Learning to read lips. Lip reading. How to learn the technique of lip reading? How to learn to read lips
Since ancient times, spies have been trained to read lips in order to understand the plans of the enemy even with minimal audibility. Today, you can learn to read lips without doing espionage. People learn this skill in order to use it for personal purposes. For example, to look like your favorite hero from a movie about secret agents. But in order to learn this skill on your own, you need to train attention and concentration, study the stages of articulation of sounds (how sound is formed) and have at least a little talent.
Why study articulation?Articulation refers to the position of the organs necessary for the formation of a particular sound. A person who wants to learn how to read lips needs to distinguish between the stages of articulation: preparation for the pronunciation of a sound, pronunciation and completion of pronunciation (it is also a transition to the formation of a new sound). This is necessary so that during practice it is easier to distinguish the position of the lips when forming words.
Self learning lip reading
Now scientists and researchers are working on improving programs that help deaf children visually comprehend speech. This talent may turn out to be temporary fun, but it can help in unforeseen situations, including possible hearing loss.
Self-learning a skill can be done anywhere and using any method that you like best:
- Go to classes with a teacher of the deaf. True, they specialize in classes with children who have hearing impairments. In the classroom, you can learn to read sounds from the lips, study deaf technology, and more.
- Tracking people. This method is suitable for absolutely any place: a park, a cafe, an institute, an apartment. You need to choose an object for training and, without attracting attention to yourself, observe the movement of his lips, facial expressions and gestures.
- With TV. To start learning, you can turn on the movie that you have already seen and turn off the sound on the TV. It is necessary to follow the movement of the lips of the characters and try to understand what they are talking about. First, phrases that are remembered from previous views will help. Then you can turn on a completely unfamiliar movie and try to learn how to lip-read new dialogues. To check the correctness, you can select films with subtitles, for example, early Soviet ones.
- mirror method. You can also use a mirror to learn a new skill. You need to stand opposite and say at first just separate words, then you can train on whole sentences. It is important at this moment to watch your lips and try to remember how the lips fold when a new sound is formed.
- Together with a partner. Ask a family member or friend to help you learn to read lips. Practicing with a partner will help you learn a new skill very quickly. Let the partner pronounce words with his lips without making sounds, and you try to read what was said on his lips. The complexity of the exercises increases with the pronunciation of sentences.
Visible are those sounds, during the pronunciation of which the lips acquire a certain clear position. Invisible are those sounds that are difficult to determine the first time, since when pronouncing some letters, the lips have almost the same position. These letters include: "M" - "P" - "B"; "B" - "F"; "W" - "W", "H" - "W"; "AND I"; "U" - "Yu"; "O" - "Yo". From these letters you can add syllables that will be visible. To learn to read lips, you need to distinguish these sounds well. It is better to practice memorizing them using the mirror method.
This means that it is possible to use the capabilities of the brain, even if they were not available before. A deaf educator is a specialist who teaches lip reading.
If you can’t go to study with him, you can use various recommendations, and most importantly, train.
Learning to read lips together is much easier. Find a companion who will read text from a book or magazine while you look at him. Try to make out what the person is saying. The main thing is that he pronounces the words clearly, without making sounds. Many people use their lips correctly only in the process of speech production, but they make mistakes when imitating this process. There is a simple solution - take the headphones, put them on, and let your partner read the text in a whisper.
Everyone has their own homework, which consists in reading the text on their own. You need to not only pronounce the words, but also learn to quickly catch how you do it with your lips. The ideal option is to put a large mirror in front of you, in which you can repeat the text, seeing the movement of the lips and facial expressions, as well as perceiving the meaning, as well as the technical component of the words.
How to learn to read lips on your own
- Say the alphabet in front of a mirror. These should be letters either in direct sequence, alphabetically, or in the form of words and sentences.
- If you can’t read word by word, but you understand that the letters are already able to distinguish, go to the intermediate lesson - pronounce the syllables at the mirror.
- Think about a movie or series you have already watched, but you liked it so much that you would only be pleased to watch it again. Great, turn on the recording, first with sound, then turn it off. Try reading lips. Knowing what the meaning is embedded in the words, it will be easier for you to understand them. And the movement of the lips in this case will become a hint, which is also useful in the learning process, until you fully know how to perceive accurate information from the mouth.
- Consider emotions. If speech is not always understandable only by lips, then in combination with facial expressions it is easy to determine at least in what direction a person speaks, whether it is negative or positive, a real story or humor, what feelings he experiences.
By practicing for at least half an hour or an hour every day, you will learn to read lips in about a month or two.
Knowing in an interlocutor a disposition to a conversation or identifying a reluctance to talk in advance will help knowledge of how to learn to read lips. Lips, like eyes, can tell a lot about the mood, opinion and beliefs of a person. We don’t even realize how the mouth twists when it’s false or the whole facial expression changes when you like a person. the site will tell you how to learn to read lips and achieve location in communication. Such knowledge is necessary for managers, people working in trade, and just anyone who wants to have many friends.
How to learn to read lips: basic facial expressions
Sincere smile and fake
The power of a smile is known to everyone, but not everyone can distinguish between a fake, gloomy, joyful, happy one.
Thailand is called the land of smiles because Thais tend to smile automatically when they meet a guest on their doorstep or a tourist. The Thai philosophy of Sanuk has about 13 types of smiles, and means for this people - Life with pleasure. The elementary difference between a sincere and a fake smile will help to understand the interlocutor and catch the moment when interest in communication disappears. A person sincerely smiles when the corners of the mouth rise and small wrinkles appear near the eyes, the lips part, the cheeks rise slightly. It is impossible to refuse such a smile, it is contagious and disposes a person to friendship. A smile just like that, for a good manner, turns out to be crooked, there is no warmth and spark in the eyes. When a person laughs heartily or just smiles, it seems that his eyes also glow. If during negotiations a wry, unnatural smile is found on the faces, this means an unwillingness to cooperate and generally talk. In this case, it is better to change tactics so that communication does not break.
If the interlocutor smiles from the top of his head with his eyes wide open, this may mean a clear threat. During a smile, raised eyebrows characterize a person's readiness to submit or give in, agree. If the eyebrows are lowered - there is a clear superiority. In unpleasant situations, or when something tragic happens, a person experiences and nervousness sets in, a wry smile may appear. This does not mean that a person is indifferent or cold-blooded, he just has such a way of expressing himself in tragic situations.
What do pursed and tightly compressed lips signal?
Discontent and disagreement with the speaker's opinion can mean pursed lips or folded in a bow. Such a sign of facial expressions of the interlocutor signals an imminent protest. As soon as during a conversation you notice that a person is pursing his lips, you can react and correct the impression. Therefore, while a person is considering how to express his dissatisfaction, you can immediately go on the offensive: change the stream of beliefs or make a convincing argument in defense of your opinion and make the interlocutor change his mind. You can practice this “interception” of thoughts in the family circle between husband and wife. If the lips of the interlocutor are compressed, then he wants to express his disagreement, but restrains his emotions. During the interrogation, when the offender involuntarily thought about the confession, and began to tighten his lips, it is clear that he is holding back his feelings so as not to give himself away.
Under what circumstances does the interlocutor bite his lips
A simple touch of your fingers to your lips
The interlocutor can express simple embarrassment or disagreement by touching his lips with his hand. A person is unsure of his rightness or he is simply embarrassed to touch on a sensitive topic. In any case, you can encourage the interlocutor to still speak out, with the words: “It may be inconvenient to raise this topic, but it’s worth talking about it.”
Why does the interlocutor often lick his lips
When a person is nervous and tells a lie, he often begins to lick his lips. Internal restlessness leads to rapid dehydration and drying of the lips and mouth.
How to learn to read lips so that you can control people's attention? First, it is worth observing the behavior of others and drawing appropriate conclusions. Secondly, observe your reaction and adjust mimic indicators.
The skill of reading speech on the lips can arise in any modern person. Many of us believe that only super spies are taught lip reading, but this is of course not true. Most often, this skill is necessary for people who are deaf and they hone this ability throughout their lives. However, ordinary people may also need this lip reading skill. Of course, the prerequisites are different for everyone, but you will have to work on yourself in any case. How to learn to read lips you will learn from this article.
The most effective way is to go to a deaf teacher who will teach you how to read lips in his lessons. Also, in the classroom, you will be taught to read sounds from the lips, they will tell you what deaf technology is. If you do not have the opportunity to go to the teacher, then do not despair, since it is possible to develop this skill on your own.
In order to learn how to read lips on your own, you first need to study articulation, that is, the position of the organs necessary for the formation of a certain sound. You need to learn to distinguish between all stages of articulation: preparation for pronunciation of a sound, pronunciation and completion of pronunciation (it is also a transition to the formation of a new sound). The study of articulation is necessary so that during practice it is easier to distinguish the position of the lips when forming words.
Follow people - this method is suitable for any place you choose. For example, a park, a restaurant, a bus, a subway, an institute. Choose one object for yourself and quietly observe its lip movement, facial expressions and gestures. The TV will also help you, first turn on a movie you know, turn off the sound and try to understand what the characters are talking about. First, you will be helped by the phrases that you remember from the previous viewing of the movie. Next, watch an unfamiliar movie and try to learn how to lip-read new dialogues. To check the correctness, you can select movies with subtitles.
Use a mirror to learn how to read lips. To do this, stand in front of the mirror and start pronouncing individual words, the main thing is to follow facial expressions and remember how lips fold when words and individual sounds are formed. Then move on to whole sentences.
Ask a friend or relative to help you master the technique of lip reading. Practice will help you learn to read lips faster. To begin with, ask your partner to pronounce the words with his lips without making sounds, and you try to read what was said on his lips. The complexity of the exercises increases with the pronunciation of sentences.
You will also need to learn to distinguish between visible and invisible sounds. Visible sounds are called those sounds, during the pronunciation of which the lips acquire a certain clear position. Invisible sounds are called those sounds that are difficult to learn to identify the first time, since when they are pronounced, the lips have almost the same position. But do not despair, since invisible sounds are well distinguished in the syllables that they form and such sounds are already considered visible. Therefore, training at the mirror is necessary. If it’s difficult to start with individual words, then you can move on to the alphabet, then to syllables, and only then work on words and sentences. The most important thing is to practice as often as possible and do not forget that you can do it almost always and everywhere. Watch the people around you, how they pronounce words, how their face and facial expressions change.
