The Art of Teaching Pronunciation – 2
This is how one can learn to be an expert teacher…invest your time at the start of your career in learning how to do something really well. Focus on it. Get good at it. Then get even better at Read More …
Category: Good Teaching
The Art of Teaching Pronunciation – 1
I believe that teaching is an art, and I’ve strived my whole life to perfect my craft, which now is teaching pronunciation. It’s not perfection yet, but I keep working and learning from every teaching experience. My e-guides are my attempt Read More …
My AHA Moment That Changed How I Teach Pronunciation
During a “mastermind weekend” at colleague Jennifer England’s home in L’Albi Spain last fall, someone asked if I remembered a moment that changed how I teach. One of my “aha” moments was in the dentist’s office; I finally understood why Read More …
Forgetting is a Good Thing
I have a few “principles” that guide my teaching and planning. One of them is this: Disequilibrium is a good thing.” I say that because as a teacher, I have found most big jumps in learning come when a Read More …
Pronunciation Guru, Dr. Olle Kjellin
Dr. Kjellin is a leader in the study of auditory processing and second language learning. If you teach English pronunciation (or any language’s sound), I recommend his work and research. Here are a few quotes from one of his white papers. “Choral Read More …
The Birth of a Word, and What It Means for Pronunciation Teachers
I teach pronunciation so I’m always interested in how speech and language develops in L1 and L2 (first languages and second languages). I just watched a wonderful video by Dr. Deb Roy, an MIT researcher, who studied his baby’s first Read More …
Countdown sale for Pronunciation Guide begins June 27!
I’m having an E-BOOK SALES PROMOTION on Amazon.com for “English For Arabic Speakers, A Guide to Pronunciation“. The countdown sale price starts at $1.99 and goes up each day. To get the best price, you’ll have to move fast! Read More …
What Motivates Adult Learners
Knowles’ theory, stated simply. I hope I’ve done him justice. If you’re teaching pronunciation to adults, make sure to incorporate as many of these as possible in your course design. Maximum learning comes from having all 6 in place. Malcolm Read More …
Effective Pronunciation Teaching
Effective pronunciation teaching always has these components 1. Raises awareness by helping students notice the difference when they hear it, and recognize when they produce it. For vowels and consonants, use tools like manythings.org/pp for listening recognition, and feedback loops Read More …
Audacity, a Free Audio (and visual) Recording Tool
I use Audacity just about every week, to record myself and to record my students. Audacity is available for free, it is open software designed by volunteers and given to the world. It shows sound as spectrograms; I use the Read More …