Analysis of Botella's speech
A week has passed since the IOC didn't award the Olympics to Madrid.
Was it all the fault of the "relaxing cup of coffee" speech?
The guy who wrote the by-now infamous speech, said that her English was "excellent, delightful and easy to understand".
I'm sure he has been paid good money to say that.
Coming up: an analysis of her pronunciation and intonation.
Thank you Ignacio, President Rogge,
Dear (1)IOC members, ladies and gentlemen.
I (2)had the chance to speak to many of you in private
conversations and also in our presentations in (3)Saint Petersburg and Lausanne.
I must (4)say, I’d like to continue our (5)friendship, and
frankly, I don’t want this to be our last chance to(6)speak to each other. So let
me tell you a (5)little more about my beautiful hometown, (5)Madrid.
Madrid is one of the most comfortable, (7)charming and
inviting cities in the (8)world. Just like all of Spain, Madrid is an amazing
mixture of tradition. You can see, feel and taste the wonder of the Spanish
culture in Madrid’s parks, its food, its arts and its architecture.
Perhaps, those of you who have visited Madrid share
this feeling. We have been (7)working (9)hard for many years. So our guests, almost
eight million each year, feel at home.
And most importantly Madrid is (10)fun. The Olympic Games
are not only a celebration of sport, they are also a celebration of life. And I
assure you, no-one celebrates life like (6)Spanish people do.
There is nothing quite like a relaxing cup of café con
leche in Plaza Mayor or a (11)quaint,
romantic dinner in Madrid de los Austrias – the oldest part of Madrid.
So later today, when you are (7)considering your choice
for 2020, I hope you remember that in (5)addition to the best prepared plan,
Madrid also offers you a city full of culture, fun and (7)welcoming people.
The magic of Madrid is real and we want to share (5)it
with all of you.
Muchas gracias.
(1) Ok, maybe I'm being a little unfair here but the "O" sounded more like a "U". It is essential that you learn the English alphabet.
(2) This sounded more like "have" to me. I suppose she meant "had".
(3) Perhaps I'm being unfair again. It's only a place name. I heard Spanish "San" , not English "Saint".
(4) This sounded more like "said" instead of "say".
(5) The /ɪ/ sound causes huge problems for Spanish students. When you see a single "i" in a word, you tend to say the longer /iː/ sound. You should use the short /ɪ/ sound.
- friendship /ˈfren|d|.ʃɪp/ Compare: ship /ʃɪp/ and sheep /ʃiːp/
- little /ˈlɪt.l̩/
- Madrid
- it /ɪt/ Compare to eat /iːt/
- these /ðiːz/ Compare to this /ðɪs/
- addition /əˈdɪʃ.ən/
(6) A classic. Any word that begins with "s" isn't pronounced with the vowel sound /e/.
So /aɪ espiːk espæn.ɪʃ/ 😡 /aɪ spiːk spæn.ɪʃ/ 😍
(7) The "ing" /ɪŋ/ caused a few problems for Ana. Maybe it was the influence of her American "guru" but I wouldn't cut off the /ŋ/ so it sounds like /n/. It sounds lazy and I certainly wouldn't do it in a formal speech.
- charming /ˈtʃɑː.mɪŋ/
- inviting /ɪnˈvaɪ.tɪŋ/
- amazing /əˈmeɪ.zɪŋ/
- feeling /ˈfiː.lɪŋ/
- working /ˈwɜː.kɪŋ/
- relaxing /rɪˈlæk.sɪŋ/
- welcoming /ˈwel.kəm.ɪŋ/
Compare word /wɜːd/ and world /wɜːld/ .
Try saying "the whole world" and "all over the world".
(9) Another classic. Don't pronounce "h" like the Spanish "j". It's a soft /h/ sound.
Practise:
- hard
- heart
- hello
- hi
- hotel
- handsome
Compare fun /fʌn/ /ʌ/ and fan /fæn/ /æ/.
Practise the /ʌ/ /æ/ /e/ sounds here. Source: BBC Learning English
(11) At first, I thought she might be trying to say "quiet" /kwaɪət/ but then I realized that she might have attempted "quaint" /kweɪnt/. It's a word that American tourists would use to describe a beautiful, old place so I suppose it was her guru's choice of word.
OK, here is my attempt at Ana's speech. Not delivered with the same enthusiasm but there is an improvement in the intonation, IMO :-)
Comments
It's true that her pronunciation can't disguise the fact that she is Spanish but to be fair, I could understand most of what she said.
Apart from the content, the worst thing for me was the intonation. It just made it all sound insincere.
I think it is a bit unfair all the criticism she received.
She learned the speech by heart whereas Rajoy read his speech in Spanish yet needed to look at his notes every two seconds.
What English level does
Ana Botella have?
I don't know what that saying means. I looked it up but can't find anything similar.
You sound like a priest. Is that a quote from the Bible?
By the way, her husband is the only spaniard who speaks spanish with english texas accent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYkAsPxKJ3A).
It will be the speech that she is remembered for. If anyone else had given the speech, we would have praised them for making an effort to speak in English.
I've read the post and I've listened to the speech. I've been laughing for several minutes. It may be like "ver la paja en el ojo ajeno y no la viga en el propio", i.e., "seeing small defects of the others but ignoring our own faults", but I can´t help it. Her pronunciation isn't very good, but what about her performance?
By the way, her husband is the only Spaniard who speaks Spanish with a Texan accent.
Good to see you making use of the blog!