Well, after a long and deserved break I decided it was about time I resumed production on this blog again. I mean, it was a six-month hiatus where I was able to focus on other projects I had in mind but my students were pestering me to get the blog working again and I kind of missed the blogosphere. So if you liked following this blog I’m sure you’ll enjoy it even more now because I intend to stop procrastinating and get down to work. I realized that If I still wanted this blog I’d better update it more frequently. When I mean frequently I mean at least once a week – if possible!
Take full advantage of this space because it is all yours!
Today, I’m going to continue the posts about pronunciation. We had our Friday tests today and I noticed that pronunciation still is a big deal in our class. Most students are very fluent whereas others are more accurate, but they all lack good pronunciation. So, as I promised, I will post more videos and tips to improve your pronunciation skills.
These English pronunciation tips will help you get the most out of your Pronunciation Power program.
Tip 1
Do not confuse pronunciation of words with their spelling! For example, “threw” and “through”, although spelled differently, are pronounced the same. Also, identical letters or letter clusters in words do not always produce the same sound. For example, the “ough” in “though” and “through” represents a different sound in each word. Learn to practise what you hear, not what you see.
Tip 2
Imagine a sound in your mind before you say it. Try to visualize the positioning of your mouth and face. Think about how you are going to make the sound.
Tip 3
Listen to and try to imitate the Pronunciation Power instructor. In addition to listening for specific sounds, pay attention to pauses, the intonation of the instructor’s voice and patterns of emphasis. This can be just as important as the pronunciation of sounds.
Tip 4
The English language has many different dialects, and words can be pronounced differently. It is important, however, that you pronounce words clearly to ensure effective communication.
Tip 5
Finally, the Pronunciation Power program is a tool to help you. But you must practice what you are learning! Remember that you are teaching your mouth a new way to move. You are building muscles that you do not use in your own language. It is like going to the gym and exercising your body. Use the program to exercise your mouth a little bit each day.
YouTube Videos
Here’s a list of videos from YouTube that might be of some help to all of you out there.
This video teaches you the five vowels we have in English and the 15 sounds they have altogether. Give it a whirl.
Another interesting video is this one from JenniferESL, who is an ESL/EFL Teacher based in the US, and offers lots of pronunciation tips. Here she teaches the “unvoiced” TH.
If you liked the video, you can subscribe to her Youtube Channel by clicking here.
Hello everyone. This is this blog’s first post and I hope it won’t be the last. I have always flirted with the idea of creating a blog to use as an extra resource for my students – they always want some more – and I finally decided that it was about time to get started.
I had a similar project to this one but instead of posting everything on the internet I created a mail-list on gmail and sent all the extra resources (links, audio files, pdfs, articles, etc.) by email. I have got to admit that my students all loved the idea and still do but let’s face it that it’s a heck of a work doing this every weekend. My wife was complaining that I was spending all my Saturdays emailing my students and I can’t blame her!
But thanks to a workshop called “Bloggin basics for beginners” by Karen Thomson I could finally create my own blog and now I intend to use this as both a tool to enhance and foster my students autonomy when learning a foreign language and also an online portfolio of everything I am doing in my classroom with them. I intend to post not only activities for my students but also videos, essays, audio, pictures produced by them.
Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck on my new endeavour!
