fullspate podcasts

Struggling to find the right words

How to do it like the natives

No matter how fluent we are there are always times when the right word doesn't immediately come to our lips. Then we hesitate, and there's a gap in the flow of speech. In those moments of hesitation strange things happen. Sometimes a weird "errrmm" noise rises up from the depths. At other times meaningless little phrases sneak into our sentences. Here we have three little audio files to help you look at this more closely and perhaps learn how to hesitate in just the same way as the natives.

Click on the wave icons to hear the audio stuff.

	The difference between speaking English and reading the news. Plus: a particularly vicious dog (a Rotweiler) bites the tender leg of a delicate Englishman.
	Rock legend Patti Smith gives us some more examples of how to hesitate with style.
	We talk off the top of our heads about the bizarre attitude to time in the modern world, giving some final examples of natural hesitation along the way. Are we rushing headlong to the abyss?