopted a very lower class British accent to play a rural preacher in "Cold Comfort Farm," and he was a scream!
There are dialect/dialog coaches, and it depends what is needed for the part, such as ancient Aramaic
for "The Passion of the Christ," or Morgul Speech
in "The Fellowship of the King (Extended Version)."
Phew!! My keyboard is smoking!!
2006-06-22 12:25:13 · answer #2 · answered by helixburger 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most of the English is natural depending on the type of show or movie that is being protrayed, but then again, some of it is artifical.
2006-06-22 12:14:23 · answer #3 · answered by Vagabond5879 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most people don't say those things word for word. Especially "That's what I call..." I'll agree that a lot of that is really tacky English.
2006-06-22 12:13:38 · answer #4 · answered by Christine P 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Watch British TV - not American
2006-06-22 12:12:25 · answer #5 · answered by Neo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋