RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30155, 12 June 1963, Page 22

RANDOM REMINDER

FACING FACTS Sydney radio electronic engineer. Arthur McLean, will not have won many friends in his home country by his description of Australians’ speech at a recent convention. He said Australians talked nasally because their jaws and teeth control was “like a cornet blown constantly, with the valves controlling it being moved up and down continuously.” He said the Australian had every speech making part constantly on the move.

But, he elaborated, the opposite happened to those who spoke the best Oxford English. “In the English mouth all speech-making parts are set in place before a burst of breath is permitted. The result is a

clipped speech which is both sharp and. precise.” Well, it is to be expected that we New Zealanders will be for it before long. We have noticed a strong affiliation between New Zealand and Australian speech at gatherings of women, where every speech-making part has been constantly on the move. The blowing of trumpets has been tremendous. But before any electronics engineer can assess the physical properties of New Zealand speech sounds, we may be able to do something about it. Practice is the thing. Jabbers’ clubs could be formed for people to watch each other's speech and comment on it. provided strong selfdiscipline is exercised.

But really valuable training could be obtained in front of the bathroom mirror each day. The English system of assembling everything before committing oneself to sound rather Just as a young man, conscious of his fine Physique, may while away a happy half-hour before the mirror, flexing his muscles and watching the fascinating play and ripple of them admiringly, so may speech selftherapeutics take the place of singing in the shower. But be sure to advise wife and children of the project; nervous youngsters discovering a father grimacing sound*7 s| y beneath a beard of shaving soap might have frights in the nights.