Teen gets tongue lengthened to speak Korean

I came across this interesting news article today. It's so odd, I had to share it with you guys.

Rhiannon Brooksbank-Jones, 19 year old British Student, underwent surgery - a lingual frenectomy, to lengthen her tongue by 1cm to speak Korean better. She is devoted to the Korean culture, she has been studying the language for 2 years and has dreams of living in the country.

When speaking in Korean, Rhiannon had trouble pronouncing crucial sounds in the Korean language. To find out the reason why she couldn’t say those sounds, she visited her dentist. Her dentist told her the reason could be that she had a shorter than average tongue, a condition known as Ankyloglossia or "tongue tie".

After the 20 minute operation at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, she can now speak with a native Korean accent.

"My pronunciation was very 'foreign', but now I can speak with a native Korean accent," Ms Brooksbank-Jones said.

"The surgical procedure was my only option. It's not like you can stretch your tongue otherwise. "

I'm no expert in this area, but maybe having a voice coach or a speech therapist could have helped her pronounce the words better? I just think getting your tongue surgically lengthened is quite extreme.

Source: ninemsn

We're Learning Japanese with Ben Morgan

When I went to Japan last year, I picked up some words - but I wish I knew more Japanese so I could talk to the locals more. Luckily, special guest Ben Morgan joined us in studio this week for a Japanese lesson.

Listen to the podcast for the full lesson and find out why Ben wanted to learn Japanese.
Learning Japanese with Ben Morgan, May13 2011 by CherriiPOP


Here are some phrases he taught:

I listen to CherriiPOP - Watashi wa Chiripopu o kiki masu

I bought a goat - Watashi wa yagi-o kaimasu

Good evening - Kon ban wa

Kanojo mabai ne - Check out that hottie

Thank you Ben for teaching us Japanese!