When I was in kindergarten I had to attend speech therapy because I pronounced 'ask' as 'axe.' It was repetive speaking of different sounds until I could pronounce 'ask' correctly. In reality, I just learned to pronounce it more slowly so the sounds would be distinctive. I used to speak so fast that all my vowels and consonents ran into each other. I still do that at times when I am in a press for time. My dauther does it too now and the teachers complain that she speaks so quickly that no one can understand her so they make her speak slowly in school. A counselor actually taped my daughter speaking hoping to use it get my daughter speech therapy (as I did) and when she played it back slower it was obvious that she was enunciating correctly but it was just so fast you couldn't tell. She went to one therapy session and the therapist informed her to speak more slowly so people could understand her better. She told her that people could not listen as fast as she could speak.

>>Just move around the country and you will hear different variations than the accepted norm. Well, actually, the unbelievably poor pronunciation is beginning to become 'accepted norm.' Last night I heard Jennifer Lopez speaking on 20/20 and where she should have said "Mine is ..." she instead said "Mines is..." It just keeps getting worse everday...
>
>My favourites (favorites) remain 'new-key-lur' and 'axe' (as in "don't axe me").
>
>cheers
>
>>
>>
>>>>immediately.
>>>>
>>>>Full version at http://www.schoolwork.de/poems/chaos.php
>>>>
>>>>An excerpt from the poem "Chaos" by Gerald Nolst Trenite -- who was a Dutch observer of English.
>>>
>>>My take on the subject is partially in the link I posted in response to Hilmar.
>>>
>>>The obvious reason why you sent this to me is that I've often expressed my confusion with English, to the point that after 38 years since I reached conversational level, I had to conclude that the more I know, the less I know. I don't know if "exit" is pronounced "eksit" or "egzit", don't know anymore where to put the emphasis (formerly known as accent, but that word now means a decorative detail and refuses to be tied to grammar), and maybe spelling is the last thing I'm somewhat sure of. Check this list, compiled mostly here, but also elsewhere on the Web, letters D to F, and see if any of these is actually correct:
>>>
>>> D
>>>It's most definately not
>>>most definately not linear
>>>I definately understand
>>>Uhhh, I defently secend that.
>>>the laugh was definately worth all the wasted time.
>>>you see something that DEFINETLEY does not
>>>You definatly need to check out
>>>failed to excercise any descretion
>>>at the sole desecration of the manager
>>>in two (2) difference places
>>>I want time dialation I can feel!
>>>Time dialation in light curves
>>>Time dialition in light curves
>>>time dilation of light curves
>>>space in a two dimisional plane
>>>and i wansnt dissipointed.
>>>disiner swimsuits
>>>Nevertheless, I due have one suggestion
>>> E
>>>necessarily have anythign to do with effacy...
>>>Imperically I established the same
>>>Evidentally it wasn't
>>>Excersizing human conscience
>>>As an excersize in understanding
>>>To expidite the process
>>>extremley rare
>>>I have reasonable eyesite
>>>but I find it EXTREAMLY annoying
>>> F
>>>can be simply explained by the same factories that drive us to...
>>>quite frankley, I don't care
>>>Frivilous question