BTS Industriel -- Listening exercises & Discussion About Obligations

Last week's lesson went pretty well, so I thought I would give it a little share. Our subject of the day was obligation, so we focused mostly on the phrases, "you must + verb", "you have to" and "you mustn't" or "you can't".

My second-year BTS students here in France started out by listening to this text, between ESL-Lab's Randall and his daughter. I liked this text because it talks about possibility (can/can't) and obligation (you have to). I prepared this grid to help the students with the listening exercise:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday

The students were asked to listen to the script and write the daughter's obligations and activities in the grid with times, if possible. What is confusing is that the daughter starts off by asking if she can go see the movie on Wednesday so students immediately start to write "Go to the movies" on Wednesday, only to find out that her father says no. As the dad and the daughter discuss what needs to be done and negotiate the daughter's freedom, have your students write as many possibilities as they can hear. Then discuss it as a group, writing down the different obligations and explaining the ones they missed (maybe even listening to the tricky parts again) to give them something to visualize. I also took a moment to point out that they are American, and we know this because they talk about "movies" and "soccer", and not "cinema" and "football". 

Next, we continued with the theme of obligation by looking at some warning signs. 

I started out by asking the class where they could see these kinds of signs. Then, I had the students volunteer to make sentences. For example, where it says, "Danger: no smoking", a student would say something like, "you mustn't smoke at school," or "it's forbidden to smoke in public places." We continued onward practicing the "you mustn't" and "you can't" structures until all signs had been discussed.

Next, the students listened to this short text  about which rules you have to follow when you visit a national park. The woman talks about 4 rules which I had the students write down, and she ends the audio by talking about the consequences. Once students had identified the four rules and the consequences, we moved on to our speaking exercise. 

In groups of three, I gave the students one of the following places: 

The City Zoo

A Textile Factory

A Pharmacy

The Public Hospital

ABC Construction Site

GoodFoods Supermarket

A Hair Salon

A Shopping Mall 

I asked the groups to prepare ten rules that either employees, customers or visitors (depending on the place) have to follow, and then to think of appropriate consequences. They had about 20 minutes to brainstorm and write their ideas while I walked around and answered questions, and once everybody had finished they presented group by group, sharing their rules and consequences. 

Technology & Innovation: A follow-up

Last week's lesson (okay, two weeks ago... last week I was off enjoying a ski vacation in fancy-pants Megeve) focused on using the futures and language of probability using a cool infographic grace à the BBC.

This week I was at a loss for what to do to follow up with this previous lesson, and then I got it. My professional adult ESL students here in France have been requesting the use of more articles and current events in our lessons, and on the front page of Yahoo! there was an article speculating on what Apple's next product would be.  Because the article uses a lot of useful adjectives and appears to pitch the concept of a wearable computer to mass market, I thought it would be appropriate to use it not only to continue last week's discussion about the future and what is or isn't possible, but also to go back to our lessons about pitches. Which idea convinced you? Which feature do you think is most useful? Do you agree/disagree? What is your opinion? A lot of interesting and thought-provoking conversation followed, pulling out a number of useful vocabulary words.

Then, to practice comparing and contrasting, we watched the Google glasses project video on Youtube. We compared the two ideas and practiced talking about which product we preferred, what the similarities and differences were, the risks and the danger, and our overall opinions about the future of smartphone technology.

Overall, I have to say that this lesson was the perfect transition after the previous lesson's infographic. I'm really happy with the participation I had and with the fluency of my students. These were pre-intermediate and intermediate level students but I plan on doing the exact same lesson with my upper-intermediate and advanced students in the days to come.

When I'm lesson planning, I always think about what I want my end result to be and what I want my students to be able to "do". I think about my lesson plans in segments of "can-do", ending with a skill that is immediately applicable to the needs of the learner. My next challenge for myself is "what to do next?"

Any ideas? How would you follow up these two lessons integrating current events, infographics, and videos?

Infographic lesson plan: Modals, futures & probability

On Sunday night as I was browsing for topics for this week's lessons with my professional adult ESL students here in France, I found the following infographic on the BBC website.


Original can be found here

I absolutely love infographics. I love them even more when they present a topic that I can cover in English class. There are so many possibilities for using the one I've posted here but I'll share my lesson plan with you which reviews modals & futures for talking about probability, likelihood and chance.

I did a 30-second review of modal verbs and the near future/distant future with my groups because these are topics we previously covered. Then I handed out the infographic and a "cheat sheet" introducing some expressions that I wanted them to try to use during the lesson including degree of probability and chance when giving their opinion.

After a few seconds, my adults started laughing a little bit to themselves. After everybody had showed some sign of comprehension, I started asking questions.

"What do you find funnny?"
"What do you find scary?"
"Does anything seem possible/impossible?"
"Do you agree/disagree with ...?"

And then the discussion started.

My advantage here that others might not have is that my students are western, and we work at a web agency. These topics are right up their alleys -- a bit sci-fi, a bit nerdy, some inspiring a dream or provoking an emotional reaction -- it was very easy to get them talking about these subjects. If your students work in a different field, you might try a generic Google search for infographics and try to see if something could fit their interests and needs. This one is just a perfect mix of grammar revision, discussion, and new vocabulary -- I was so pleased to find it!

Here's the "cheat sheet" I handed out to help facilitate the conversation:

Expressions for talking about likelihood and probability:

In general:

It could happen/ It might happen

If it happens, then…

It’s possible that…

There’s a chance…

Most likely (use of adverbs):

It’s extremely likely that…

It’s very possible that…

Least likely (use of adverbs):

It is highly unlikely that…

It’s nearly impossible that…

It will never happen

It could never happen

It should never happen

Future tenses:

1.        The near future : Planned & programmed (Present continuous or “going to”)

a.       I’m going to dance class tomorrow night.

b.      I’m pitching a proposal to a client on Thursday afternoon.

2.       The distant future: Uncertain, unplanned (Will)

a.       Maybe I will go to Spain on vacation this summer, or maybe I won’t.

3.       A snap decision: no time to think (will)

a.       The phone is ringing! Can you help me? – I’ll get it.

b.      I’m going to drop these boxes. Can you give me a hand? – I’ll help you.

Around the World -- Grammar game

Yesterday I posted the rules to my game called "Circle of Death" which is a variation on a drinking game, adapted to a classroom, for a more advanced/confident English speaker. Today I'll post the rules to a modified version that I created to accompany a group of pre-intermediate and intermediate adult ESL learners here in France.

I call this version "Around the World" and it requires the exact same set up as "Circle of Death".
As always, it's a good idea to have plenty of print outs of the rules for the participants and a full deck of cards with jokers.

Around the World Grammar Game

Rules:

Sit in a circle, each player draws a card and completes the corresponding action one at a time.

Evens – Questions on the right

Odds – Questions on the left

Correct answer = +5 points

Incorrect answer = - 5 points

2's : Ask a question to the person on your right using a “do”

3's : Ask a question to the person on your left using “to be” .

4's : Ask a question to the person on your right using “did”.

5's : Ask a question to the person on your left using “was” or “were”.

6's : Ask a question to the person on your right using the future tense.

7's : Ask a question to the person on your left using “if”.

8's : Ask a question of your choice to the person of your choice.

(Now for some fun..)

9's : You are the rule master. You can make any rule for the table to follow. You get 10 points.

10's : Stand up and mime an animal. The first person to guess correctly gets 10 points.

Jacks : “Categories” – Choose a category and each player must say a word in the category. The first player who can't think of a word in the category loses 10 points.

Queens: “7's” : Going in a circle, each player must count by 7 (7..14..21..etc) and the first player to make a mistake loses 10 points.

Kings: “Truth?” Ask the player of your choice a truthful question. (+5 for asking correctly and +5 for answering correctly) 

Aces: The teacher makes a rule for all of the players to follow. (points vary depending on the rule)

Joker: You can choose to add ten points to your score or to subtract ten points from the player of your choice. 

Circle Of Death Grammar Game

A year ago I was brainstorming ideas that I could use with my professional students in our talk sessions. Sometimes it's not easy to get people talking, especially when it's the middle of the day and they are thinking about whatever needs to get done in the afternoon. I like to use as many games as possible as discussion topics are often monotonous and tiresome.

I took the idea for this exercise directly from a drinking game, I admit. I created two versions: the upper-intermediate/advanced version, and the pre-intermediate/intermediate version. The version I'm sharing in this post is my upper-intermediate/advanced version.

To play this game, you need a group (4+) and a traditional deck of 52 cards, jokers included.
The deck is passed from player to player and one at a time, they draw a card. Depending on what they draw, they must complete a task (see list below). They earn and lose points depending on how correct their answers are, and the game can be played indefinitely, as long as you can renew the deck and keep them talking. I use this game during a one-hour long talk session.

There are two types of tasks: grammar-related and amusing tasks. That keeps it light and fun. And as always, students of all ages love competition -- they will really enjoy giving and taking points from each other.

I recommend having enough print-outs of this game for every other student so that they can consult the list when they draw their card.

Without further ado, here are the rules for the Circle of Death Grammar Game for adult learners of ESL, upper-intermediate/advanced level:

Circle of Death Grammar Game

Rules:

Sit in a circle, each player draws a card and completes the corresponding action.

Evens – Questions on the right

Odds – Questions on the left

Correct answer = +5 points

Incorrect answer = - 5 points

2's : Ask a question to the person on your right using a superlative.

3's : Ask a question to the person on your left using “ever” .

4's : Ask a question to the person on your right using a regular past tense verb of your choice.

5's : Ask a question to the person on your left using an irregular past tense verb of your choice.

6's : Ask a question to the person on your right using the future tense.

7's : Ask a question to the person on your left using “would”.

8's : Ask a question of your choice to the person of your choice.

(Now for some fun..)

9's : You become the rule master. You can make any rule for the table to follow. Failure to follow the rule results in the loss of 10 points. 

10's : Stand up and mime an animal. The first person to guess correctly gets 10 points.

Jacks : “Categories” – Choose a category and each player must say a word in the category. The first player who can't think of a word in the category loses 10 points.

Queens: “7's” : Going in a circle, each player must count by 7 (7..14..21..etc) and the first player to make a mistake loses 10 points.

Kings: “Truth?” Ask the player of your choice a truthful question. +5 for asking and +5 for answering.

Aces: The teacher makes a rule for all of the players to follow. Failure to follow the rule results in the loss of 10 points. 

Joker: You can choose to add ten points to your score or to subtract ten points from the player of your choice. 

Business Topics: Pitches

One thing I've observed time and time again working with professionals in France is very often they are lacking the tone of voice communicating emotion and passion when giving presentations or speeches. I have sat through more presentations than I can count that droned on and on, with no accentuation or punctuation. Often these are sales presentations, presenting a bid for tender, pre-sales or answering a RFP, and putting myself in the potential client's shoes makes me want to take a long walk off of a short cliff! Alas, it is my job to push on through these presentations, fix the mistakes, and push them out the door -- in the short term, there isn't very much that I can do. Long-term though, we've got a plan of attack that has been in place since just before December that is very nicely progressing, and that plan is "perfecting the pitch".

The first step: we talked about the "bones" of a pitch -- what is is? I think the first thing you need to do when working on presentations in a foreign language (okay... and maybe in your native language too...) is to ask yourself why? Why am I taking the time to give this presentation or speech? What is my objective? So with a pitch, we always identify that the objective is to be convincing.

The second step: We brainstorm our jobs and our teams. While brainstorming, we look to answer these questions:

-- Who are we?
-- Why are we important?
-- How will we be successful?

The third step: We give three or four arguments supporting any of the strong, positive adjectives we have thrown around when answering the questions. If a student says that their team is amazing, I make them follow it up: because...?

We practice linking with "because", "thanks to", and regular relative pronouns like "which", "that", and "who" to show a direct path between their statement and the example supporting it.

The first lesson was spent talking about pitches, brainstorming and presenting their ideas.

The second lesson was more interactive and less "business-y" :
Students wrote everyday nouns (mostly objects but concepts/ideas are OK depending on how advanced the group was) on little pieces of paper. We mixed all the papers up and students each chose one piece of paper. They took 5-10 minutes to plan a pitch to convince the others in the group of the value of their object.
The audience played the role of an uninformed audience, as if they were hearing about the product for the first time in their lives.

This was a lot of fun and the exercise could be repeated multiple times over the hour. I like for the students to come up with the nouns on their own because it allows them to use vocabulary that they have learned in class or outside class, to learn words from each other that they might not know before, and to be creative with their ideas.

The third lesson steered back towards business. I prompted the students to present a new "best practice" to their company, and the other students in the group took the role of a hostile/uninterested or even aggressive audience. This was a lot of fun.

Here are the prompts I gave:

--You want a new desk.

--You need a new chair.

--You want to recruit an assistant for your department.

--You want to start a “nap time” policy from 2 to 4 pm.

--You think you deserve a raise.

--You think the work day should begin later in the morning.

--You think lunch time should be shorter.

--You think the bosses need to share more of the “wealth”.

--You think it’s more efficient to work from home.

--You think men and women should have separate open spaces.

--You want the company to open a child care center in the building. 

--You want the company to open a canteen in the building.

--You think the company should move to a “no email” policy. 

Again, they had about 5-10 minutes to prepare their argument and present to the class. After their pitches, they had to face their difficult audience. As a group we discussed with points in each pitch were strong and valid, and which ones needed to be more expressive, better linked to the argument, etc. I asked each student if they were convinced and if so, by which point? It made for an interesting debrief.

The fourth lesson on this theme was still about general business topics but dealt more with presenting in general rather than concentrating on a short pitch. Working in pairs, students were faced with a challenging business problem and had to brainstorm solutions. After finding a solution to the difficult subject, they had to practice presenting these by putting forward the most positive aspects possible and speaking optimistically. They were also asked to lead a discussion at the end of their presentation to gauge the degree to which their audience was following.

Here are the prompts from this lesson:

1) Your company has just merged with a company of equal size. All new employees from the merger will be transferred to your site. You have to present a plan to the existing staff to tell them how you are going to fit all the new workers in.

Things to think about:

What can you say to make this sound more positive?

What can you say to motivate people to get “on board” with your idea?

2) The current system for filtering incoming CVs is not working. Qualified potential employees are going unnoticed and the staff turnover is very high. Anybody can receive a CV and do with it as they please. Some departments make appointments to meet with applicants when they have no need to hire somebody. All departments are over budget.

Things to think about:

How can you stay positive?

What solutions can you pitch?

3) Your company currently has offices in New York City that manage administrative operations and not production. The Board of Directors has decided that they will be relocated to your country. There are 30 staff members and only 10 can be relocated. The ten that are relocated will require training and assistance in their new country and the other 20 staff members will need an unemployment (severance) package. The Board wants you to present a report on this idea.

Things to think about: 

How can you stay positive?

What solutions can you pitch? 

The fifth lesson hasn't taken place yet but I'm going to test it out next week and see how it goes. The objective of the lesson will be how to put forward a feature of a product. First we will practice the "five-second" pitch where I will give them words, concepts, ideas, places, and they will give me a one-sentence explanation that highlights the value of the given word. For example: Pizza: It's a delicious Italian meal that will fill the whole family's stomachs. Done. We'll do a few rounds of this exercise as a warm up and then move on.

Next, students will be given every day nouns (this time proposed by me, and not by their peers for simplicity's sake) where they will have to add a feature of their choice and pitch the advantages of their add-on to the group. I will also use a sand timer to make sure that their presentations are short and sweet, focusing on the timing of a pitch and the impact of each word they choose. As always, the goal is to speak positively and simply which isn't always easy when working with groups of experts!

The final lesson hasn't been outlined yet but it will more than likely be up to the students to pitch a professional subject of their choice to the audience of their choosing. They will have the time that it takes for an elevator to climb the building and the possibility of using whatever they have on them to make their pitch. We will incorporate all aspects of the lessons leading up to this moment and I'm really looking forward to seeing how they'll do.

My next unit will be about spontaneity and improvisation so stay tuned for more useful speaking exercises!

Why I Quit the BTS Job

I think the title says it all. Yesterday, I didn't go back to the difficult job that I've been complaining about for two weeks. I stewed over it all week and all weekend and finally made my decision late Sunday night. I sent out my email on Monday morning announcing my resignation.

Yesterday when the time came around for me to be "in class" (if we can even call it that), I didn't even feel a hint of regret. There would have only been two reasons to continue: 1) Really, really hard up for cash, or 2) Desperate to work on classroom management.

I will admit that I have reached a level in my life where I can "pick & choose" the kind of people that I want to work with, but also the kinds of jobs where I can teach in my way. This job was neither one or the other, which is why my resignation included two key points:

1) I firmly believe in pedagogy -- giving students texts and asking them to memorize vocabulary is not, in any way, shape, or form, a good exercise in pedagogy for language learning. They can read texts at home until they are blue in the face. They shouldn't use class time for reading, translating, and memorization without context or student-perceived of value (finding their own meaning, understanding and importance for what is being instructed). If I can't teach them in my way, in a way that encourages them experiment and assimilate the language, then all (in my opinion), is lost. We are both wasting our time.

2) I am not a babysitter, nor am I the police. Oh good god, I am so far from my babysitting and policing years that it is not even funny. I now enjoy the luxury of teaching real adults -- people who have personal motivation and investment in what I am teaching. People who respect my work. People who listen. People who try. I do not need to go back to the teenager who hates me just because he hates English. To all of that, I say a big, resounding "bye bye"!

Onward and upward.

So what will I do instead? You know I get bored easily -- I've already got other projects.
I will work with some new adult clients AND I will go back to real university. I will teach students who have received a B1 on their BULATS exam and as a reward are put in a "fun class". That's even what the administration has been calling it. When meeting the head of the languages department, he asked me if I thought I would be able to produce a TV show with them and I replied fervently that nothing would make me happier. I'm full of ideas, of creativity, of energy... it should be a positive experience unlike the soul-sucking 3 hours of class I subjected myself to.

I feel bad for the students who wanted to be there and wanted to work, but at the same time those are the kinds of learners who will go out and do the work on their own. Having me there shouting at their classmates won't help them at all.

I'm looking forward to talking about my creative endeavors with my new students and my new professionals at the beginning of January. Here's to hoping 2013 will be another positive year of teaching.

The Difficult Class: My (failed) Plan, la suite

I made it through nearly six slides of the presentation I prepared. It started off well until I got to the group speaking bits. They would turn and talk to each other, but when it came time to share what was said, no such luck and for a variety of different reasons.

1) "No".

Why? I asked. Why wouldn't you want to answer an easy question where the answers are written on the board just behind me? A number of replies: This is stupid and it's too easy (so then why aren't you doing it?) I don't feel like it. Yeah, I know how to conjugate that verb, but I can't think of anything. (please remember that the verb in question was "to be" and they had a minute to think about it before I started calling on people).

2) "I hate English". Well that's not an answer to my question either. Why? "Because I don't understand".

The students had decided before they had ever even seen my presentation that it was too difficult just because it was in English. My point was that even if everything was only in English, they could still understand because after studying English since 6th grade, they should all have a pretty good understanding of the present simple. They do, they are just painfully argumentative and uninterested in listening to me. Sigh.

3) "You insult me and I don't like you". Well tough shit, Girl-Who-Has-Never-Been-On-Time. I am the teacher. An answer to the question "why don't you have an example?" after having been given the time to come up with one is not as seen above. Don't blame me for your lack of will to participate.

After sending out my third offender, I myself decided it was time to leave. I found the director, told him I was through, and that was that. Done.
We had a "heart-to-heart" with the class where everybody aired their grievances.
A number of students (not the trouble-makers, of course) came to apologize to me.
Others came to make their point. "We want this". And I said, "Yes, but if you don't give me XYZ, how can you expect me to think you are capable of doing ABC?" to which they replied, "Okay so we have some soul-searching to do." To which I replied, "Yes, you do. I can't do this alone."

It's true. The teacher plays a role and the student plays a role. If one person in the equation decides to stop playing their role, then the lesson won't work. A teacher cannot do a student's job and vice versa. It takes two to do the "Learning Tango".

I'm more or less convinced to keep going with them. I figure we have already come so far and failed so hard that it can't possibly get much worse or more exhausting. There's just a few problems that remain:

The director wants me to "teach the test" just to "get through this"... meaning, do texts, translate them, look at the vocabulary and call it a day. I told him that was against my teaching principles. I told him there was no pedagogy or practical application of that exercise and that I'd rather give it a go my way. He told me to take the easy route and just do texts.

I reckon if I continue, I'll try to do a mix. How can we do texts but no speaking exercises? How can we learn vocabulary without learning how to use it?

So we'll see where this goes. For the moment, I have no inspiration, motivation or desire to carry on with these kids but just like last time, maybe a stroke of something will hit me and we can find a way to work together (and maybe it will be less of a fail). I don't know. I'm trying to rebuild the foundation of a building that is in ruin. I've done it before, but I was a different person... not entirely sure I can do it again.

Ever dealt with a really difficult class?
Was it cultural or just situational?
What did you do to meet the challenge?

Mad Gabs: Pronunciation and listening practice

Last Thursday I taught what must have been one of my most successful "talk sessions" ever. For my students, a talk session is where a large group (up to 15 people) of a similar level get together to do just that: talk. I facilitate the conversation, I interject questions when things start to go dry, or I orchestrate games or debates. This week with a group of upper-intermediate to advanced students, I decided to take the talk to a new level and concentrate on pronunciation.

There is a great board game that I remembered playing back in America called "Mad Gabs". Basically you have a card with what looks like nonsense written on it and you have to read it out loud until you figure out what you are saying. To take a really simple example, "Bri Tinys Pears" would be, as you probably guessed, "Britney Spears".

My objective was to force the students to stop depending on the written words in front of their face and to open their ears. I wanted to put everybody on an equal playing field by getting everybody just outside of their "comfort zone" rather than having one or two students with more confidence guessing all of the answers.

The way I set the game up was by having students read phrases off of a paper that were written how they sound and not how they should be spelled. Words ran into each other -- "aryagona getta kupa kofy" -- to get them thinking about where we put liasons in speech. Depending on where the native English speaker is from liasons can happen almost anywhere so this is tricky, but making students aware is the first step.

After everybody had read a phrase and was sufficiently relaxed/prepared, we started the game. I made it into an individual competition rather than a team or partners exercise by having each student read a phrase and the first person to guess it correctly was awarded the point. It took a lot of coaxing -- "you are doing great, repeat it again please" -- to get them into it, but by the end of the hour we were all laughing and they truly couldn't get enough of it. I have already decided that I will try this tomorrow with a slightly lower level of students to test how it will go, and that this will be a game my higher level students will play again in the future.

Here are the "warm up" phrases that I had the students read: 

Shwist Art Nao
Dywanna gedda koghy?
Eyve taleve
Ahye Gonaseim Biforee Gos?
Shizbin Promo Tidd
Shewiz Let
Didjego Winto Theofiz

And without further ado, the Mad Gabs printables that I found here: 

Isle of View

Easel Aid Ease Man

Eye Pillow Fizz Sigh

Of Lions Quarrel

Downed Rink Hand Arrive

Dew Wino Hue

Sea Can’t Higher Dove Fit

Ape Hand Hub Hair

Pretty Shack Scent

Dant Sir

Ail huck each arm

Brit Knees Peers

Black Beer Herd

Bon Knee Ankle Hide

By Chore Dung

Abe An An Appeal

Abe Autumn Lisp Hit

Abe Ax Tree Tally

Abe Hum Pen Thin Height

Ago Tidy Yeah

Ahems Hand Which

Ace Date Tough Gay Hoss

Ace Heck Hunch Ants

Ace Kits Offer in Hick

Ace Leap Lesson Height

Ace Lie Soap Eye

 Ace Nose Dorm

Ace Pea Ding Tea Kit

 Ache Hand He Eye Pull

Ache Hick Kin Tub Hut

Ache How Cue Later

Ache Leans Hurt

Ache Off Cores

Ache Up Puck Off He

Acre Hill Uh

 Age High Knees West Want

 Aged Who Woe

Agree Nap Hull

 Backed Ooze Queer Won

Bagged Who Thief Huge Her

Baldy Gull

Aid Are Crank Loud

Aid Arrive Her Slice Sins

Aid Hay Huff Ache Asian

Bee Way Rough Thud Hog

Bet Relate Thin Heifer

Aid Inn Hearse Owl Add

Aim Adder Rough Open Yen

Monk Ease

 Can Grew

Cause Mid Ticks Urge Jury

 Aim Hiker Owes Cope

Aim Honey Bag Care Runt He

Aim Other Ranch Howled

Aim Us Key To

Aim Who Vi


Stumped as to what they could be? Read them out loud as you'd have your students do until you find the answers! I'll post the answers next time so that you can test how you did.

This is only a selection of the phrases Wuzzles and Puzzles had available, so feel free to check out their site to get more. To make it more adapted to a particular group  you could even go as far as to make your own with key expressions and vocabulary words for their jobs/needs. I could have included something like "Gew Gull Anna Lit Tics" for my favorite web analyst, for example.


Thinking about giving it a try? Print off the list, cut them apart and let the games begin.
How do you practice pronunciation and listening with your students?

Pronunciation: Common Mistakes by French Speakers

The French are famous for their cheezy accent when speaking English. More times than I can count, students have come to me telling me that they want to work on their accents. The hardest phonetic sounds are R's, the "th", and vowels at the beginning of a word.

"R" is often pronounced like "Air" instead of a pirate's "Arrrrgh" or a tiger's "RrrrrRrrr". I know I must look absolutely ridiculous when I'm teaching but making a pirate scowl or a tiger growl usually gets people laughing, no matter their age.

The "TH" is just plain and simply ignored. I try to get my adults to put their tongues between their teeth when practicing this sound, but they just feel ridiculous. The more comfortable they are with you the more they'll dare to be embarrassed, but more likely than not, this is a sound I will be repeating for years and years to come -- until classroom teachers finally decide that they'll teach people how to say it correctly while they are still small, and not to say just a simple "T", a "Z" or a "D", as one poor primary school classroom teacher said.

Vowel sounds at the beginning of a word are tricky because a lot of people will put a mysterious, breathy "h", turning "ate" into "hate" and "apple" into "happle". I've observed this for long enough to have figured out that they just plain and simply don't hear it, which makes it hard to correct it.
So if they can't hear it, then what sense can you evoke to make them aware of the mistake they are making?

I have my students put their hand under their mouth and practice saying different words with breathy h's and non-breathy h's (think "horse" verses "hour") and then practice saying words that begin with pure vowels (apple, earth, orange, etc.).  When they feel their hot breath on their hands, they will realize what a breathy "h" feels like. Then, if they say "hate" instead of "ate", they will plain and simply feel their mistake. This requires practice and repetition, but it's a simple reminder just putting your hand as the teacher under your own mouth to remind them of breathy or non-breathy "h" sounds at the beginning of words.

What sounds have you mistakenly heard your students making and how did you go about fixing them?