Using the right words

When people first find out that I speak more than one language, I often get asked "Don't you get confused?"

It's as if the fact that I speak two languages is a hardship. Actually, quite the opposite is true. It's a gift. Having a second vocabulary opens up the world to me, it doesn't shrink it.

I admit, when I was a kid, I did sometimes mix my languages.
Notice I didn't say mix UP.
I combined them not, because I was confused, but because I was choosing just the right word that fit the meaning I wanted to convey. And sometimes that word happened to be in a different language than the one I started my sentence in!
Luckily, my parents pretty quickly made it clear: "Finish your sentence in the same language you started it in!" It was another exercise in finding the right word in the particular language I was speaking in.

Now, some languages are just more precise in certain concepts than others are. Take the Inuit who have over 200 words for our word "snow," describing all its different facets.

So what does this have to do with Voice Over?
A lot actually.
As a voice over artist, I work with words every day.
All types of words: silly words, sales words, medical words, technical words. They all convey a meaning.

My job is to bring that meaning to life.
As voice talent, we're not just reading, we're telling a story, and to do that well you need the right words.

This is not as obvious as it seems, especially when you're dealing with a script that was translated incorrectly.

I often record bilingual scripts - one version of the script in English, the second in French. Sometimes the translations leave something to be desired.

So here's my advise: If you need to have a script translated, use a professional translator.

Do not use "Sophie in HR" who happens speak French. Or "Maria in A/R" who happens to speak Spanish.

I speak French fluently, but when it comes to translations, if a client asks me for that service, I provide it by working closely with a professional translator to make sure that my client gets the best and most accurate script possible.

Yes, it makes my voicing of the script a lot easier.
But, more importantly, using the right words will make my client look and sound good to their clients. And happy clients are always a good thing!

The rain in Spain.....

If you've ever seen the movie "My Fair Lady" you remember the articulation exercise "The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain."

As voice talent, we often "talk" a fine line between over and under-articulation.

Marc Cashman wrote a wonderful article that addresses some of those pesky little "bridge" words that sometimes fall victim to voice over mush-mouth!

Thanks to John Florian at VoiceOverXtra for posting this great article!

Learn a word & Feed the world!

I love words. Yes, one of my favorire books is the dictionary! I'm always looking up words I hear that I don't know...and then get distracted by other words as I look for the definition of the first word! I have English dictionaries, French dictionaries, English to Russian Dictionaries...I could go on...yeah, I love words!

So when I found out about Free Rice, I had to share! Free Rice is a website where you play to test your vocabulary, and help feed the world at the same time! For every word you get right, they donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations Food program.

Don't think thin 20 grains is much? according to their website, they've donated 15,934,508,610 to date (1/25/08)...every little bit helps... I just played and donated 220 grains already! (make that 300 grains...) I did my good deed for the day!

According to their website, Free Rice has two goals:
- Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
- Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

As a voice over artist, I live in the world of words. this site will be a new addiction!...but at least I'll be doing good!

My thanks to Stephanie Ciccarelli at Voices.com for posting this info on their Vox Daily Blog