What I learned from Toa Payoh (Thursday) about the rhythms of Chinese, English and other languages

I visited Toa Payoh club in Singapore. They meet on a Thursday, if you wish to go there.

Language
Language has a rhythm. Count the syllables in each word, and the number of words in a sentence. To be counted.

Sing-song languages include Welsh and Italian. Staccato languages include Japanese and Korean.

You may say the correct words in another language, or your own language, but to sound like a native speaker you need to copy the intonation. That is why it helps to listen to the country's speakers on radio, even if you cannot understand what they are saying. You will start to appreciate how they sound, how you should sound when you speak that language.

You will recognise a language even if you don't speak it. You will recognize the difference between a quick chat and slow, dignified, formal speech.

Language is like poetry. Each language has a different rhythm.

English
Most English prose is like Shakespeare's blank verse, with emphasis on the first syllable. In poetry this rhythm is called Trochee. Emphasis is on the first or only syllable. Good MORning.

In English the opposite emphasis, on the second syllable, is called Iambic. Say the sentence "I am ..." or  "A man ..." and you will hear that you skate over the first syllable.

Author
Angela Lansbury, CL, ACG.