Pronunciation
Good pronunciation is key to good communication. It’s absolutely necessary for good listening and speaking. Making the right sounds when speaking increases the chance that people will understand you. And recognizing the proper sounds when you hear them, improves your listening immensely. Students might not sound exactly like native speakers all the time. Often they don’t need to. In many cases it’s better for them to speak clearly and avoid confusion. But for their listening, understanding patterns of pronunciation is a major help.
I’d like to add some phonics materials as well if anyone is interested.
For all other ideas, feedback and input, feel free to contact me here: myenglishimages@gmail.com
Thirty Dirty Little Turtles
The letter T in the middle of English words often softens to a D sound. As a fun way of practicing this pronunciation, I use this simple phrase that makes my kids laugh.
Discrete Sound Comparisons
When a student has a hard time making a particular sound or saying a certain word, it is helpful to compare that sound with a similar one. This helps the learner make the difference more distinct.
For example, the V sound doesn’t exist in the Japanese language but B does. Try practicing the short strong B sound that students already know and the long soft V sound. Make sure to point out the different mouth positions associated with each. This way students get a much better picture of how to make the right sounds. They should tart speaking more clearly right away but reinforcement over time is key.
Phonics
I’ve only just started producing some materials for teaching phonics. As I make new images and materials I’ll be sure to post them here. Keep up with the blog for all the latest materials coming out.
Numbers (This is one of my favorites.)
In this activity students read numbers in the order they like, or one chosen by the teacher. Their partners write the numbers as they are read. When finished, they confirm the information has been correctly transferred.
For a bit more fun with numbers, give students sets of number cards and have them work in pairs or teams. One person turns over a card and reads it to his or her partner who is at the board writing. When the student makes a mistake the speaker has to correct them. This works brilliantly because students are trying to go quickly to get through their pile of cards as fast as they can, but quickly find that they need to slow down to win. Slow and steady makes for clear communication and gets the best results.
Dropped T Sounds
There are a number of times in English where the letter T is dropped. This worksheet collects some examples for students to practice.
My advice is not to do it all at once. If you go over those dropped T sounds in an integrated way, the students should be getting constant feedback on their pronunciation in every conversation. When I’ve used this it has been only after having gone over various points that are included on the sheet. For example I may have done a short practice using “can” and “can’t” on one day and a few days later dropped T sounds that occur in the middle of the word. At the end of the week, I might do one quick review and then give the handout.
Shirt / Short – Shirts / Shorts
Some of my students had a really hard time saying these words so I quickly made a drawing in each of four squares and had them choose which word I was saying. I then turned the sheet over to the students and let them try with one another. It didn’t solve all their pronunciation problems but it did make them more aware of the sounds and helped when they received correction later on.
Words that end in: T / D / ED
There is a bit of variation in the pronunciation of past tense endings which the terms collected in this worksheet may help practice.
This card set includes words in their past tenses that end with either a T / D / or ED sound.