Rebecca
Learning to hear new sounds: can you help me find words that differ only in one letter??

Hi,

 

As a native English speaker trying to learn Malayalam, the single biggest challenge I have is that I cannot hear the difference between curled (retroflex) and uncurled consonants - a ന and a ണ, for example.  I have been reading up on the current research on how to best overcome this challenge, and it turns out there is absoultely a way, but I need your help to get it set up for Malayalam!  As discussed in the citations at the bottom of this post, what you need to do is identify words that differ ONLY in the target sound, create audio recordings of them, and then do repeated practice drills on these flashcards.

 

I have been trying to assemble such pairs for Malayalam, but it's hard for a non-native speaker.  Can I enlist anyone here for help?  In the end I'll compile it all for everyone to use - I think it could help a lot of people!  

Here's what you can do: post as many pairs of words that differ only in whether the consonant is retroflex or not.  I can track down audio files for them myself, unless it's easy enough for you to do it.  Examples:

 

മറ / മഴ

കര / കറ

വല / വള

കനം / കണം

 

Can anyone come up with more?  The list of all of the relevant letters to try to contrast is:

 

ട / ത / റ്റ

ണ / ന

ഷ / ശ / സ

ര / റ / ഴ

ല / ള

ഡ / ദ

O / ഥ / റ്റ

ഢ / ധ

 

Also useful would be any pairs you can think of constrasting the first and second or third and fourth consonants from each group: 

 

ക / ഖ

ച / ഛ

പ / ഫ

ട / ഠ

ത / ഥ

ഗ / ഘ

ജ / ഝ

ബ / ഭ

ഡ / ഢ

ദ / ധ

 

Any and all input welcome!  

(For more info on this method, see: the second half of this post https://fluent-forever.com/chapter3/#.VVuv_vlViko or the relevant chapter in the associated book for much more information).  

May 19, 2015 10:05 PM
Comments · 9
Hey, I'm a native malayalam speaker. I'm fluent in English too. If you still need help, just let me know. Happy to help.
I can sent voice records if you want. Just specify what you need now
August 10, 2020
Hey I'm from India my native language is Malayalam and I want to learn English
July 12, 2020
You can book a trail lesson with me for just $3. I can help you.
September 18, 2017
My name is Jayesh . I am from India . could you please help me to speak in english.I will help you to speak malayalam . 
My skype id is : jayeshck3
September 4, 2016

I took the the free course,but not the paid course I mean.

May 20, 2015
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