Pronunciation II

Hey guys! :)

In my last post I talked about the POSE test, a tool to help non-native English speakers diagnose problems in speech and perception. The results showed that I still need to work on a few things.  Consequently, I searched for useful websites to help me improve my pronunciation. If you also struggle with minimal pairs and rhythm read on carefully, because here's what I found:

•  Minimal pairs (=pairs of words or phrases which differ in only one phonological element and have distinct meanings): Firstly, I strongly recommend you to have a look at this website. There you'll find lists to practise repeating minimal pairs such as bed/bad, man/men, ship/sheep, etc. The website is clearly structured and easy to use. All you need to do is hover your mouse over the word you wish to hear and repeat it as long as you get it right. Besides working on the pronunciation of minimal pairs, you can also refresh you memory of the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols. Personally, I had difficulty making a distinction between e and æ, as found in the minimal pairs bet/bat, pedal/paddle and shall/shall, and between s and z, as found in the minimal pairs ass/as, hiss/his, face/phase and race/rays. Secondly, I suggest you use tongue twisters to practise special sounds. I found this website where you can practise numerous rather short tongue twisters. Just a heads up - don't get frustrated if you can't do them very well at first, just keep practising and have fun! I guarantee you that you'll have fun! ;) Thirdly, practise the sounds of English by using the phonemic chart. I recommend this website to you, because it provides an interactive phonemic chart. That is to say, you won't only hear examples of the English phoneme set, but also a sample word.

• Rhythm: In order to sound more like a native speaker it is crucial to work on one's rhythm. As English is a stress-timed language (=syllables may last different amounts of time, but there is perceived to be a fairly constant amount of time (on average) between consecutive stressed syllables), it is important to maintain the flow of the language. If you want to work on your rhythm I suggest you practise reading poems or basically any English texts out aloud to get a sense of how English rhythm works. For exmaple, check out this website for improving stress as well as rhythm. There you'll find a poem read out aloud by an English native speaker. You can listen to the audio file and then repeat the text concentrating on the rhythm. You can also do imitation exercises for any accent you wish to train. If you are interested in imitation exercises for American English accent training, as I am, you might want to check out this website. The goal is to simply mimic sounds. Sounds pretty easy, but try it out yourself and you'll see that it's not always as easy as it seems.

Finally, some general advice for those who are trying to improve their pronunciation. I think it is essential to have a very specific target for improvement for each week. Wanting to improve one's pronunciation is the first step, but it takes a little more to actually change something. Just saying "my aim is to improve my pronunciation" is too general and unfocussed. You should thus try to work specifically on one aspect of your pronunciation each week. Then you'll see that soon enough people won't misunderstand you anymore, they won't ask you to repeat what you just said. Instead, they'll be delighted by your language skills and they might even consider you to be a native speaker. 

Pronunciation

So, a few weeks ago we did a pronunciation diagnostic exercise which consisted of three different tasks. The aim was to get a picture of what your English sounds like when you read an unknown text, when you read an unknown dialogue and when you describe a picture. We recorded ourselves individually during class time using a digital recorder and were then given feedback by our teacher. Guess what - apparently I did pretty well on the test! :))) I only had difficulties with one word, namely aluminum. That does not really surprise me though, because I had never heard this word before. Consequently, instead of reading out loud aluminum I mixed up the word with one I had seen before several times and resembles the word aluminum a lot, namely aluminium. Quick reminder: alumInium = BE, alUminum = AE.

However, although my test result was pretty good, I think there is still room for improvement - there always is. Thus, I have been thinking about how I can possibly improve my pronunciation and make my English sound even more English and less German. In order to reduce my "teutonicity" I developed my own strategy:

• First of all, in order to know what I still need to work on, I took the pronunciation test provided by antimoon.com. My score was 9/10. They only question I got wrong was the following one: Does of have an f sound or a v sound? Do you know the answer? If you want to check your answer, take the test. However, as this test did not really tell me what I still need to work on, I took the POSE test as well, a tool to help non-native English speakers diagnose problems in speech and perception. The results showed that I mainly need to work on distinguishing words like "men" from "men" or "pan" from "pen" (vowels).
• Secondly, I decided to watch more TED talks. I am sure that by now you have all heard about this amazing website. You can watch videos of people from all over the world - and I literally mean people from all over the world. That is to say, you'll hear different accents (USA, Great Britain, Australia, Africa, India, etc.) and different languages. So, if you are studying French, Russian or basically any other language as well, you can listen to TED talks in those languages too. Anyway, the speakers are giving presentations about a wide range of topics for five to twenty minutes. Listening to TED talks allows you to work on your listening skills, as well as on your pronunciation skills. What's more, you can improve and expand your trove of academic vocabulary and get some detailed information about basically any topic you would like to know more about (science, physics, biology, business, stress management, thinking positively...). You see - there really are only advantages to watching TED talks!

• Thirdly, I figured that the only way of knowing whether the interference of my mother tongue with the delivery of content decreases, is recording myself and analysing my pronunciation. So, in order to improve I need to practice difficult sounds until I am able to produce them correctly and consistently. Thus, I decided to look for difficult texts on the internet, read them out aloud and record myself until I was happy with the result. 
• Last but not least, I think that it is helpful to practice tongue twisters to improve your pronunciation as well as your fluency. Many interpreters use tongue twisters before interpretations to sound clearer when speaking. I found a website where you can find some of the most popular English tongue twisters. I really like the first tongue twister you can find there, because I remember practising it in school and this was not only very helpful, but also a lot of fun! :D Try reading this tongue twister out aloud as quickly as possible without making any mistakes. I guarantee you that it's not as easy as you might think.

 Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

 

 

 

That's it for today. I hope that you find some of my ideas helpful! :)

Vocabulary Learning Strategies II

In my last post about vocabulary learning strategies I provided information about how to look up, store and memorize new words and phrases effectively. I also outlined five characteristics which, according to me, define a successful language learner. In this post I am going to tell you about some further ideas I have taken from other students' posts which seem to be very helpful. Combining the information from this post with the information from my previous post about vocabulary learning strategies should allow you to improve and expand your vocabulary the most effective way possible. So, if you are still not sure how to tackle the numerous Porter words, keep on reading and you won't have to worry about passing the vocabulary part of PC2 anymore! :)

By looking at numerous vocab blog posts by other students, I have come to realize that learning vocabulary is a very personal matter and is linked to one's preferred learning style. That is to say, whereas some students stick Post-it notes on places where they pass by regularly (for instance, on a door or on the bathroom mirror) to memorize vocabulary they have a hard time remembering, others prefer to learn self-written glossaries providing additional information, such as synonyms, antonyms, frequent collocations and example sentences, and going through them until they memorize every single word. Whereas some students are thrilled about flash cards, either hand-written or digital (Anki, gFlahs+) ones, others prefer vocabulary.com, which basically provides all the information necessary to learn a new word or phrase, from definitions and synonyms to frequent collocations and numerous up-to-date example sentences. Whereas some students imagine the most absurd scenario to make the information memorable, others read newspaper articles actively with paper and pencil to hand and make note of academic words and phrases that seem to be particularly useful and try and learn them. As you can see, numerous vocabulary learning strategies exist and everyone has his or her own preferences. In order to improve and expand your vocabulary the most efficient way possible, all you need to do is find the vocabulary learning strategy that suits you best!

The best ideas I have taken from other vocab blog posts are the following ones:

• Vocabulary game: One student has created her own vocabulary game in order to improve and expand her vocabulary in a more fun way. Every now and then she invites some friends over. They then ask each other vocabulary questions. That is to say, they ask for a definition, for common phrases or collocations, etc. Whoever knows the answer is rewarded with a cookie or some chocolate. I think this is just a great idea. I have never thought of this before, but I am pretty sure I will try out this vocabulary game some time before PC2!

• Digital flashcards: Creating vocabulary lists using a flashcard program, such as Anki or gFlash+, is a time-saving way of studying new words and phrases. Most importantly, you can study your vocabulary lists wherever and whenever you want. 

 

 I have also been taking a closer look at the website http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/globalpad/openhouse/academicenglishskills/vocabulary/academic_words/. It provides information about how to learn vocabulary quickly and focuses on how to improve one's use of academic vocabulary. The website reminded me of some aspects of learning vocabulary that I completely forgot to mention in my previous post. For instance, when I study vocabulary I usually walk around as I am trying to remember new words. It seems to me that I memorize new words and phrases more easily when I move than when I sit at my desk. Moreover, I usually write new words and phrases I just cannot seem to remember in different colours. That is to say, I highlight the words and phrases I can't remember which tells me that I have to look at those words and phrases more often than at all the other unmarked words and phrases. I strongly recommend you to check out the website as well. :)

[663 words]

 

Vocabulary Learning Strategies

In times of the internet a language student might feel a bit overwhelmed because there are simply too many options for vocabulary learning to choose from. However, as an advanced learner of English, I have managed to develop some effective methods and techniques for expanding my trove of English lexical items. Some of them might be helpful for you too, so keep on reading if you are not quite sure how to improve and expand your vocabulary.

To begin with, I would like to give you an overview of my most effective strategies and tools to…

…look up new words and phrases: I have to admit that for my initial research I usually use the online dictionary of Pons whenever I encounter a word or a phrase I am not familiar with. However, in order to get a deeper understanding of the word or phrase I then turn to the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Out of all the corpora we had a look at with Ursula, COCA is definitely my favorite one. It seems to me that this corpus is very helpful for language learners, because it allows you, for instance, to sort the results in various ways, to look for all kinds of collocations, to compare words and to look for different kinds of language, for example spoken or academic language. What I like most about COCA is the fact that it provides so many example sentences. Currently, the corpus contains 450 million words of text. 

…store new words and phrases: When it comes to storing new words and phrases I might just be a little old-fashioned. I like creating glossaries either on the computer or by hand, which provide the translation of a word or phrase as well as additional information, such as synonyms, antonyms, frequent collocations and example sentences. Although this is quite time-consuming, glossaries are a great way of storing information and the process of creating a glossary allows me to memorize most of the new words and phrases right away.

Besides glossaries, I also frequently use vocabulary.com, which is the quickest and most intelligent way of improving one’s vocabulary I have encountered so far. In a few seconds it basically provides all the information necessary to learn a new word or phrase, from definitions and synonyms to frequent collocations and numerous up-to-date example sentences. What is more, you can create your own vocabulary lists and learn them in varied ways.

…memorize new words and phrases: Again, this might seem a little "old-school", but I memorize new words and phrases best when I have a printed version of a glossary or list containing all the new vocabulary and go through the words one by one. In the first round I usually go through all of the words ticking off the ones I remembered and marking all the ones I did not remember with a cross in pencil. In the second round I exclusively focus on the words with a cross next to them and I basically keep going through them until there are no crosses left, because I have erased them all and chaged them all to ticks. What really helps me to quickly memorize new words and phrases is seeing them in context. So, good example sentences are essential.

The reason I prefer learning new vocabulary from a printed version and not from my laptop is that looking up and storing new words and phrases on the laptop takes so much time that once I have finished, I am really glad I can finally turn off it off. I am also not keen on using apps for studying vocabulary, because I do not want to stare into my phone for hours and hours.

Last but not least, I would say there are five characteristics which define a successful language learner. First of all, he or she is usually an independent and eager learner, who is always keen on improving his language skills and constantly seeking new knowledge. Furthermore, he or she tries to include his or her foreign language(s) in his or her daily activities as much as possible, for example by reading foreign newspapers, watching movies or the news in the original version, listening to podcasts, chatting or skyping with friends from abroad on a regular basis. Thirdly, a good language learner works very hard at improving his or her accent in order to sound more and more like a native speaker. Finally, he or she is preferably a life-long learner, who values the regular written and spoken use of the foreign language(s). The most important characteristic a good language learner should have is a certain passion for languages in general, which will be the driving force behind his language acquisition. I try to always keep these five characteristics in mind in order to improve and expand my English vocabulary on a regular basis and not just when the next exam is getting closer and closer. 

 [824 words]

Cassie - Flyleaf

The song "Cassie" was written by the Christian band "Flyleaf" in response to a shooting that occurred in the Columbine High School, Colorado, on April 20, 1999. Amon many other people a 17-year old girl called Cassie Bernall was killed in the Columbine High School massacre that day. The lead singer Lacey Moseley dedicated this song to Cassie Bernall's honor.   

So here's what happend and what eventually inspired Lacey Moseley to write this song:
The massacre was executed by two senior students, Erica Harris and Dylan Klebold, who murdered a total of twelve students and one teacher and injured 24 students. In addition to shootings, a fire bomb placed in the cafeteria, explosive devices and car bombs were involved. After the attack that had carefully been planned ahead according to the media, the pair committed suicide. "The Columbine High School massacre is the deadliest mass murder committed on an American high school campus, and is noted as one of the first and most serious of a series of high profile spree shootings which have since occurred. " (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre#cite_note-4) 

Right after the shooting it was revealed that one of the gunmen asked Bernall if she believed in God only a few seconds before he shot her. She was reported to have answered "Yes" which was consequently seen as the reason for her being shot. The story spread very fast and led to many Christians seeing Cassie Bernall as some kind of a martyr. Flyleaf's lead singer, Lacey Moseley, obviously felt the same way and thus wrote her song "Cassie" in honor of the 17-year old victim of the same name. However, according to some statements Cassie was never questioned about her beliefs, while others stated that another girl, Rachel Scott (who actually survived the shooting) was asked whether she believed in God, or that the shooters said "peek-a-boo" before shooting Cassie while she continued to pray silently.

Lacey Moseley as the lead singer of the Christian band Flyleaf put her focus on Cassie because she supposedely answered the question "Do you believe in God?" with "Yes" although she knew what would happen. For Lacey Moseley this is a perfect example of standing up for your beliefs even though it might put your life in danger. She criticizes that nowadays society turns its back to its beliefs in order to stay alive and not cause any problems. 

I have to admit that I don't agree with Lacey Moseleys statement. I think it's rather the other way round - today people stand up for their beliefs and fight for their rights instead of accepting everything as it is. The grand majority of people seems very courageous to me and expresses their feelings freely and publicly. 

The question asked in order
To save her life or take it
The answer "No" to avoid death
The answer "Yes" would make it
Make it
"Do you believe in God?"
Written on the bullet
Say "Yes" to pull the trigger
"Do you believe in God?"
Written on the bullet
And Cassie pulled the trigger
All heads are bowed in silence
To remember her last sentence
She answered him knowing what would happen
Her last words still hanging in the air
In the air
"Do you believe in God?"
Written on the bullet
Say "Yes" to pull the trigger
"Do you believe in God?"
Written on the bullet
And Cassie pulled the trigger
How many will die
I will die
I, I will say "Yes"
"Do you believe in God?"
Written on the bullet
Say "Yes" to pull the trigger
"Do you believe in God?"
Written on the bullet
And Cassie pulled the trigger
(Do you believe?)
"Do you believe in God?"
(Do you believe?)
"Do you believe in God?"
(Do you believe?)
"Do you believe in God?"
And I will pull the trigger

Hey guys! :)

So, am I the only one thinking the culture presentations this week were really great? I have been watching ten of the American ones and three Irish presentations and I have to say - time flew by so quickly! This is just another proof that time just whizzes past when you're enjoying yourself.  

The three Irish presentations I have watched are:

1. Gerry Conlon reflects on the case of the Guildford Four
2. The children of Lir (Dajana Savic)
3. Kilmainham Gaol

 (Unfortunately I don't remember all the speakers' names as they aren't indicated on their handouts.)

The ten American culture presentations I have watched are:

1. Harlem, New York City: Between legacy and change (Louis Nguyen)
2. Comics in America (Lucie Bois)
3. Two Heroines of American Aviation: Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman (Orsolya Csizmar)
4. Religion made in America: Scientology (Harald Pasch)
5. Racial segregation as depicted in two movies (Tiana Jerkovic)
6. How the Columbian Exchange changed the world (Alexandra Haunold)
7. Why on earth would anyone live in Tornado alley? (Anna Agabani)
8. Painted America - Famous American paintings refleccting American culture in the 20th century (Natascha Ramic)
9. Recent Gun Discussions in the States (Stefanie Almer)
10. The Amish country (Anita Muzek)

For the KGP I have chosen the following five presentations to be tested on:

First of all, "The Amish country" by Anita Muzek. The Amish have always fascinated me. Ever since I first heard about them I wanted to learn more about their habits, their way of thinking and their reasons for living the way they do. I find their way of living truly inspiring but I am also having a hard time trying to imagine living this way, without electricity or any kind of luxury item. That's why I would be very happy to be questioned about this topic for the KGP.

Secondly, "Recent Gun Discussions in the States" by Stefanie Almer. Gun Discussions in the US don't seem to come to an end despite or maybe even because of the many incidents that happen throughout every year. Not a year passes by without at least two or three shootings in public spaces. I was really shocked about the numbers that were revealed by Stefanie. A controversial, moving and serious topic, I can't wait to find out more about it.

Thirdly, "Religion made in America" by Harald Pasch. This presentation about Scientology was very interesting as I had the chance to learn more about the background of this religious organization and the main person behind it. Ever since its creation it has been a subject of world-wide interest. On the one hand, a great deal of critical voices have raised their concerns about it. On the other hand, more than ten million people are supposedly supporting this religion. I am also very critical of organizations like Scientology but at the same time I find it very interesting how one person can make hundreds and thousands of others believe in a newly created religion.

Fourthly, "Racial segregation as depicted in two movies" by Tiana Jerkovic. Racial segregation has always been and still is a very controversial topic. Although I haven't seen the two movies Tiana was talking about yet, I intend to watch them as soon as the examination period is over. Tiana's thoughts about how such movies can be important for American culture were very interesting.    

Fifthly, "How the Columbian Exchange changed the world" by Alexandra Haunold. I hadn't heard a lot about this topic before which is probably why my interest was caught right away. It's amazing how far the exchange of goods goes back. 



(Link to a Google doc containing the 5 presentations I have chosen to be tested on for the KGP:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18J_tDahP2EpsRvcsZGmqmv8rA0hpzV76MONT1Y2vvQg/edit# )

Dodgeball - The latest trend in Austria

Have you heard about “Dodgeball”? It seems like it’s THE new kind of sport in Austria this year. 

It’s a game that’s very similar to “Völkerball” which you probably all still remember from school. However, other than what you might think it’s not a game exclusively aimed at children attending elementary school, middle school or high school. In Austria it’s quite the opposite – students and adults from all over the country are teaming up and playing against each other at various dodgeball tournaments.  

The organization of the game is pretty easy. Players on two teams try to throw large balls at each other while avoiding being hit themselves. It is often played in a gym with the main objective to eliminate all members of the opposing team. Members can be eliminated by hitting them with thrown balls, catching a ball thrown by a member of the opposing team, or forcing them to move outside the court boundaries when a ball is thrown at them. The number of dodgeballs varies depending from the number of players and the size of the gym but three to ten is common. 

The form that is most common in U.S. schools was popularized by the 2004 film “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. I haven’t seen the movie yet because I am not a big fan of Ben Stiller movies but in case you are, you should maybe watch it.(Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUpzAw5Kw7M)

Here’s a short instructional video showing you how to play dodgeball. 

What’s so special about dodgeball in Austria is that Austrians seem to place more emphasis on their costumes than on the actual sports game. They are very creative, designing their own costumes and thereby making sure everyone knows which team they belong to. Just recently, on May 9^th, a dodgeball tournament called “Dodge and Style” took place in Vienna. So, I guess the fact that the players are dressed up is probably linked to the name of the tournament. What’s more, the various dodgeball tournaments include an after show party with live DJ’s, great entertainment and lots of fun. Sounds like a perfect event to me! I haven’t tried it out yet, but I think I will some time soon :)

Here’s a video about Dodgeball in Austria which I can highly recommend you to watch in order to see what these dodgeball tournaments are really like.

 For further information here’s a website including all the information you need in case you want to participate in a dodgeball game yourself: http://dodgeball.at/