Class Two Notes & Homework

Our second class met on Friday, March 13th in the computer lab at Ernest E. Just Middle School. The students brought great energy to the class even though it was Friday night!

There were 24 students in attendance including; Tess, Cora, Susan, Merlyn, Cristina, Josie, Abby, Rosalyn (Rosie), Dolly, Enda, Myrna, Ruth, Amy, Larmi, Jake, Vangie, Shiryl, Liza, Aida, Charis, Edita, Josie S., Helen & Meliza.

We started with a lesson on vowels in stressed syllables. Then we studied the schwa sound and practiced the pronunciation of  the schwa in words and sentences.

After that we worked on the vowels sounds /iy/ as in sheep and /I/ as in ship. This was challenging because both of these vowel sounds are made in the front of the mouth with the tongue in a high position. The difference is that the /iy/ is a tense sound and is made with the jaw and lips pulled back. The /I/ is a more relaxed sound and is made by lowering and relaxing the jaw.

We ended the class with a session on American English Idioms. The students did some excellent skits with idioms such as: buy a lemon and bring home the bacon. Now everyone knows that Susan lives high on the hog!

Homework for this week is to email Susan at  susan.communicate@gmail.com. In your message tell her three things:

·      the subject that you teach

·      a communication goal that you have for this class

·      something you like to do when you’re not teaching

Class One Notes & Homework

Our first class met last night at Ernest E. Just Middle School. Realista was at the door with a warm greeting as people generously came to class after a long week of teaching. Everyone was very enthusiastic for a Friday night and there were many excellent questions that we will address in the next classes!

Students in attendance were: Thess, Enda, Delores, Rosie, Cristina, Josie, Merlyn, Cora, Teresa, Abby, 

Dolores, Susan & Beeb.

We studied syllables, syllable stress, the voiced and voiceless th sounds and five common American English Idioms.

Next week’s class meets at the same place. We will start at 5:00 and end at 8:00. 

Don’t forget to do your homework from Susan using this website (below) and from Realista (find a language mentor).

    1.         Word Stress Video 1-Watch and participate

    2.         Read Article 1-Four Steps to Accent Improvement

    3.         Vocabulary Activity #2 Vocabulary Lists with Audio-Choose at least 2 vocabulary lists to listen and practice

    4.         Send Susan and email message at susan.communicate@gmail.com. In your message tell her three things:

·      the subject that you teach

·      a communication goal that you have for this class

·      something you like to do when you’re not teaching

That’s it for now. Have a good week!

Word Stress 1

In this video Jennifer introduces the concept of word stress (syllable stress) in American English.

Four Steps to Accent Improvement

Most non-native English speakers have an accent when they speak English but they don’t understand why and they don’t know what steps they can take to reduce their accent.

Do you understand why you have an accent when you speak English? 

Your Native Language

We are all born with the capabilities to learn any language. As children we easily learn the native language we are surrounded by. As we grow and develop we recognize what speech sounds and patterns are important in our own language and we begin to disregard other sounds.

Adult Learners

As we grow into adulthood we ignore speech sounds that are not meaningful in our own language. This makes it very difficult to hear and pronounce the unfamiliar sounds and patterns of a different language such as English.

Language Transfer

Your native language is one factor that influences your foreign accent. This is because as you learn to speak English you unconsciously transfer the sound patterns of your native language to English. The sounds and patterns of your native language determine the characteristics of your foreign accent. Linguists call this language transfer or language interference.

Four Steps for Accent Improvement

In order to reduce your accent you need follow these steps:

1. Learn to identify and pronounce  syllable stress patterns in American English words. 

2. Learn to apply sentence stress correctly by using content words, function words, word linking and reductions.

3. Learn to recognize and apply the English sentence intonation patterns that Americans use to convey meaning.

4. Learn to pronounce unfamiliar vowel and consonant sounds and sound combinations- accent reduction involves moving your mouth, tongue, teeth and jaws in ways that may feel uncomfortable.

By following the four steps I describe here, you will reduce your accent and improve your spoken English. You will begin to enjoy speaking English with Americans!