'Back in the day' when I was studying Spanish as a second language, memorization and recitation were two techniques often used to get students to produce accurate and well-pronounced language. However, when I was taking classes for my TESOL Certificate, this approach to language study was pooh-poohed. At least ten years ago, it seems that teachers of English as a second language had decided that the 'communicative' approach was best.
I'm a linguaphile and had much more drill-like instruction, especially in Spanish, and I can say that it definitely helped my pronunciation and grammar. As in any endeavor, the purpose or goals of the course are hopefully in line with those of the students. At that time, I wanted to become fluent in Spanish, to sound as native as possible and to be literate and articulate. (I wanted to be a Spanish teacher.) Even some decades later, I am pleased and surprised at times to find that I can still read a great deal and understand many different tenses. The vocabulary is what has faded.
Because of my own success with Spanish, I often wonder if I should incorporate more of the memorization and recitation method that was effective with me in Spanish. Interestingly, the Wall Street Journal points out that in Japan, several schools are emulating the approach of an English teacher named Mr. Makoto Ishiwata and making students memorize the speeches of Mr. (now President) Barack Obama. What is the reasoning behind this approach?
Actually, it's quite simple. Read, listen to, and memorize the words, the vocabulary, the pronunciation and intonation - and even the gestures of Mr. Obama, and then deliver the same speech in English, just as you heard and saw it. The result will be an ability to reproduce accurate and clear English speech. The next step is to use some of the language in other contexts and to take English's collocations and rhythms and intonation that are imprinted on your brain out into the 'real' world.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
English and the Generation Gap (Top 50 words from the AARP)
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) published (October 2008, AARP Bulletin) a list of 50 words that every 50+year-old should know in order to be able to comprehend their children and grandchildren. I've discovered that, even in the workplace, there can be a generation gap between senior-aged instructors and the twenty- and thirty-something teachers.
My first taste of this was last year when a younger instructor joked that I was probably a 'cougar.' Curiously, this word was also listed by AARP as an expression seniors should know. Is this a reflection of the times? Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher.
Some of the other expressions to make the list are crackberry, google, vlog, webisode, and wikidemia. Some common acronyms used in textmessaging are BFF, IDK, LOL, OMG, ROFL, and TMI. If you've got fashion-conscious young relatives, you should know bling, tatted out, tramp stamp, scooby doos, and soul patch. If someone young is (or you're) into 'love,' you should know what baby mama, cougar, cupcaking, and flirtationship mean. Your peeps are your closest friends or your family, and then there are brodowns, bromances, a frenemy, and nOObs.
When it comes to music, there's crunk and emo plus disco naps and mashing up. It used to be that checking vitals was what the doctor does, but it now applies to checking your electronic devices. Do you floss, friend, jump the shark, rock, or talk smack?
If you really like to be emphatic, you can say it's fo'shizzle, obvi, and totes. And if you're looking for some colorful language, how about the bomb, off the chain, ridonkulous, sick, tight, and wack?
From the British Isles, you have chav, nutter, snog, and T5, and that brings us to the last word on AARP's list, a word for a great-looking (-shaking) butt - a badonkadonk.
You may not want to use these expressions in your own speech - risking misuse, but understanding them may be a worthwhile endeavor.
My first taste of this was last year when a younger instructor joked that I was probably a 'cougar.' Curiously, this word was also listed by AARP as an expression seniors should know. Is this a reflection of the times? Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher.
Some of the other expressions to make the list are crackberry, google, vlog, webisode, and wikidemia. Some common acronyms used in textmessaging are BFF, IDK, LOL, OMG, ROFL, and TMI. If you've got fashion-conscious young relatives, you should know bling, tatted out, tramp stamp, scooby doos, and soul patch. If someone young is (or you're) into 'love,' you should know what baby mama, cougar, cupcaking, and flirtationship mean. Your peeps are your closest friends or your family, and then there are brodowns, bromances, a frenemy, and nOObs.
When it comes to music, there's crunk and emo plus disco naps and mashing up. It used to be that checking vitals was what the doctor does, but it now applies to checking your electronic devices. Do you floss, friend, jump the shark, rock, or talk smack?
If you really like to be emphatic, you can say it's fo'shizzle, obvi, and totes. And if you're looking for some colorful language, how about the bomb, off the chain, ridonkulous, sick, tight, and wack?
From the British Isles, you have chav, nutter, snog, and T5, and that brings us to the last word on AARP's list, a word for a great-looking (-shaking) butt - a badonkadonk.
You may not want to use these expressions in your own speech - risking misuse, but understanding them may be a worthwhile endeavor.
Friday, February 27, 2009
A Word or A Paragraph a Day and You're On Your Way
In an attempt to consolidate (bring together) my creative output into one space, I am putting a few of my posts from my wikispace into this blog. This way I can expose my readers to some ideas that may have gotten buried in the wiki.
What follows is a sample of what can be done with a SINGLE WORD, such as 'sure.'
* What does 'sure' mean? What are some synonyms of this word? (e.g., certain, confident, inevitable, yes!) Can you create four different sentences using 'sure' to display the meanings of 'certain,' 'confident,' 'inevitable,' and 'yes!'?
Examples:
1. "I'm sure that the meeting is tomorrow at 10 a.m. because it's posted on the bulletin board."
2. "She is very sure of herself, but she's not overconfident either."
3. "It's a sure thing that we will die some day."
4. If someone asks if you want to play volleyball after school and you do, you can say, "Sure!" (meaning "yes").
5. "I sure wish someone would answer my question."
* What part of speech is 'sure'? It's an adjective, except in example #4 and #5 where it is acting as an adverb. Can you come up with some antonyms of the adjective form of sure? (e.g., unsure, speculative, uncertain, questionable, skeptical, indefinite, unreliable, etc.)
* What are some other forms of sure? For example, do you recognize the verb forms 'insure', 'ensure', and 'assure'? What do they mean? How do we use those forms? What are some related noun forms of the adjective sure? (e.g., sureness, insurance, assurance)
* Where can you go to find the answers to the above questions? There are many online resources (e.g., online dictionary and thesaurus), but you should have your own copy of a dictionary and thesaurus, which are what I used for this demonstration. These two items should be in the toolkit of any language learner, including native speakers who want to improve or check their English.
* What else can you do after playing with the word 'sure'? You can start paying attention to uses of all these words that have related meanings or forms. Look at this excerpt from a 'Science News' article.
Here is a READING ACTIVITY (TWO PARAGRAPHS) for you, to give you an idea of how you can expand your vocabulary in a meaningful way after you've focused on specific words. Keep your eyes open for any kind of article that might have one of the vocabulary words or expressions that you learned.
Below you will find an excerpt of an article from 'Science News' (Vol.165;02/07/04) about 'Unsure Minds.'
* Before you start reading, what do think the article will talk about? What is meant by an 'unsure' mind?
* Now start reading, and don't stop for words you don't understand. Don't use a dictionary. Pay attention to words related to the title and the word 'unsure.'
'Unsure Minds, People may not be the only ones who know when they don't know'
by Bruce Bower
A cat crouches on a kitchen floor, gazing up at a glass of milk high on a counter. The animal's muscles tense. Its tail bobs from side to side like a metronome. The distance from floor to counter is a long way to cover in a single feline leap, perhaps too long. With a slightly cocked head, the cat emits a tentative meow. Finally, the animal springs for the counter. Half a world away, African monkeys moving through a stand of trees spot a few chimpanzees in the distance. The monkeys freeze, staring intently at the powerful apes, which sometimes kill and eat monkeys. Staccato chattering erupts in the monkey troop as the chimps move closer. Suddenly, the monkeys scatter.
As these two cases illustrate, situations arise in which animals act as if they need to make decisions but are uncertain what to do. From a scientific perspective, though, it's hard to know whether cats, monkeys, or any other creatures truly experience a sense of uncertainty. The capacity to think about one's own thoughts has long been regarded as a trait unique to humanity. In this view, only we creatures with a gift for gab can truly appreciate life's uncertainties and wallow in self-doubt.'
* Some words related in meaning to 'unsure' have been highlighted in the reading. Do you recognize them? Good.
* Do you agree with the last statement? Are humans the only animals that can feel uncertainty? If you disagree, how do you know that your dog or cat, for example, isn't sure about what to do in a situation? Is it a momentary hesitation that tells you Fido is 'unsure'?
* Next, reread the two paragraphs for other vocabulary that is new. Action words make writing come alive. What are some action verbs? (notice the words written in italics) Even if you didn't understand the meanings of the verbs, could you guess the meanings by the context?
* There are some other verbs that have to do with the way an animal looks at something or sounds that they make. Can you find them? Can you guess what they mean?
* Finally, choose a couple of the words that you think you understood and double-check the meaning with a dictionary. Then look up two or three more which you couldn't guess at all. After you find the meanings of the words, ask yourself if it's one you might use in the future. If so, then add it to your stack of index cards or an alphabetized list of words.
As I hope you can see, you can greatly expand your vocabulary and reading comprehension by examining just one or two paragraphs a day. You can use this technique or strategy with any type of reading (magazine or newspaper articles, reading textbook, online report, directions for using a new camera, etc.). This strategy also gets you into a topic or subject and thinking in English. Try to read about a variety of topics/subjects, not just sports or entertainment. On the Cambridge exam or the TOEFL, you could be asked to read about, discuss, or write on any subject.
What follows is a sample of what can be done with a SINGLE WORD, such as 'sure.'
* What does 'sure' mean? What are some synonyms of this word? (e.g., certain, confident, inevitable, yes!) Can you create four different sentences using 'sure' to display the meanings of 'certain,' 'confident,' 'inevitable,' and 'yes!'?
Examples:
1. "I'm sure that the meeting is tomorrow at 10 a.m. because it's posted on the bulletin board."
2. "She is very sure of herself, but she's not overconfident either."
3. "It's a sure thing that we will die some day."
4. If someone asks if you want to play volleyball after school and you do, you can say, "Sure!" (meaning "yes").
5. "I sure wish someone would answer my question."
* What part of speech is 'sure'? It's an adjective, except in example #4 and #5 where it is acting as an adverb. Can you come up with some antonyms of the adjective form of sure? (e.g., unsure, speculative, uncertain, questionable, skeptical, indefinite, unreliable, etc.)
* What are some other forms of sure? For example, do you recognize the verb forms 'insure', 'ensure', and 'assure'? What do they mean? How do we use those forms? What are some related noun forms of the adjective sure? (e.g., sureness, insurance, assurance)
* Where can you go to find the answers to the above questions? There are many online resources (e.g., online dictionary and thesaurus), but you should have your own copy of a dictionary and thesaurus, which are what I used for this demonstration. These two items should be in the toolkit of any language learner, including native speakers who want to improve or check their English.
* What else can you do after playing with the word 'sure'? You can start paying attention to uses of all these words that have related meanings or forms. Look at this excerpt from a 'Science News' article.
Here is a READING ACTIVITY (TWO PARAGRAPHS) for you, to give you an idea of how you can expand your vocabulary in a meaningful way after you've focused on specific words. Keep your eyes open for any kind of article that might have one of the vocabulary words or expressions that you learned.
Below you will find an excerpt of an article from 'Science News' (Vol.165;02/07/04) about 'Unsure Minds.'
* Before you start reading, what do think the article will talk about? What is meant by an 'unsure' mind?
* Now start reading, and don't stop for words you don't understand. Don't use a dictionary. Pay attention to words related to the title and the word 'unsure.'
'Unsure Minds, People may not be the only ones who know when they don't know'
by Bruce Bower
A cat crouches on a kitchen floor, gazing up at a glass of milk high on a counter. The animal's muscles tense. Its tail bobs from side to side like a metronome. The distance from floor to counter is a long way to cover in a single feline leap, perhaps too long. With a slightly cocked head, the cat emits a tentative meow. Finally, the animal springs for the counter. Half a world away, African monkeys moving through a stand of trees spot a few chimpanzees in the distance. The monkeys freeze, staring intently at the powerful apes, which sometimes kill and eat monkeys. Staccato chattering erupts in the monkey troop as the chimps move closer. Suddenly, the monkeys scatter.
As these two cases illustrate, situations arise in which animals act as if they need to make decisions but are uncertain what to do. From a scientific perspective, though, it's hard to know whether cats, monkeys, or any other creatures truly experience a sense of uncertainty. The capacity to think about one's own thoughts has long been regarded as a trait unique to humanity. In this view, only we creatures with a gift for gab can truly appreciate life's uncertainties and wallow in self-doubt.'
* Some words related in meaning to 'unsure' have been highlighted in the reading. Do you recognize them? Good.
* Do you agree with the last statement? Are humans the only animals that can feel uncertainty? If you disagree, how do you know that your dog or cat, for example, isn't sure about what to do in a situation? Is it a momentary hesitation that tells you Fido is 'unsure'?
* Next, reread the two paragraphs for other vocabulary that is new. Action words make writing come alive. What are some action verbs? (notice the words written in italics) Even if you didn't understand the meanings of the verbs, could you guess the meanings by the context?
* There are some other verbs that have to do with the way an animal looks at something or sounds that they make. Can you find them? Can you guess what they mean?
* Finally, choose a couple of the words that you think you understood and double-check the meaning with a dictionary. Then look up two or three more which you couldn't guess at all. After you find the meanings of the words, ask yourself if it's one you might use in the future. If so, then add it to your stack of index cards or an alphabetized list of words.
As I hope you can see, you can greatly expand your vocabulary and reading comprehension by examining just one or two paragraphs a day. You can use this technique or strategy with any type of reading (magazine or newspaper articles, reading textbook, online report, directions for using a new camera, etc.). This strategy also gets you into a topic or subject and thinking in English. Try to read about a variety of topics/subjects, not just sports or entertainment. On the Cambridge exam or the TOEFL, you could be asked to read about, discuss, or write on any subject.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
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