Mario
The European Union in brief

Would someone check me speaking?

 

https://soundcloud.com/mario-migliaccio-475523537/the-european-union-in-brief (me speaking)

Here, what I'm reading:

 

 The European Union in brief
At the core of the EU are the Member States —
the 28 countries that belong to the Union — and their
citizens. The unique feature of the EU is that, although
these are all sovereign, independent countries, they
have pooled some of their ‘sovereignty’ in order to gain
strength and the benefits of size. Pooling sovereignty
means, in practice, that the Member States delegate
some of their decision-making powers to the shared
institutions they have created, so that decisions on
specific matters of joint interest can be made
democratically at European level. The EU thus sits
between the fully federal system found in the United
States and the loose, intergovernmental cooperation
system seen in the United Nations.
The EU has achieved much since it was created in 1950.
It has built a single market for goods and services that
spans 28 countries with over 500 million citizens free to
move and settle where they wish. It created the single
currency — the euro — now a major world currency, and
which makes the single market more efficient. It is also
the largest supplier of development and humanitarian
aid programmes in the world. These are just a few of the
achievements so far. Looking ahead, the EU is working
to get Europe out of the current economic crisis. It is at
the forefront of the fight against climate change and its
consequences; as it plans to keep growing, it helps
neighbouring countries prepare themselves for EU
membership; and it is building a common foreign policy
which will do much to extend European values around
the world. The success of these ambitions depends on
the ability to take effective and timely decisions and to
implement them well.

The European Union in brief
At the core of the EU are the Member States —
the 28 countries that belong to the Union — and their
citizens. The unique feature of the EU is that, although
these are all sovereign, independent countries, they
have pooled some of their ‘sovereignty’ in order to gain
strength and the benefits of size. Pooling sovereignty
means, in practice, that the Member States delegate
some of their decision-making powers to the shared
institutions they have created, so that decisions on
specific matters of joint interest can be made
democratically at European level. The EU thus sits
between the fully federal system found in the United
States and the loose, intergovernmental cooperation
system seen in the United Nations.
The EU has achieved much since it was created in 1950.
It has built a single market for goods and services that
spans 28 countries with over 500 million citizens free to
move and settle where they wish. It created the single
currency — the euro — now a major world currency, and
which makes the single market more efficient. It is also
the largest supplier of development and humanitarian
aid programmes in the world. These are just a few of the
achievements so far. Looking ahead, the EU is working
to get Europe out of the current economic crisis. It is at
the forefront of the fight against climate change and its
consequences; as it plans to keep growing, it helps
neighbouring countries prepare themselves for EU
membership; and it is building a common foreign policy
which will do much to extend European values around
the world. The success of these ambitions depends on
the ability to take effective and timely decisions and to
implement them well.

Sep 5, 2015 3:08 PM
Comments · 9
2

Well done. I can hear a lot of improvement compared with the previous two versions - you've now got the right vowel sound in 'world' and the right stress on 'climate change', for example. Remember that 'success' is stressed on the second, not the first syllable, though. The only word in this text that wasn't quite right and which a listener might not understand is 'fully'. You might want to check that with an audio dictionary.

 

The tricky liaison in 'the EU' is getting better, too - but remember that the 'y' sound is part of the word 'the', (pronounced more like 'thee' when it comes before a vowel). So it should be something like "thee(y)   ee  you" rather than "thee   (y)ee  you", if that makes sense.

 

Otherwise, it's starting to sound good. Bravo.

September 5, 2015
1

You just need to read more and increase your fluency. Your pronunciation is right and your British accent sounds good. 

September 6, 2015
1

At the start you reminded me of this advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbNyZDsMBIQ

 

(No offence intended, obviously)

 

I think you're definitely doing well. I haven't heard your previous recordings so I can't really judge whether you've improved or not but you're definitely understandable. That said, if I didn't have the text in front of me there are definitely a few points where I wouldn't have understood you.

 

Keep pluggin' away man, you're doing a great job!

September 5, 2015

Now I will share these commercial with all my friend, they're very funny and don't mind I'm not offended ahah, It's funny for me too. 

September 6, 2015

"<em>British people (even those who weren't around in the 80s) can't hear the tune 'O Sole Mio' without breaking into a chorus of 'Just One Cornetto'.</em>"

 

True story. My ma always sings "Just One Cornetto." I had never actually seen the ad though.

September 6, 2015
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