In our lesson today we talked about heroes in general. Some of you mentioned sports heroes, celebrity heroes, history heroes among others. However, we decided to focus on one hero in particular, i.e. Che Guevara.
Some people considered him a hero while others though of him as being a ruthless disciplinarian. No matter what people say about him Guevara remains an admired, controversial, and significant historical figure.
Your task is to basically watch this documentary and write an essay based on the documentary. You must support an opinion – Was Che Guevara a hero or an assassin? Watch the documentary and draw you own conclusions.
Here are some more links about Che Guevara to give you some more background information about him.
* Che Guevara – A Web site dedicated to promoting the ideas and accomplishments of Che Guevara.
* Time Magazine – an article that named Guevara one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Here’s another post and more links and videos, as requested. I will not stop posting about pronunciation, but the next posts will be about different subjects, including our book club.
If you haven’t tried the BBC Learning English website, you have no idea of what you are missing. The website is complete and has a section entirely devoted to pronunciation. It includes:
The sounds of English – all those weird symbols that I keep teaching in class and students are always complaining about how hard it is to memorize them;
Features of English – lots of information about different elements of English pronunciation;
Quizzes – tons of quizzes to help you improve your knowledge of English;
Programmes – A couple of radio shows that you can download to your computer (all with audio and tapescript)
Another interesting pronunciation video is this one that became a huge hit on YouTube a couple of months ago. Amy Walker, 25, posted a clever video on the Internet of her performing 21 English-language accents not long after moving to Philadelphia recently. In this video, she does a little tour of 21 accents in 2 1/2 minutes. Accents vary from UK to Ireland. Can you spot some of them? (Tip: She does the Torontonian accent)
Finally, a video that will make you laugh (especially if you are into accents and are not easily offended). It features Canuck comedian Russel Peters making fun of different accents. Enjoy!
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.
Everyday I get tons of e-mails from readers, current students, old students, among others asking me how they can improve their pronunciation. They all have something in common. They want to speak English clearly and confidently
I think it is everybody’s dream to be able to speak English like a native speaker, but English pronunciation is always a big problem to ESL/EFL learners. I don’t think you should try to have a native speaker accent, especially because even native speakers have their own accent. I mean, my wife is Canadian from Ottawa and my best friend is Canadian from Toronto and they have slightly different accents. So my question is, why bother?
I think you HAVE TO worry about having bad English pronunciation. I say that because bad English pronunciation may confuse people even if you use the most advanced English grammar. After all, we can always use simple words and simple grammar structures that will make people understand you but we cannot use “simple pronunciation”.
On the other hand, we have good English pronunciation and what I mean by good English pronunciation is being understood by people and people be willing to listen to you!
So, how to speak English clearly and confidently? There are three ways: practice, practice and practice!
I know you must be a little bit disappointed, but the truth of the matter is that there’s no secret to learning and improving your pronunciation. I remember as a student I used to listen to music, practice tongue twisters, repeat individual sounds, among other things.
So, starting now I will publish a series of posts devoted to learning and improving your pronunciation skills. I hope you all enjoy!
Tongue Twisters
According to wikipedia‘s definition, “Tongue Twisters” are phrases that are designed to be difficult to articulate properly. Tongue-twisters may rely on similar but distinct phonemes (e.g., s[s] and sh[ʃ]), unfamiliar constructs in loanwords, or other features of a language.
Try practicing the tongue twisters to improve your pronunciation and have fun!
and here’s a funny video about a French guy trying to learn English.
I recently found out that CNN has a section entirely devoted to students. CNN Student News utilizes CNN’s worldwide resources to bring each day’s top news stories to middle and high school classrooms. I think this a fantastic tool and a great way for students to become familiar with news vocabulary. Not only they will be able to catch up on the most recent stories, but also be able to practice and improve their listening skills drastically.
So I thought “Why not post these videos on the blog and encourage students to watch them and answer the questions?”. Well, that’s exactly what you guys are going to do from now on. Enjoy the first video and don’t forget to answer the questions in the comments section.
for the questions, click here or just read them below.
(CNN Student News) — December 16, 2008
1. According to the program: What types of weather events are wreaking havoc across the U.S.? What are some of the states that have been hit by this weather?
2. How do you think that early warning may have helped to control the damage from these weather events?
3. Is your state subject to severe winter weather? If so, what type(s) of winter weather has it experienced in the past? What, if anything, do you and your family do to protect lives and property in advance of severe winter weather?
4. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, how many people are homeless in America? Does this number surprise you? Explain.
5. How would you describe Bridgette Mitchell’s former living conditions? Where does she live now?
6. How is the Housing First program different from a typical shelter? What is the goal of the program?
7. In the video, we hear that in spite of the program, some of its homeless end up back on the streets. In your opinion, what might be some of the reasons why this happens?
8. Do you have any ideas for addressing the problem of homelessness in the U.S.? If so, share them with the class.
9. According to the government, at what time of year do Americans generate the most waste? List some of the kinds of waste that you think might add to this volume.
10. According to the video, what are some things that you can do to minimize holiday waste? What other ideas can you think of to cut down on seasonal trash?
I think some of you might have heard of this website – AID TO CHILDREN. It’s an interesting idea with the main desire of helping under privileged children in the most impoverished (very poor) places around the world through learning. That’s right! You can help and practice your vocabulary and learn new words. Thus, the website claims that for every correct answer they will donate 0.25 cents to poor children.
So, what are you waiting for? Practice your English vocabulary and help poor children by clicking here.
Some students have complained that it’s been taking me too long to update new material on the website. All I can say is “I’m sorry”. Lately I’ve been really busy with some side projects and haven’t had the chance to update it daily – as I promised – but I promise that from now on I will try my best.
Today we have another podcast from ESLPOD website and the topic is MOVIES!
You know how this works, uh? Listen to the podcast by clicking HERE. Then, after listening carefully write down a situation or an anecdote (e.g. a movie you watched lately) using the vocabulary & chunks below:
to fit the bill
road block
lead actor
supporting cast
comic relief
villain
love to hate
happy ending
predictable
to not go out of one’s way
slapstick
throw you for a loop
figure out sth
plot twist
screenwriters
directors
pull sth off
classics
nail-biters
main character
a shocker
spoil the ending
thumbs up
fain-hearted
Don’t forget to write your piece on the comments section.
