Phonetic American Alphabet

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas British vs. American: Which English Accent to Choose? British English versus American English always sparks a lively discussion. I have read some articles so far as to compare these 2 languages and gather the information from the online resources. Table of Contents Personal experience The history of English Vocabulary challenge Teaching implications and classroom problems Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zahra J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Personal experience I am Iranian and have many American and British friends and I have been living abroad for about 6 years. As...  [Read more]

Thu, 13 Aug 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How Do British and American English Differ? G.B. Shaw said, 'England and America are two countries separated by a common language.' The common language i.e. English taken by the British to America gradually evolved differently from its root language. Hence, the language spoken in Great Britain became the British English and the language spoken in the United States became American English. It wasn't just the variation in pronunciation, the vocabulary and spellings for few words also changed. To understand the differences, we should take a look at the roadmap of British and American English. Table of Contents The History of English Old English Renaissance New English British English vs. American English Do you want to teach English...  [Read more]

Wed, 29 Jan 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Challenges for Vietnamese Students in American English Pronunciation Today, Vietnam is entering the world stage as a united and independent country, eager to learn English, but unable to meet its standards for EFL education. Vietnamese students are a victim of several unfortunate coincidences in pronunciation, and often complain that reading and writing are easy to learn but speaking and listening simply impossible. Two huge differences in the way these languages differentiate words have made English communication into a "black box" for the Vietnamese, more difficult for them to penetrate than for other Asian peoples. Among these differences are the very small number of shared sounds, as well as tonogenesis, a pitch-based method...  [Read more]

Sun, 12 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences English Pronunciation Problems of Italian Native Speakers Teaching English pronunciation to students of other languages is always a big deal. English teachers from other countries may think that it is a topic to be skipped or only briefly introduced to students, but it is one of the most important subjects and it should be an integral part of an English course. As a matter of fact, the full understanding of a language and good communication actually depend, to a certain extent, on how correctly words are pronounced. Also, it is not only a matter of pronunciation but intonation. Every language has its own intonation and stress on words, so an English learner could find it difficult to get used to a new way of pronouncing words in...  [Read more]

Thu, 30 Apr 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences These Are the Most Common English Pronunciation Mistakes Made by Italian Native Speakers This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Stefania F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Table of Contents Teaching English pronunciation to students of other languages is always a big deal. One of the biggest challenges when teaching English to Italians is its phonetics. I personally witnessed pronunciation difficulties when I taught English in Italy in high school last year. Apart from Italian students, I also taught a small group of French, Latin-American, and Arabic migrants, recently arrived in Italy. Not only did they have a low level of Italian, but they were...  [Read more]

Mon, 14 Oct 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Pronunciation Challenges of French Native-Speaking Students Each student faces their difficulties when it comes to English pronunciation depending on their country of origin. This essay will focus on the pronunciation difficulties facing ESL students in France and will also propose some solutions to help students overcome these difficulties. Table of Contents French Sound System IPA Difficult Sounds The Dark /L/ Sound Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kerri M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. French Sound System The number of English vowel sounds greatly outnumbers those...  [Read more]

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The Most Problematic Challenges for English Learning in Japan Japan is a Pacific Island nation whose history is marked by periods of nationalism and seclusion, as the Japanese government closed the borders to international trade. The lack of foreign influence in Japan has enabled a unique culture to flourish and the population to remain nearly 98% homogenous, meaning nearly everyone that lives in Japan is Japanese. Table of Contents English in Japan Speaking Difficulties Classroom Atmosphere International Programs Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Andrew C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs...  [Read more]

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences English as a Non-Phonetic Language Like we all know, the English alphabet has 26 letters. These 26 letters can make 44 different sounds or phonemes – 20 sounds come from the vowels a, e, i, o and u; and 24 sounds come from the remaining 21 consonants. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that can change the meaning of a word. Table of Contents The Vowel Sounds The Consonant Sounds Syllable Stress Without Jumping to Conclusions Listen to this blog post Are you ready to take your TEFL course? Related Articles: If we consider sounds made simply by the letter 'a' for instance, in the word 'apple' – it's /ae/, in 'car' – it's /a:/, in amount – it's /a/, and so on. This, consequently, makes English a...  [Read more]

Mon, 06 Jan 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Several Common Challenges for French-Speaking ESL Students French are bad at speaking English, it's a fact, proven by many studies but also by the shameful spectacle of our politician trying to say things in Shakespeare's language. The Elite not having a decent level it is hard to blame the population for not trying very hard. International studies are all putting French students at the last position in Europe for mastering English skills. Even more alarming in 2008 the TOEFL results were putting France at the 69th rank on 109 countries. In 9th Grade, only 14% of the students have an "independent level" according to a 2011 study of the European Commission (we also note that only 9% of English 9 graders are "independent" in...  [Read more]

Wed, 28 Aug 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Challenges For Students of Different Nationalities I am from the United States and my native language is English. I am currently living in the Philippines, so I have been encountering language issues a lot lately. I have desperately been trying to learn Tagalog, and it is a major challenge. Table of Contents Teacher's experience of learning a foreign language Rapport Rules Weird exceptions Phonetic challenges Spelling challenges Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Gabriel T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teacher's experience of learning a foreign language Along...  [Read more]

Thu, 21 May 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The Most Common Problems for English Learners in Kyrgyzstan Nowadays, many people in Kyrgyzstan want to learn English. To enter university or find a better job. However, the learners here face some difficulties in learning. Table of Contents First of all, the teaching hours of English in a local school is not enough. The financial condition of schools causes a challenge to learners. In Kyrgyzstan, Russian is the secondary language and trade language. Shame culture also affects the learners here, especially those for adult learners for business English. Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate KWONG C. Please note that this blog post...  [Read more]

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Most Common Problems for English Learners in Spanish-Speaking Colombia For this assignment, I decided to research problems experienced by Colombian students learning English. I will be teaching English in Colombia and thought this subject would benefit me. My findings more generally reflect the difficulties of Spanish-speaking learners. The paper outlines the top ten difficulties for Spanish-speakers learning English (vocabulary, spelling/pronunciation, subject-verb-agreement, verb tense, dialects, subject omission, pronunciation, stress, slang, and literal translations) based on CCJK (2019). Where possible I relate this information to my experiences/examples and units in the TEFL course. Table of Contents Vocabulary difficulties...  [Read more]

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What are Common Problems for English Learners in Hong Kong? I have been teaching English in an education center for three months. Even though it's not a long period but I have seen several challenges that these Chinese native students are facing while learning English. Especially for younger learners aged roughly between three and eight years old. Table of Contents Phonics Confidence The problem of using students' native language Grammar issues Motivation Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elsa C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Phonics While learning the alphabet, I have...  [Read more]

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences 3 Distinct Peculiarities of the English Language For the native English speaker, English is easy. It is only when learning another language do L1 English speakers begin to see peculiarities in their own language. It is then compounded when beginning to teach English as a foreign language. Although the English language has commonalities with other languages, especially since English is derived from other languages, there are plenty of unusual aspects of English that can cause difficulties when learning and teaching the language. For example, English spelling, grammar, and pronunciation all contain such peculiarities. Table of Contents English spelling is inconsistent English grammar differs from many other languages English contains sounds...  [Read more]