Chinese Pronounce English

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As an aspirant teaching English to Chinese children, I chose ‘Pronunciation problems of Chinese people’ as the most attractive and the most useful topic for my summative task at this moment. As resources of this joyful and useful research on the internet, I have used three videos on Youtube made by the three experienced teachers of the English language. Only one of them works with children. And only one of them (accent coach from London, Luke Nicholson) gave a lot of live examples of the flaws in pronunciation that Chinese people, in general, make when speaking English, by showing the interviews with the Chinese actor Jackie Chan who sometimes manages to confuse his experienced interviewers. This post was...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Most researchers agree that the learner’s first language influences the pronunciation of the target language and is a significant factor in accounting for foreign accents. So-called interference or interference from the first language is likely to cause errors in aspiration, stress, and intonation in the target language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vesna A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Some Chinese students tend to have difficulty with English sounds because they are deeply influenced by similar Chinese sounds. However, they are very different from each other. A particular sound which does not exist in the native...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As an English teacher, it is quite common to encounter high achievers, those who are so inspired and self-motivated in learning English, as well as low achievers, those who find themselves with no interest or goals in class. About the former group, there are always ways to encourage them in English learning, while for the latter, the teacher really has to think over and over before taking appropriate actions. I have always had to think of ways to encourage students in my teaching practice because the majority of students from my class are far from being excellent in English. The top student currently only scores 6 in IELTS. Therefore, it takes me much effort to arouse their interest first, without which the task...  [Read more]

William Noble Destinations Teaching Ideas I have been an online ESL teacher to Chinese students for over 13 years, mostly with primary students but also with secondary and adult students. I am also a father and have homeschooled my daughter over her primary years. Like many teachers, I’ve enjoyed teaching at this level of education as it lays the foundation in English. As it set the foundation, my teaching helped students to overcome common errors in production skills, speaking and writing. Teaching both my daughter and Chinese students at the primary level also helped me also to understand the different expectations between first language and second language students. Since English is very different from China, many Chinese...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences English is one of the most widely spoken languages and it is taught in a lot of countries. Globalization, fast economic development makes many people study English. People learn English for different reasons: business, education, life abroad, traveling, personal interest. Chinese students are not an exception. With the growing economies of China, the need for learning English increased dramatically. What challenges do Chinese students face when learning English? What challenges does the teacher meet teaching Chinese students? What teaching approach can be found? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Darya M. Let’s talk about the most typical challenges when teaching Chinese learners and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas I am a lifelong ESL student myself. Every day I am learning something new from the books, from the things around me, and my students. For the last few years, I've been teaching the English language here in China, which is why I chose this topic. China is a great country with beautiful sceneries and very hard-working, enthusiastic, and friendly people. Learning any language is not an easy job. It requires patience, practice, and of course, a desire. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Buned S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Chinese students are swift at...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas After China adopted the Open Door Policy, the English language not only gained popularity but also became indispensable in international communication and trade. It was introduced in public schools as an obligatory foreign language and English teaching centers started spreading across the country. Even though Chinese people approach learning English with a great dose of enthusiasm, it poses several challenges, both linguistic and cultural. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Weronika S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Chinese language (Mandarin) is an example of Sino-Tibetan language, whereas English belongs to the Indo-European...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Throughout the world, different countries have difficulty pronouncing other sounds from different languages. For many native English speakers learning Mandarin, pronouncing the “x”, “sh”, “q”, “ch”, and “z” sounds are not easy obstacles to overcome. Based on my own experience it takes plenty of repetition to master how to pronounce each of these sounds. Chinese students have a similar problem when trying to pronounce certain sounds in English. The three sounds that come to mind are “th”, “v” and the difference between “r” and “l”. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jonathan A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences What’s the most difficult part of learning a new language? Is it writing? Perhaps it’s the reading or memorizing new vocabulary? Well for some it’s speaking the new language, specifically when it comes to pronunciation. Every language has its unique ways or pronouncing their vowels and constants as well as how they form their sentence structure. Especially this write up will focus on Japanese English as a Second Language (ESL) students and the difficulties they face while learning English and its pronunciation. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zachary B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First, it helps to understand a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Language has always played an important role in communication between people. Today, in the globalization, the importance of mastering a foreign language has become increasingly prominent. English is the most widely used language in the world. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xiao W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In the 21st century, English is not unfamiliar to us Chinese. In our life, we can find English everywhere with little attention. Most Chinese learn dumb English. Few people can communicate with foreigners without barriers. Some Western netizens can't help wondering why English is so difficult for Chinese to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Every learner of a foreign language may face pronunciation problems now and then. Languages that belong to one language group have more in common in phonics and are usually easier to learn to pronounce correctly. But such languages as English and Chinese are so different, that Chinese learners (and I bet English speaking learners of Chinese too) often have many difficulties in pronunciation. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Evgeniya S. I have been working in China as a teacher for more than six months now. When I arrived in this country, I hardly knew several words in Mandarin. I was hoping that won’t be a problem, as I had traveled a lot before, and my English knowledge had always...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Chinese language is a tonal language can make learning English a real challenge for my students. The one thing I have on my side though is the fact that they are brought up to be dedicated at anything they do and hardworking. Although it's been mentioned that pronunciation is not the most important aspect of TEFL, it is to The Chinese Government. It’s something we’ve been told we need to cover deeply along with reading and comprehension. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Paula S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As just mentioned the Chinese language is tonal, meaning words with different “tones” which are like...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English in China has become very popular for ESL teachers and many are looking for job opportunities in China. Finding a teaching job in China isn’t too hard but working with Chinese students can be quite challenging. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate VIKTORIIA H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Chinese grammar is very different from English and many Chinese students try to copy the grammar rules of their native language and apply them to English. As a result, they form awkward sentences that are difficult to understand. They struggle to use gerunds and articles as these parts of speech do not exist in Mandarin....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Over the decades, the English language has reached the status of a global language and is commonly known as the lingua franca around the world. It has become one of the most widely spoken language as a mother tongue, international communication as well as language taught in millions of schools around the globe. The use of the English language is widespread in many sectors in the global market as many organizations begin to adopt the language as an official language. In the economic world, the language plays a significant role in international trade/business between two of the most powerful global economic powerhouse mainly the United States of America and China. This post was written by our TEFL certification...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have been teaching English in an education center for three months. Even though it’s not a long period but I have seen several challenges that these Chinese native students are facing while learning English. Especially for younger learners aged roughly between three and eight years old. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elsa C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. While learning the alphabet, I have witnessed most kindergarten students have difficulty differentiating between “G” and “J” and their respective phonetics. Moreover, many young learners are not used to rolling their tongue to pronounce “L” and “R”. To...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences It is generally agreed that education is one of the most important issues in every country these days and China is no exception. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ekaterina G. It’s a well-known fact that China is the most populated country in the world with a long and mysterious history, rich and varied culture. China recognizes 55 ethnic minority groups within the country in addition to the Han majority. Standard Mandarin is the only official language, though there are more than 200 hundred living languages spoken all over the country. While being China’s capital, political and cultural center, Beijing is also known as a melting pot where you can meet the representative of almost each...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sheneil J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Chinese does not have either of the “th” sounds (like “that” and “this”). Most other languages do not have these sounds and they are problematic for most learners of English. The difficulty is the point of articulation- the tongue has to be between the teeth, not behind them. Many people say that English speakers look like they’re sticking their tongues out all the time because of the “th” sounds. It can be difficult to get learners to do this because it violates a cultural proscription against sticking out one’s tongue. Confusion...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Most teachers come to China to teach English with only a general idea about Chinese culture and language which they should have to deal with as soon as they arrive in China. The reason I chose this topic is that I am fluent in Chinese and have experienced Chinese culture in all its facets for over than seven years. But let’s not beat around the bush and get down to the nitty-gritty. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ruben M. Chinese people often seem to be shy or introverted, especially in front of foreigners or in the classroom. However, they are not always. Chinese society is built on 关系 Guanxi, which means “relationship(s)” and can be described as any kind of connection...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In recent years, the most popular destination for EFL teachers all over the world has been China. China is the country welcoming many foreign teachers, native and non-native, and is probably the country with the most rapid development of the English teaching industry. Online teaching has become just as important as face to face teaching and has been a teacher for an online company for a long time, I have experienced a variety of students, levels, and groups. Therefore, in this essay, I will write about the most common problems Chinese students face and some ways of dealing with them. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Aleksandra Đ. If you are ever in China, you will notice that you will...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences As a speaker of 5 languages (French being my native one), I’ve been exposed to different ways of teaching how one particular language sounds and why it sounds that way, what kind of meaning is conveyed using what sounds in what order, and so on. Quite often, I’ve noticed that in the school system, not enough emphasis is put on studying the sounds that pertain to the language itself. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Luca D. When learning English in a French-speaking country, the main goal for the teachers and the students alike is generally “to be understood” by the English-speaking person one is having a conversation with. Almost no importance is given to pronouncing the...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences In this blog post, I plan to examine why English may be such a challenging language for Chinese speakers to master, namely in comparison to their European peers. For the purpose of this examination, I will focus on four main aspects, from quite glaring differences to other aspects that some may not initially consider: written language, grammar, vocabulary, and language exposure. These points are drawn from my own experience of living and teaching English in China, from learning Chinese myself and from conversations with my students. I will be focusing on those who have not had experience in learning other languages before English, as I feel this constitutes the largest proportion of Chinese learners. This by no...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I have started teaching English in Turkey, since 2018. If you are planning to start your teaching career here, I would like to mention several pros and cons and problems of learning English for the speakers of the Turkish language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hanie s. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First of all, learners expect teaching to be prescriptive rather than descriptive, which indicates, they tend to memorize the sample instead of learning through the examples and explanations. Secondly, students are occasionally, immersed in criticizing the politics but the teacher should not join, due to the fact that they...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The country of choice I would like to speak about is China. I have been teaching in China for about a year at all levels. Several problems face English learners in this country ranging from the use of prepositions, modal auxiliary and the male and feminine pronouns. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mandella Elorm A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. ESL learners especially adult learners happen to have a persistent problem with the use of he/she, most students start speaking about a male character and then midway start using she to represent this male character and this happens interchangeably during oral lessons but never...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Susan T S G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Singapore is a multilingual and multi-ethnic society. We have four official languages Malay, English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil, with Malay as our national language. English is used as the main medium of instruction in our education system and learning a second language is compulsory in school starting from pre-school age. Being Chinese, my second language is Mandarin. I also speak a third language called dialect especially to our parents who do not understand English or Chinese. Also Read: The Most Important Personal Qualities in the ESL...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Many Chinese students face the common problem that although they spent 10 years studying English at school, they can't pronounce an English sentence correctly, and they are not confident enough to communicate in the language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mengru W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Our students struggle to speak in English, they are good at writing and reading, but cannot speak, even though they studied the language from third to 12th grade. Most of the students also study English at a language center, but they still find it hard to completely reach the goal, even when they go to college, speaking English...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a second language can be difficult, and this is especially true when the learners L1 and their target language are completely different in structure, sound, and tones. An English as a second language student who speaks French, German, or any other European language will have an easier task than one who speaks a language that is not of European origins. One such language is Mandarin Chinese. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ashley L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The areas that native Mandarin speakers most often run into difficulty are pronunciation, tones, tenses, and sentence structure. A Chinese speaker might...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I have been working in China for more than six months now and it’s been a very interesting time for me not just to learn more about the country and its people, but also to enrich my teaching skills and grow professionally as a teacher. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Evgeniya S. When I arrived in China, I hardly knew anything about specific features of teaching in that country, so I thought that the knowledge I had was quite enough to handle the classes in kindergarten or primary school. But since my first working day, I have often been surprised and even sometimes perplexed by what I have seen at kindergartens and schools in China. Many teaching techniques and methods that Chinese...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The English language is a peculiar, fascinating beast to teach and to learn. It comes with a long legacy of Anglo-Saxon and Norman invaders, empire-building, and globalization of the 20th century. With multiple layers of rules and culture, it overflows with idiosyncrasies and peculiarities to confound native and learning speakers alike. Whether it’s pronunciation, grammar, or even just the system of time, English is a welcoming lingua franca and an intimidating coil of strangeness at the same time. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zachary L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Any language has their culture imprinted on...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Destinations Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Teaching in a foreign country is a dream for many people who are passionate about education. However, it can be confusing and scary thinking about teaching in a country with a culture and language that you are not familiar with. However, as long as you are a qualified, professional and patient teacher, you should have nothing to worry about. Teaching in a country like China might seem like a big challenge at first, however, there are many techniques and teaching methods that a professional teacher can apply during the lesson to ensure a successful outcome. So, the question is: How can a teacher apply what they have learned during a TEFL course in a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The following essay is a summative task for my TEFL certification course. I have chosen the topic ”Problems for learners in a country of your choice” and the country of focus is China. In the essay, I would like to answer the question “How to help Chinese learners improve their conversation skills?” This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nastja S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The reason for choosing this topic and this title in particular is that while living in China I have come across many Chinese who are learning English tell me how they have been studying the language for a long time but still don’t feel confident...  [Read more]