|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Nov 29, 2005 12:35:55 GMT 7
Hey kids,
I have to teach a special pronunciation session next week to kick off a new class. I consider myself especially good at pronunciationand have something of a ready repertoire for teaching it. I use sets of words with similar but distinct pronunciations in order to teach this.
Of course, I teach good solid World-Standard US-Southern-Midwest pronunciation. None of yer damYankee foolishment or Commonwealth tat.
I feature:
Short vowel sounds
The 'Th' demon
F-V-W distinction
'O/U' sound distinction (pore-purr-poor-pure, etc.)
Extra sounds on ends of words ('Hankuh')
Accent shifts (PROduct vs proDUCtion, etc.)
A catalog of tongue twisters (I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH OF THESE! THANK YOU!)
I also try to spotlight some words that I've noticed Chinese students chronically have difficulty saying correctly. "Warm", "comfortable", and "usually" come to what little mind I have left.
Question for ya: Do you have any SINGLE WORDS that you've noticed significant numbers of Chinese students struggling with? This session is more expanded than my usual short "pronunciation corner", and I'd like to include as many as I can...
|
|
|
|
Post by Lotus Eater on Nov 29, 2005 14:38:06 GMT 7
"were" frequently turns into 'war'.
Don't forget 'p' and 't' distinction - ship versus .....
|
|
|
|
Post by George61 on Nov 29, 2005 16:10:08 GMT 7
hair, fair....fire
Urally!
Adding "a" to the ends of words....except words that allready end in "a"....example.."Amerik"..."Afric"
|
|
|
|
Post by Stil on Nov 29, 2005 17:38:05 GMT 7
Some problems are a little localised too. In my neck of the woods it seems that 'L' and 'N' are interchangeable. The same with 'F' and 'H' believe it or not. If you ask people around here where they are from, they say Fulan not Hunan.
I get the classic 'sank you wery mucha' here. Saying 'eat' instead of 'it' sheep, ship etc.
Very strong 'ge' sound at the end of words as in orange said in 3 syllables. They have particular problems with hard constanants sounds at the end of words 'd','k','t','g' like saying loo ke, goo de.
One of the biggest problems is that their Chinese English teachers pronunciation is worse than theirs.
|
|
Ruth
SuperDuperMegaBarfly 
God's provisions are strategically placed along the path of your obedience.
Posts: 3,915
|
Post by Ruth on Nov 29, 2005 18:15:06 GMT 7
A lot of my students will say 'chicken' when reading the word 'kitchen.' I see why it happens, but it happens often. They know both words.
A good number of my kids don't say final s's either. As in books, pens, etc. I can understand this one, too, because their language doesn't pluralize words the way English does. It isn't a memory thing, because they drop the 's' when reading, too.
|
|
Ruth
SuperDuperMegaBarfly
God's provisions are strategically placed along the path of your obedience.
Posts: 3,915
|
Post by Ruth on Nov 29, 2005 18:17:25 GMT 7
I just thought of some more.
thirteen vs thirty
fourteen vs forty
fifteen vs fifty and so on...
|
|
|
|
Post by Lotus Eater on Nov 29, 2005 19:42:56 GMT 7
I did the 'minimal pairs' today with my Oral English class. Hardest for them was 'mouth' and 'mouse'. Very and vary also caused some difficulty, imminent and eminent, (plus the other im/em words) poultry and paltry, money and many.
it wasn't one of my most fun classes but it worked (as opposed to rocked!). I had them write sentences with 3 of the paired words after we had practised, then find someone else who had chosen at least one of the pairs of words they had, and listen and check each others pronunciation. Then they had to move to find another persons with another matching pair. That way they ended up practising their 3 lots of paired words at least 3 times, and listening and checking others pronunciation as well.
Ended up getting them to say "What noise annoys an oyster? A noisy noise annoys an oyster.". Why do they love tongue twisters so much? I hated them!! Also created one of our own - with the wish/witch/which combination. "Wish for a witch? Which witch do you wish for? The witch which grants wishes." (I know it shouldn't be which the 2nd time, but who doesn't work!!)
|
|
|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Nov 29, 2005 22:23:25 GMT 7
Some great ones I'd forgotten about in here, thanks. Please keep 'em coming! I went round and round with my TEACHING ASSISTANT in my basic class today...we were trying to to an example role-play for the class and were getting nowhere. her directions oobviously did not fit with what I knew about the hotel, and she kept growing increasingly exasperated with my apparent mistaken comparisons with other hotel landmarks. Eventually we figured out that she (and the others) couldn't clearly distinguish between "first" (floor) and "fourth". They were both coming out as "firth", and the discussion did not involve Scotland...  |
|
|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Nov 29, 2005 22:28:24 GMT 7
By the way, Ruth is as usual (or, perhaps, "urural") especially on target. Chicken/kitchen is a classic and reminded me of soup/soap and tub/tube. 14/40 etc. apparently were devised by sadists in both languages.... I'll try to make my final notes for all this available to you, if anyone wants them... Oh, and in the above post, I decided I liked the word "oobviously" and just left it that way on purpose.  |
|
|
|
Post by George61 on Nov 30, 2005 5:30:38 GMT 7
minimal pairs is full of things to teach....horse V house is a common mistake too.
|
|
|
|
Post by Chips Downe on Nov 30, 2005 10:22:39 GMT 7
A week rarely goes by without me asking some enthusiastic local on the phone "who are you?" and getting the classic response "fine thank you and you..." it goes on! I wish there was a place near my phone for a sign to remind me to say something different... "who is speaking?" at the time it never comes out, or doesn't seem right...
(I miss a Chinese friend from Indonesia back home who always called and said "I am Michael"... odd, but clear. Here they often sound the same in English over the phone, and I also get calls from people I haven't heard from in two months or spoken to more than once... yet they expect me to remember their voices!)
What's your favourite fruit? invariably produces responses like "huoguo", or "noodles"
So fruit/food as well as who and how...
There's another old favourite - whenever I say "I'm hungry" I'm earnestly beseeched "Don't be angry..."
Is angry/hungry the problem, or is it me (wow!) or am I cranky when I'm hungry?
|
|
|
|
Post by con's fly is open on Nov 30, 2005 18:07:17 GMT 7
Cropping their aitches like the town bobby, dropping the middle of a 3 syllable word when it's a quiet one- aptite, arktec, etc.
And don't forget "How now brown cow", because you know they will. Frankly, pronunciation drills are mandatory Maintenance.
|
|
|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Nov 30, 2005 19:11:27 GMT 7
Yup...like flinging cowpies at a Teflon barn; hard to get them to stick. Must be repeated often.
I hear the middle-of-words thing farily often but at least when reading I have a hard time getting them to include the ENDS of words. Pluralizations rarely make it out...
|
|
|
|
Post by Shane on Nov 30, 2005 21:01:06 GMT 7
'Exercise' is often pronounced 'excise'. Similar thing with 'exercises', which has three syllables when the students pronounce it.
Also, the 'e' in words like 'red', 'bed' and the 'a' in words like 'had' and 'dad' seem to come out as 'ai'. For example, "My mum and died" (My mum and dad); "My jumper is ride" (My jumper is red).
|
|
|
|
Post by Stil on Nov 30, 2005 21:40:28 GMT 7
"My jumper is ride" (My jumper is red). Yes, my students often have this problem too, pronuncing 'sweater' as jumper. ;D |
|
|
|
Post by Lotus Eater on Nov 30, 2005 21:46:54 GMT 7
'Exercise' is often pronounced 'excise'. Similar thing with 'exercises', which has three syllables when the students pronounce it. Also, the 'e' in words like 'red', 'bed' and the 'a' in words like 'had' and 'dad' seem to come out as 'ai'. For example, "My mum and died" (My mum and dad); "My jumper is ride" (My jumper is red). They had a kiwi (New Zealander) as a teacher! |
|
|
|
Post by Shane on Nov 30, 2005 22:45:06 GMT 7
They had a kiwi (New Zealander) as a teacher! "The rid one is better than the blue one." ;D |
|
Ruth
SuperDuperMegaBarfly
God's provisions are strategically placed along the path of your obedience.
Posts: 3,915
|
Post by Ruth on Dec 1, 2005 19:11:00 GMT 7
I'll try to make my final notes for all this available to you, if anyone wants them... YES PLEASE. This is great stuff I haven't even thought to use before. I'll buy the tequila next time we meet in person. I had a kid make three syllables out of 'six' last night - si ke se. It took lots of tries before he got it reasonably close to right. |
|
|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Dec 1, 2005 19:30:39 GMT 7
OK, will do. May be pretty minimal because I am lazy. I think pronunciation is underweighted by most teachers in China. Understandable given the difficulty it takes to get them to formulate sentences and speak at all. And our pronunciation really is fiendishly difficult for those accustomed to the comparatively limited phoneme palette of the Chinese language.... |
|
Ruth
SuperDuperMegaBarfly
God's provisions are strategically placed along the path of your obedience.
Posts: 3,915
|
Post by Ruth on Dec 1, 2005 19:37:59 GMT 7
I don't fuss at my high schoolers on pronunciation. If they can talk at all, I'm happy about it. I'm very picky with my primaries, on the other hand. They have a better chance of maintaining the correct pronunciation. I also have them in smaller groups, so it's easier.
|
|
Non-Dave
Barfly
Try Not! Do - or Do Not... There Is No Try!
Posts: 701
|
Post by Non-Dave on Dec 2, 2005 6:45:37 GMT 7
I'm with you on that Ruth. I'm just happy if the high schoolers say anything - shows they are awake. The primary school kids though, I spend a lot more time and attention for the same reason, they may actually learn it and they are so keen. Wish I had the smaller groups though, my smallest class is about 60.
|
|
|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Dec 2, 2005 17:15:04 GMT 7
I understand...I feel your pain...but still feel the pronunciation work needs work. Teaching 'em to talk in a way that isn't understandable isn't of much benefit. Assuming, of course, that ANY of this crap is of any benefit...  Of course, big classes are the bane of language training in this country. I can work more on niceties like pronunciation because I nver have to face more than 20 at once, and usually less... |
|
|
|
Post by con's fly is open on Dec 2, 2005 18:10:03 GMT 7
I'm a bully when it comes to pronunciation. I've laid off my wee 'uns, but I regret that decision, and plan to be more miserable. That's what they want, more than anything.
|
|
|
|
Post by Stil on Dec 2, 2005 22:08:41 GMT 7
I teach pronunciation in every class. Sometimes it's just a warm-up or time filler at the end of class but every class will have some. I drill it but try to make it fun. This is High School. I agree that it's undervalued here. Students are improving and they know it. This brings their confidence and intrest up and they start to converse more. Intonation too. What's interesting to me is that the best English students (examination wise) do not always have the best pronunciation. It's the unafraid kids that are willing to speak out whose pronunciation improves (of course) but this lights a fire in those keeners. They define themselves at being the best in their class at everything so they start to speak more. Working a lot on pronunciation has really made my job easier.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dragonsaver on Dec 3, 2005 8:09:44 GMT 7
I teach pronunciation in every class. Sometimes it's just a warm-up or time filler at the end of class but every class will have some. I drill it but try to make it fun. Working a lot on pronunciation has really made my job easier. How do you do it,  please give me an example and I will start with my Uni kids. Some are good but others really need help. Thanx  |
|
