Help with pronounciation

Say AHHHHH

One of the characteristics that Greek learners have when speaking English is their use of "ahhh" as a filler. Basically, a filler is a sound or phrase that a speaker uses to "fill in" gaps in his/her speech so as to show their listener that they haven't finished speaking yet and so keep their turn going. In English we use things such as "uhmm", "you know", "well" etc. to do this. In Greek people often use "ahhh" either on its own or attached to to the end of the last word spoken. An extreme example of this would sound like this,

Iahh wouldahh likahh to ahhh talkahhh about ahhh the ahhh exam.

This can make their English hard to understand (as the individual words tend to merge together) and, of course, it makes it hard to figure out when they've actually finished speaking and so when it is ok to speak yourself.

The problem is that the vast majority of students have no idea that they are doing this and so continue to make the same mistake. Whilst endless hours are spent working on grammar and vocabulary, little, if any time is spent on pronounciation practice in most lessons.

Here is an exercise that helps students tackle this by making them aware of their own voice.

Lesson plan

1 Explain to students that we're going to play a speaking game. All they have to do is speak for a long as they can about an everyday subject e.g.

school
maths
football
TV
food etc.

2 Choose a volunteer (preferably somebody who is not shy about talking in front of the others).

3 Tell them that this game has just one rule; that they must speak as long as they can without saying "ahhh". You may need to demonstrate what you mean as most students are unaware that they even use this expression in their speech.

4 Time the student and allow them to speak. On average most students doing this for the first time last less than 10 seconds. It may even be a good idea to record them (using, say a mobile phone) as often the students will vehemently deny that they used "ahhh". The use of the sound is so deeply ingrained that we fail to register it as unusual or wrong. It is only when they hear the recording that they realise they've been using it.

5 Now explain to the students what a filler is and how in English the same job is carried out by other sounds or expressions e.g. "uhmm", "you know" etc. Show them how to use the English fillers.

6 Now ask the student who volunteered to have another go at the game, this time using English rather than Greek fillers. You should see a marked improvement.

7 Students play the game in pairs, each one timing (and, if possible, recording) the other.

8 Swop roles a few times.

You need to explain to the students that such deeply ingrained mistakes do not disappear overnight. However, as they have realised that there is a problem, solving it becomes much, much easier. Also make sure they understand that just by substituting a couple of sounds their English will be much more natural.

V for Vendetta

I saw this film over the weekend and though it is based on a comic strip it has a lot of themes that made me think as a grown - up about the nature of power and the role of the State. What it also made me do is look more carefully at the role of TV and especially that of hate TV. In the movie the regime uses Talk TV as effective tool to inspire hate and fear and thus unquestioning obedience.

The unnerving thing was how close in form and content were the the programmes shown in the film and the programmes broadcast regularly on the smaller channels here in Thessaloniki. They promote national chauvanism, hatred of other groups and endless ranting just like in the movie and God help us if they ever get into any position of power.

See here for lesson plan.

Great PR home goals

Blogging, it seems, can be dangerous for your professional health. One of the blogs I read from time to time is La Petite Anglaise and I was astonished to hear that she has been fired because of her blogging activities. According to her employers, the blog, "brought the firm into disrepute", which is very strange as I had no idea what company she worked for, even the fact that it was British, not French - so much for that accusation.

In addition she was accused of the terrible crime of using the company's computer for personal business. Shock, horror. This is unprecedented. Somebody using their PC for extracurricular activities!!!!! Just as well they still don't have the birch for such outrageous abuses of our gallant employer's system.

Of course, what the company (Dixon Wilson Chartered Accountants) has done is generate the kind of bad publicity (see here) that its rivals could only dream of. Feel free to do as I did and send them an email which said that with management decisions such as these I wouldn't trust them to audit my daughter's piggy bank, let alone manage a business account.

See here for contact details

As PR a home goal it's up there with the McLibel case in the 90's.

Boring, maybe. Bored, no.

Boring, maybe. Bored, no.

At last some good news about being a teacher. It seems that we are less likely, at least in the UK, to be bored with our jobs. I remember when I finished university and started thinking about what I wanted to do with my life as I went for various interviews with large companies. After each one I felt a sense of dread that this would be my life for the next 40 years, toiling away in some drab, beige office, shuffling bits of paper from one place to another. (I saw The Office last Christmas and shuddered at the memory of working in places like this during summer holidays and immediately after college).

Eventually, I realised that I was far better off teaching, even if the pay is lousy. At least I get to think for myself, create new ideas and use my brain for something other than figuring out ways not to work. If I do get bored then the only person to blame is me, since I have the means to do something else in the classroom, to try something different.

Teaching 'the least boring job'

Most teachers said 'no two days were the same'

Graduates who choose a career in teaching are least likely to be bored in their job, a survey suggests.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools questioned more than 2,000 graduates aged 21 to 45, finding more than half were regularly bored at work.

Those in administrative and manufacturing jobs were the most frustrated, followed by marketing and sales employees.

Teachers and healthcare workers were the least bored.



See here for the rest of the story

Infection - Scott Sigler

As well as catching up on my reading I've been listening to some audio books over the last few weeks. If you like scf-fi/horror then I would definitely recommend Infection by Scott Sigler
which can be downloaded for free. I've also listened to Earthcore and Ancestor by Scott which were also great fun. As well as being interesting stories (with more twists than a goat trail over the Alps) he gives a great performance which makes the books all the more addictive.

Just be warned Scott's books are not for the faint-hearted.

I have also given Kostas, my new student The Pocket and the Pendant by Mark Archer as an alternative to a traditional book. The idea is that he listens to a chapter a week and then we discuss it. I chose it as he love sci-fi fantasy and the main character is about his age. Also all the students I gave it to last year loved it.

Another random thought

As I was digging out my camping stuff from the cupboard last week I came across Focus On Proficiency by Sue O'Connell. Anyone who taught advanced level English here in Greece during the 90's will be familiar with the book as it was used by half the schools here. Looking at it once more I was appalled by the thought of how little has changed in EFL/ESL over the last 15 years.

We still use the same awful approaches with their stodgy subject matter and worn out ways of teaching. With the exception of the introduction of colour illustrations I can't see any real difference between this book and the ones I'm obliged to use now in school. I have tried repeatedly over the last few years to persuade the school to abandon the idea of a set book at advanced levels (the range of language and skills means that no one book will ever be enough) and yet the idea has always been rejected as impractical.

Luckily, I am free to do what I like when it comes to private students which means they get a far richer language experience which includes blogging, podcasts, audio books and all the tech goodies which we now have at our disposal, as well as literature, films and other more traditional materials.

Over the years I have moved further and further away from the mass produced, globally orientated pap that the publishing houses pump out every year. This is not snobbery on my part but rather the realisation that materials designed to please everyone, do nothing of the sort.

However, I do feel somewhat of a fraud sometimes when I post ideas for using technology in the class even though I don't often get chance to try them out in real life.