Belgium 3

Listen to Belgium 3, a 47-year-old man from Leuven, Belgium. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 47

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 1953

PLACE OF BIRTH: Congo, Africa (but raised in Leuven)

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Caucasian

OCCUPATION: businessman

EDUCATION: university

AREA(S) OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

He spent most of his life around Leuven, Belgium, from age 6. He taught English at a Spanish university for four years in his 20s. He spent summers with family in New Jersey, United States.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

His first language is French, his second Flemish. He learned English in Belgium from extra courses at the “Instituut voor levende talen,” a language institute attached to the University in Leuven. He uses English frequently in international business dealings. He has a wife who speaks to him in English when she’s feeling “romantic or angry.”

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Floortje Nijssen

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 05/2000

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

So, my, am Belgium. Nearly 48 years old. Having studied English here in Belgium and after some summer holidays in Jersey, U.S.A. And with a wife talking to me regularly in English whenever she’s romantic or angry.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Mitchell Kelly

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/01/2008

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.
• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.
• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.
• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

 

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