[Parley-devel] Re: A pair of ideas...

[alsaf]

I think using audio/synthesized clips to learn words is a good idea but 
I think there needs to be a bit of caution in using it as it could cause 
bad habits to be learned. An example of this is explained in the 
following link of the language I am learning:

http://www.akerbeltz.org/beagangaidhlig/gramar/grammar_imitatedpron.htm

"So using English sounds/syllables to create a system of Imitated 
Pronunciation is not going to work - <lap-ee> and <cheen> are as far 
removed from the Gaelic words leabaidhand tighinnas <sing> and 
<oftalmolodschist> are from <thing> and <opthalmologist>."

While the article talks about written imitated pronunciation, from my 
experience, this is similar to how you listen to words of a different 
language as you mentally try to interpret it to similar words in your 
own language.

Another bad habit is if the learned language has different sounds from 
your host language and if you are learning words via Parley you may be 
lazy and skip that so that when you do actually go to speak your learned 
language you will not use the correct pronunciation. An example is from 
the same site:

http://www.akerbeltz.org/beagangaidhlig/gramar/grammar_lnr.htm

"A last word of advice - a lot of the following might sound like 
nit-picking about "irrelevant" detail.  Try not to be anglo-centric; 
just because from the point of view of the English language a 
distinction is irrelavant or minor does not mean the same goes for 
another language.  To many German learners of English <then> sounds like 
<den> and <thin> like <fin> - because to begin with German does not have 
a <th>, much less a "minor distinction" between two of them, so they 
substitute with the closest their native language can come up with.  
While that does not make communication impossible, most people would 
agree that it does not constitute "good English".  The same goes for 
Gaelic, making the wrong L does not constitute "good Gaelic"."


Maybe if the sound option could be linked into the IPA/Phonetic field of 
each word? This would be done by taking the words IPA/phonetic field and 
mapping each IPA symbol to an audio/synthesized clip and then outputting it?
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