Big Box Mart

The above is an excellent example of a story that is a great combination of irony humour to the tune of a Good 'Ole Nursery Rhyme. The Learning opportunities provided by the "Big Box Mart"for ESL students, are vast.
http://sendables.jibjab.com/originals/big_box_mart

Speed up!!!!

In our last post we talked about the tendency some ESL students have of trying to "speed read", to sound more "English." Well the opposite is also true, of course. There are those who consider pronunciation the most important factor in sounding "Native". In these cases, speed is sacrificed for emphasis. Syllables become over-stressed and words become staccato.
Students need to learn how to feel the language, as well as, dissect it. It is this qualitative component that is lacking in many schools.
How do you teach rhythm you ask? After all, language is not a dance, right?

Send us your comments...

Slow down!!!!

Last weeks blog asked the question: "why aren't some pronunciation problems being dealt with more effectively?". The answer lies, in part, to the misconception that talking fast -what I like to refer to as 'speed talking'- is talking well. Speed talking is a coping mechanism that tries to 'trick' the listener into believing that the speed talker is actually saying something intelligible when in fact, it may be pure nonsense.
Recently, a sad example of this phenomenon has been making the rounds over the Internet. I am referring to the now infamous: "Anderson's first English Interview."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG55Ze_Dj20&feature=related


In theory, if you say a word or make a sound fast enough, it may actually appear to imitate another sound or word 'good enough'. So, if you're taught from early on that the "r" and "h" sounds are 'close enough', when uttered quickly, than a fossilized error can develop, unnecessarily. In practice, these errors are very difficult to correct especially when the Non-Native English Speaker believes that the difference is unimportant (after all that's what they've been taught!). So, my next question is: 'why not stop this practice'?
The answer may lie in the simple fact that, in general, students do not have enough access to certified English Language instructors and therefore are often 'taught' English by un/under-qualified teachers, despite there being thousands of great teachers in many Non-English speaking countries all over the world already.
In the case of Brazil with its immense size and large population, an adequate supply of teaching professionals is often lacking, especially outside the large urban centres like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Homework: In what ways can Anderson improve his English? What does he say well?
Next Blog: Describing "things and stuff"