Here are two examples of me practicing Punjabi independently, with help from Google Translate. To start, I looked up the English phonetic pronunciation of several phrases I was interested in learning. I did this as an alternative to asking Jerin or his family members to teach me a phrase through the listening and repeating method we have done up until now. I wanted to compare this (fairly accurate) phonetic pronunciation I attempted to the audio that Google Translate generated. Overall, it is clear that the Punjabi from Google Translate lacks the roundness and fluency that you can learn from a real-life language teacher or another more authentic source.
I think this week was a good reminder that there are often more reliable sources than Google Translate if you are trying to take your language skills to the next level and learn a more authentic accent. Because I have been actively practicing, with a focus on my accent, I have come to learn certain letter sounds and how to shape my mouth to improve the authenticity of them. This is a great skill and will make future learning smoother and quicker.
Here are two voice notes documenting my independent practice and how it compares to Google Translate!
