@Belly: I've already used that song actually and you're right, it works great! :) Although Japanese kids get really tripped up by "sweater" since they pronounce it "seh-tah".
Oops, well at least I know I was on the right track! =)
Your sweater comment reminds me of when Shonen Knife came here and played a few (ok, more like "a lot of") years ago.. One of the gals was so excited that she got to see a "squirrel," and I swear she took 10 minutes trying to enunciate that word correctly over and over on stage.. it was awkward. :lol:
Last edited by BellyButton; 09-27-2011 at 02:49 AM..
Yeah, I can see that happening pretty easily. :lol: The "s" sound can be troublesome on its own, but the fact that it's combined with both a "k" and "w" sound for the "qu" part is asking a lot. The vowel "i" can be one of the trickiest (particularly when it's pronounced like the "i" in "bird") and "r" and "l" are homophonous in Japanese, so asking my students to pronounce both within the same word, especially when they're placed close together, can be disastrous. XD
I've tried to teach "squirrel" to my elementary school kids, but they'll usually stick with "risu" (the Japanese word). It's so much easier to say by comparison.
I thought this might be a good choice. The girls have always been pretty good at enunciating:
Quote:
Artist: The Pierces
Song: To The Grave
Album: Love You More EP (2010)
Lyrics:
is it any wonder, cue the thunder
it's raining on me
this is getting frightening, there's the lightning
striking the trees
fire in the sky
please before they take me, come and shake me
out of this dream
find myself alone and chilled to the bones
inside of me
fire in the sky
and our hearts beat on like a drum
death will inevitably come
we are all helpless to the song
marching us all to our graves
marching us all to the grave
I knew it was coming, now it's running
faster than me
I cannot avoid this, there is one kiss
waiting on me
fire in the sky
and our hearts beat on like a drum
death will inevitably come
we are all helpless to the song
marching us all to our graves
marching us all to the grave
and our hearts beat on like a drum
death will inevitably come
we are all helpless to the song
marching us all to our graves
it is all just a mystery
who knows what will become of me
death will come inevitably
marching us all to our graves
marching us all to the grave
marching us all to our graves
some people call it tragic, but it's magic
waiting on me
Ha ha, yep. Something like that. And nice katakana usage. ;D
The "rel" part at the end is especially tricky to write in Japanese. Most katakana words based on English tend to end with "ru" or a long vowel sound dropping the "r" or "l" all together if it still sort of makes sense. Like "player" becomes "プレーヤー" (pureeyaa).
Can you guess what "ウール" (uuru) means? It's based on an English word.
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@Cardinal Biggles: I'll give it a listen. The lyrics sound do-able. :yes: Thanks!
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Wow, I really like how they sound! Even I can't use any of their songs, I'll definitely downl- I mean legally buy some of their songs. :ninja:
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@Howdy: Oh dude, somehow I missed your post on the last page! Thanks for the suggestion. It is slow and pretty easy to understand, but I think a little too long because it's so slow paced. Even if the words are a little fast, they can understand as long as there's a nice rhythmic beat to it. It's such a hard balance to find. :gonk:
@ Ferra: I adore The Pierces. They've got a new album out now, which was made by a large record company, which is a step towards success and sustaining their music career, but.... I have to say that to me, it sounds a bit overproduced compared to their older album, Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge. I admit to having my misgivings about it, because I do love their sweet, slightly odd folksy sound.
@Cardinal Biggles: I don't know which album the song I want to use is on ("Sticks and Stones") but I did notice a shift in style between the songs I listened to. I like both, but I hope they don't go down the road of becoming increasingly more generic-sounding. There are some groups/musicians who are great artists, but their songs can end up sounding manufactured and soulless after shifting to a more "mainstream" style. But, I don't necessarily disagree with the changes all the time. Hot Hot Heat, for example, started out super screamo and chaotic and then became very poppy, but I find the pop songs much easier to listen to.
But to be completely honest, I usually don't follow individual bands well enough to tell the difference between albums since I tend to cherry-pick a few songs I like from across several years of work, rather than listening to a full album at a time. XD
Sticks and Stones is from Thirteen Tales. I think you've hit on it there. Generic, Mainstream, and especially Manufactured. That seems like the direction they might be headed. They are in a tricky spot. I read their self authored bio once... I think it was on their myspace?... and they went through that with their first album (the one before Thirteen Tales) so I hope they are vigilant and non-complacent this time around. Because, you know, I'm entitled to dictate what they do >.<
hummy: If you get a chance, I recommend looking up his website, he has a VERY funny animated song about the pope, that is NOT okay to post on this PG-13 site (the animated popes lift up their animated skirts!).
hummy: If you get a chance, I recommend looking up his website, he has a VERY funny animated song about the pope, that is NOT okay to post on this PG-13 site (the animated popes lift up their animated skirts!).
i'll do that tonight Daria, thank you.
he really is funny.
i kind of thought he would be like russel crowe, he's not my type of comedian, but he was really very funny!
