Diction classes and singing lessons
"For the sheer sensual joy of singing, no language gives me more pleasure than French." (Renée Fleming)
There is a clear link between teaching, singing and accent correction. That's why as a linguist, but also a musician, I warmly suggest singing for some students, so that their ear can better distinguish the sounds of the language.
Improving one's diction or being able to sing simply requires the person to work on their breathing (abdominal in particular), on the pitch and range of the sounds, as well as on the rhythm. Singing is a wonderful form of expression and is very enjoyable, but it also enables you to enhance your singing and spoken voice.
A voice developer
I also like to define myself as a voice developer, encouraging my students to sing, when I feel that their voice is ready.
As for the question regarding how she knew she had a beautiful voice, soprano Julie Fuchs responded: “First, people told me.” A common response for singers, as one is rarely conscious of having an excellent voice. My passion for the human voice and vocal work for more than twenty years has allowed me to imagine with a certain impartiality what the spoken voice is able to produce when it’s used to sing. Indeed, words and singing are produced by the same organs of speech and stem from the same person. Singing produces such pleasure and often a sense of well-being that students are always grateful to realize that their voices are capable of that degree of joy.
Here is an example of a student whom I taught:
Find more information about French phonetics, accent reduction and language in general on my blog.
