Zimbabwe 3

Listen to Zimbabwe 3, a 45-year-old man from Harare, Zimbabwe. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject. 

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 45

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 25/12/1973

PLACE OF BIRTH: Harare, Zimbabwe

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Zimbabwean/Shona

OCCUPATION: casino dealer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

EDUCATION: A Levels in accounting

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject lived in Harare, Zimbabwe, until age 23. Then he lived in London, England, for eight years. After that, he worked on Royal Caribbean ships for 15 years, sailing around the world.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

Though the subject spent all of his formative years in Zimbabwe and knows the basics of the local language, he attended an English primary and secondary school, and his parents never spoke the language at home. He is also married to a woman from Scotland.

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

RECORDED BY: Sarah Maria Nichols

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 18/01/2018

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

When I was, what, 15, 16? — yes, still in school? — I was really, really small and short. And I became a jockey [lip smack], well, a horse rider — and was brilliant. I enjoyed it. I, I’m very passionate about horses — well, about horses, put it that way. I love horses – miss it. I do miss it, I mean, it’s something completely different in my world. People don’t know that about m- — a lot of people don’t know that about me. Susan [his wife] didn’t know about it, at all. I mean, she-sh-she couldn’t believe it. I showed pictures and showed her this; she was like, “Never, ever, that’s not you.” I said, “Yeah, it is.” I mean I was the height of that [points to the middle of a bunk bed in the room, about 5 feet tall]. I’m short now — I know that; but I mean I was shorter then. And s- — I suppose that was, that’s been my passion. Oh, like, all my life — was horse racing. Something that — I don’t know; it’s just a passion of mine.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Sarah Maria Nichols

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 18/01/2018

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).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.