Why do I have the perception that native speakers speak very fast?

[spanglish]

Hello, I happen to feel that native speakers speak at a very fast speed when they pronounce each word


They think that I have problems with retention of new sounds.

[Atinkoriko]

They speak at a normal speed, you’re just not accustomed to parsing the language at that speed. Listening to more native material should fix this, consider joining one of the Super Challenges.

[Theodisce]

A few hundred hours of listening to native speakers is bound to solve the problem.

[Sylarv]

Your brain is just unable to parse the language quickly enough. This is due to lack of exposure. The more you listen, the more your brain can get used to the language. The reality is that languages really don't differ all that much in terms of phonemes per second.

[lavengro]

Hello, I happen to feel that native speakers speak at a very fast speed when they pronounce each word


They think that I have problems with retention of new sounds.

Consider switching to Mandarin, or arguably German - the "slow poke" languages. Avoid the whiplash-inducing Spanish and Japanese. Though I am not sure how significant the differences actually are.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fast-talkers/

They all sound wicked quick to me.

[reineke]

Hello, I happen to feel that native speakers speak at a very fast speed when they pronounce each word


They think that I have problems with retention of new sounds.

Consider switching to Mandarin, or arguably German - the "slow poke" languages. Avoid the whiplash-inducing Spanish and Japanese. Though I am not sure how significant the differences actually are.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fast-talkers/

They all sound wicked quick to me.

The OP speaks Spanish.

[Atinkoriko]

Hello, I happen to feel that native speakers speak at a very fast speed when they pronounce each word


They think that I have problems with retention of new sounds.

Consider switching to Mandarin, or arguably German - the "slow poke" languages. Avoid the whiplash-inducing Spanish and Japanese. Though I am not sure how significant the differences actually are.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fast-talkers/

They all sound wicked quick to me.

German is not slow

[Cainntear]

Hello, I happen to feel that native speakers speak at a very fast speed when they pronounce each word


They think that I have problems with retention of new sounds.

Part of your problem may be the difference in rhythm between languages.

Spanish is called a "syllable-timed language", because each syllable is given the same length of time. If you beat out the rhythm of your speech, it is like "ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da". English speakers sometimes describe Spanish as sounding like a "machine gun" when they first start learning.

English is a "stress-timed language", meaning that the rhythm is determined by stressed syllables. E.g Botswana is a country I've been to often. Each of the stressed syllables (tónicas) is in bold, and even though there are different numbers of syllables between each of them, they are the same length of time apart. This means that when there are lots of unstressed syllables together, each of those unstressed syllables gets very little time and your brain perceives the sentence as quick.

To improve your listening, improve your speaking.
Start practising identifying stressed syllables, and then tap your hand against your chest, your thigh, a table or whatever when saying the stressed syllables. At first, you might find that you want to tap on every syllable -- this is because your brain is trained to only carry out the Spanish rhythm. However, if you keep practising, your brain will catch on quickly.
Once you have trained yourself to speak in this rhythm, your brain will start listening for it in other people, and listening will become easier.

[Whodathunkitz]

..

Spanish is called a "syllable-timed language", because each syllable is given the same length of time. If you beat out the rhythm of your speech, it is like "ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da". English speakers sometimes describe Spanish as sounding like a "machine gun" when they first start learning.

English is a "stress-timed language", meaning that the rhythm is determined by stressed syllables. E.g Botswana is a country I've been to often. Each of the stressed syllables (tónicas) is in bold, and even though there are different numbers of syllables between each of them, they are the same length of time apart. This means that when there are lots of unstressed syllables together, each of those unstressed syllables gets very little time and your brain perceives the sentence as quick.

To improve your listening, improve your speaking.
Start practising identifying stressed syllables, and then tap your hand against your chest, your thigh, a table or whatever when saying the stressed syllables. At first, you might find that you want to tap on every syllable -- this is because your brain is trained to only carry out the Spanish rhythm. However, if you keep practising, your brain will catch on quickly.
Once you have trained yourself to speak in this rhythm, your brain will start listening for it in other people, and listening will become easier.

My brain is a bit befuddled this morning from surviving a kids sleepover... I should be able to work it out, but I found this really interesting and I'd like to understand this well. So apologies for asking something obvious

As an native English (England) speaker... who is currently learning Spanish (and cebuano which might be similar in nature/rhythm to Malay / Indonesian / Tagalog).

How do I get spanish rhythm? Any further tips?

[Cainntear]

As an native English (England) speaker... who is currently learning Spanish (and cebuano which might be similar in nature/rhythm to Malay / Indonesian / Tagalog).

How do I get spanish rhythm? Any further tips?

What you need to do is tap along with every single syllable. You won't be able to do this by beating with one hand -- it's just too fast (unless you're a fiendishly good drummer, in which case, knock yourself out!)

Instead, use either two fingers or two hands and tap them alternately with each syllable (I find two fingers easier than two hands, particularly at speed). 1No 2pue-1do 2ha-1cer-2lo 1a-2ho-1ra.

As it gets more natural, you can move from physically tapping something to just twitching your fingers -- you're just using muscle-rhythm as a sort of metronome for your brain. (And everyone has muscle-rhythm, or they'd fall over when trying to walk.) Once your brain's learned the rhythm, you can stop.