There are great impediments to the general use of a standard in pronunciation
comparable to that existing in spelling (orthography). One is the
fact that pronunciation is learnt ‘naturally’ and unconsciously, and orthography　1．_______
is learnt deliberately and consciously. Large numbers of us, in fact, remain
throughout our lives quite unconscious with what our speech sounds　　　　　　　　　2．_______
like when we speak out, and it often comes as a shock when we　　　　　　　 　　　　3．_______
firstly hear a recording of ourselves. It is not a voice we recognize at once,　　　4．_______
whereas our own handwriting is something which we almost always know. We　　　　　　5．_______
begin the ‘natural’ learning of pronunciation long before we start learning to
read or write, and in our early years we went on unconsciously imitating and　　　　6．_______
practicing the pronunciation of those around us for many more hours per every　　　 7．_______
day than we ever have to spend learning even our difficult English spelling.
This is ‘natural’, therefore, that our speech-sounds should be those of our im　　8．_______
mediate circle; after all, as we have seen, speech operates as a means of holding a
community and to give a sense of ‘belonging’. We learn quite early to recognize a 9．_______
‘stranger’, someone who speaks with an accent of a different community — perhaps
only a few miles far.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　10．_______