Improve Your Dialect Work: Learn IPA

If you've ever had difficulty understanding someone who speaks the same language as you but has a strong regional dialect (Louisiana, Cockney, etc), then you understand that while words are spelled the same way around the world, they are pronounced in completely different ways.

An American might say:

Park the car in Harvard yard.

While a person from England might say something more akin to:

Pahk thee cah in Hahvuhd Yahd.

One of the keys to dialect work is breaking down the differences in how specific sounds are pronounced. If you've ever taken a dialect class you were probably introduced to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). It's an alphabet created by linguists in order to accurately record different dialects exactly as they sound - not how they're spelled.

Unfortunately, IPA can be difficult to learn, especially if you're just working on your own.

Which is why I was so excited when I found "Sephonics", it's a freeware PC program that helps you quickly get up to speed with the English subset of IPA. Definitely worth a look from any actor serious about improving their dialect work. The following is text lifted from the Sephonics website:

Sephonics includes seven different exercises for practising English
pronounciation and the phonetic alphabet, including a phonetic memory game to
relax between the lessons! There are also exercises where you learn to match a
sound to a phonetic sign, transcribe from phonetic text to ordinary text, and
much more! Sephonics is freeware.
Sephonics requires Windows 95 / 98
/ NT / 2000 / XP or better.

Becoming More Worldly: Learning Geography Online

Most folks in my life know that I have a horrid sense of direction, in the physical/literal sense. While the goals of my life are sometimes amorphous, they are still more distinct than my knowledge of how to get to a local bar without first driving past my apartment.

As I travel more and more of the world, my ignorance of countries, capitals, and key facts is becoming more than a little embarrassing. To that end, I've searched the web for tools to help me learn geography. The following is a listing of the items I found most useful:

• Shepard Software's Online Geography Tutorials & Quizzes - This is probably the best resource I've found to date. Quizzes are offered in levels of increasing difficulty, starting first with a tutorial that identifies the countries and ending with a quiz where you drag, rotate, size, and name countries onto a blank map.
• Setera - This is a free program that you can install on your computer. This quizzing features are nice, and include country flags and capitals. However it really assumes a prior knowledge of country names and geography.

I was hoping to find a "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?" equivalent for adults. As yet, no joy.

Do you have any tips on how to quickly learn more about world geography, history, and culture? I feel like I must have slept through those classes in elementary school, and I didn't take them in high school. Comments are welcome.

Donovan Talks to Animals

Just like Marky Mark on SNL, I too can talk to animals:




Watch it on YouTube.

Cabin Fever Management Plan

I've been traveling through Asia for a little over two months now and I have to admit that despite all of my movement I'm getting pretty stir crazy. I miss my girlfriend, friends, family, apartment, and cooking for myself. Whenever we aren't shooting I'm in the e-cafe stalking people on facebook or obsessively refreshing my Google Reader for new posts - even though it auto-refreshes. I have all too much time to feel sorry for myself and lament my not-so-piteous situation.

Recently I got something of a reality check. I did some serious reflection, and I've realized that I'm only happy when I have too much to do. So, I've laid out a series of goals:

Fitness:
Get into camera-ready shape before we shoot the scene with implied nudity in India. This means running, isometric exercises, and laying off the booze and steamed pork buns.

Work:
Freelance projects - if I've got enough time to write enough emails to creep even good friends out I've got enough time to work. I'm going to complete the two freelance projects I still have outstanding from before my trip.

Cultural:
Learn about where I am - geography, history, culture.
Learn passable Mandarin - just enough to get around and not feel like a total loser.

Personal / Creative:
Write a play - I've got a lot of thoughts, many of them conflicting. I might as well let that become dialogue and a socially acceptable outlet for my extroverted leanings in a land where I don't have many folks to talk to.
Learn a monologue or 3 - Shakespeare wrote some eloquent stuff, and I'd do well to know more of it.

I'll get more specific with deadlines, etc as time progresses, but for now it's progress just to write out my intention to do more.

Photos From Cambodia & Laos

I've finally had time and a fast enough internet connection to upload some photos. The following are slide shows w/ captions (click on the title of this post if you aren't seeing them).

Clowning as Universal Language

In my current hotel room, there are 130 television channels. All but one of them is in a language other than English. The one English-Language channel is all news, all the time. So, as you can imagine, it takes a while for me to settle on a channel I can convince myself is actually a productive thing to watch (why must I always be productive, even in my relaxation?).

Somewhere around channel 73 I found a rebroadcast of a Cirque Du Soleil style circus. Some things are universal and don't require language; a person so flexible they essentially turn themselves inside out will be compelling no matter where you're from. Then came the clowns - totally universal, totally understandable, all of it accomplished through a very clear articulation of their emotional state. Or as some might describe it: hammy acting.

As I was treating myself with a little retail therapy (Price in Yuan * 0.15 = Price in Dollars) I found myself doing clown-style pantomime in order to articulate my thoughts. "Yes, yes, the Jacket is nice. But it is expensive and I don't need it. Whereas I do need the pants. Also, you gave me a good deal on the pants, but it is clear you are trying to screw me on the jacket. A matching pair is not so important to me. I will just go. Oh, a good deal? Well then, I would be more than happy to buy the jacket. Thank you." Of this stream of consciousness, only the last phrase was vocalized as Xia Xia (sp?).

While there may not be a place for clown acting in most films, nor theater, there is a place for it: haggling in a foreign language. After I'd leave, I'd hear anyone who had seen the exchange say "Wai-low" and then laugh. Directly translated Wai-low means something like "white devil", but I've been assured it's not a bad thing.

But those sparks of laughter are a wonderful thing. The following is a quote from the Pi Clowns' website:

We believe that laughter has the ability to strengthen communities and heal the individual. As the Dali Lama stated, The best way I can describe enlightenment is spontaneous laughter.

I'll leave you with a little video from Pi Clowns - some friends of mine in SF who formed a clowning troupe after college. They're having a great time and making fun and funny theater.

China: Currently Under Construction

So our 7 hour bus ride ended up taking 16 hours. Roads are being constructed all over the place. Above is a picture of the backup of vehicles at the 1st landslide, waiting for the bull-dozers to move the boulders out of our path.

That said, it was the shortest 16hr bus ride of my life. The terrain is absolutely gorgeous and I was well-fed. I gorged myself on pork buns, fried dough-ey things, and all manner of dimsum and crackers.

Days without seeing another white person (except Gabe): 1 and counting.