Stress Syllable Practice

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Spanish speakers from Mexico face several challenges for acquiring successful pronunciation skills in English. Many students here will have had at least some exposure to English through media and contact with American-English speakers, however, this does not mean that they will have a complete understanding of the phonemic system in English and how it differs from that of Spanish. This essay will briefly describe some outcomes stemming from pronunciation problems in students, followed by an overview of the basic phonetic and phonological differences between English and Mexican Spanish with examples and discussion around the rules that govern English word stress. This post was written by our TEFL certification...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas According to the Cambridge Dictionary, pronunciation is “how words are pronounced. Pronunciation can be an intimidating prospect for English language learners, especially since English phonetics and phonology hardly seem consistent. The difficulty of English pronunciation should not be underestimated as speaking is a vital component of language learning. Confidence in this skill can be closely linked to students' accuracy and fluency. Therefore, a teacher should understand the basics of phonology and phonetics to help build students' confidence in their speaking skills. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sabrina C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I have been living in Japan for the past one and a half years. Needless to say, the experience has been enthralling. This country would have never been my first choice for a country to relocate to, from my home country, India. But if my stay has taught me anything, it is that never judge a book by its cover. When we think of Japan, the first thing that pops up is that it is a country of workaholics; it has zero English presence, and the people are highly prejudiced against foreigners and foreign culture. I was proven wrong. Japan is a beautiful country. It is culturally so rich, it makes me want to live here forever. The people, though tend to be a little distant initially, a warm-up to you eventually, and...  [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 Teaching Ideas Speaking like a native speaker is always expected from learners. However, they encounter many factors that prevent their success. Therefore, as an English teacher, I want to explore some common difficulties that Vietnamese students face when they learn to pronounce English so that I can teach effectively and help them communicate more confidently. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Thuong L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Four major features can cause problems for them. Firstly, the complexity of tense and lax vowels in English creates confusion for Vietnamese learners. Secondly, a variety of dialect differences and consonant...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As an EFL teacher in Vientiane, Laos, I have seen that Lao speakers have unique challenges with learning English. Some of these challenges are due to linguistic differences between Lao and English, while others are due to cultural differences between Laos and the Western countries where English is spoken. In this paper, I reflect on how I can help my Lao students overcome their particular issues with pronunciation, intonation, and stress. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rilla T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. My students’ most common pronunciation problem is probably differentiating between /r/ and /l/. My name, Rilla,...  [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 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 Brazilians are learning English all over the country, for various reasons and with diverse goals. In this text, I would like to approach some very common deviations to standard English dialects, such as General American and Received Pronunciation, by Brazilian speakers. I have chosen to address some problems in phonetics and pronunciation that are the most frequent in my classes. I also give attention to some problems in word linking that generate tough challenges for English teachers. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Linecker M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The country's official language is Portuguese. As a result of...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences A learner's mother tongue has a profound influence on verbalization of the second language. The absence of some sounds in the learner's first language, and the difference in intonation, word, and syllable stress between the learner's native language and English are some of the many factors that often lead to an incorrect pronunciation of English words. In order to address these issues, a teacher needs to have a basic understanding of the student's native language. This essay will briefly explore the most common pronunciation problems for Egyptians learners of English and some suggested solutions to tackle these problems. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Salma O. One of the most prominent...  [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 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]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Many ESL teachers have never even heard of phonetics or phonology, yet they use these aspects of speech naturally when they speak. Phonetics and phonology are two areas of linguistics that study the sounds of language. Phonetics focuses on individual sounds, while phonology studies the features and combination of sounds (McMahon, 1-3). There are two reasons why ESL teachers need to know phonetics and phonology: first, it helps them to conceptualize English in a way that their students can understand; and second, it helps them to address their students’ difficult pronunciation problems. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Victoria I. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Anna Domiczek Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Total Physical Response is a very successful teaching method that can be used for both children and adults, particularly for beginner and lower-level learners. This English teaching approach, developed by Dr. James Asher, has been applied for almost thirty years. Asher's language learning method is built around the coordination of speech and action, and its purpose is to teach language through physical activity. In Asher's theory, children should acquire a second language just like they learn their mother tongue, by developing listening competence first and being able to understand speech before imitating it. Essentially, listening comprehension is acquired because children need...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences As defined through the units of the course and through many linguistic books, pronunciation is to say a word in a language in the correct way. Although the correct pronunciation of words and even the correct intonation in sentences in English, is thought through course books all over the world and thanks to media students are exposed to the natural and correct pronunciation, numerous mistakes are observed inside the classroom and outside. The reasons for the problems in pronunciation might vary depending on the country. I have been teaching English in Turkey for a while and have witnessed many problems with the students which will be explained through this essay. This post was written by our TEFL certification...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Japan is a country with a long history, deep tradition, and vibrant culture. Within this culture sits the Japanese language. At first, being a spoken language and then adopting the Chinese Writing System, Japanese has grown and changed into what it is today. If you look at all languages, most Western languages originate from a set family, such as Romance Languages (which became today’s Spanish, French, Italian, etc). But Japanese (as most Asian languages) was formed from entirely different roots. These fundamental differences mean that the method of learning these languages has a lot to do with memorization and repetitive practice of the Chinese symbols and the words they represent. Which means it is...  [Read more]