Pronunciation Difficulties

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Once I arrived in Vietnam to teach the English language, I realized that poor pronunciation is common in Vietnamese students as well as teachers. These mistakes are similar, as it was obvious the Vietnamese teachers passed them to the students. In this essay, I am going to deliberate on the causes of the problem and suggest a few solutions. Language structure How to work this out? Consonants Reading comprehension Word building Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mohammad E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First, we will start with the problem origin. The Vietnamese language is monosyllabic....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are several pronunciation problems that students of English will face in Japan; however, I will focus on two. 1. Differences in the phonetic systems of two languages 2. Lack of exposure to authentic English resources Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Brandie K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first of these problems they face is the fact that Japanese doesn't have some of the same sounds in its' alphabet as English does. For example, Japanese does not have a hard R sound; instead, it has a sound that is a mix of R and L. So, when students from Japan go to say rice, for many...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences One of the most important problems encountered while learning a foreign language is undoubtedly pronunciation. Knowing a language fluently may not always be enough. Fluency level may be open to discussion if an accurate pronunciation is not used. Therefore as teachers, we must teach our students how to use the correct pronunciation. However, pronunciation can be a nightmare for some students, especially for young learners. Common Errors in Pronunciation /h/ Sound Ways to Fix Errors Articulation Simple Way to Overcome the Problem Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Selin K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas While most of us think of mental disabilities when we hear "learners with Difficulties" there are many other kinds of difficulties that our students may be faced with. Some of these difficulties are to some extent, within a teacher's control however most are completely out of the teacher's control. Attention Request Challenges at Home Psychological Issues Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Karissa Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Seeking attention or feeling incompetent are difficulties that we may be able to help control. These things may cause students to misbehave or act inappropriately to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Before starting my TEFL course to gain a more professional basis, I worked as an English teacher in South Korea for about one year. In this short essay, I will explain some of the most prominent difficulties South Korean students seem to face when learning English. Education system Differences in the phonetic systems of Korean and English Syntactic differences Korean culture Do you want to teach English in South-Korea? Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Laura M. First and foremost, the educational structure in South Korea is quite different from those of Europe or the United States. Korean kids usually start studying English from the age of three. However, the average class size of about 40 students is way too...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Alumni Experiences The term "Learning difficulties" can roughly be defined as an issue in the brain causing disturbances in processing information (Good Therapy, 2019). In the long-term explanation, these can be explained as neurological challenges affecting the way the brain receives, processes, stores, and analyzes information, as these effects an individual's ability to develop reading, writing, and math skills (Kid Sense Child Development, 2023). Learning difficulties affect millions of children and teens, and many of them struggle with multiple learning difficulties. Any individual with learning difficulties might not learn as quickly as their peers or might find some aspects of learning hard and challenging. Strategies for Overcoming Learning Difficulties Exploring...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas One of the greatest problems any teacher may face when instructing English is institutional. That is to say, the school the teacher is teaching at may not have the resources or the care to fully fund or supply the teacher with the necessary tools to instruct students. This can be a huge problem, as if the teacher starts from a disadvantaged position, they may feel like there is little hope for them to equip students for English learning. What do teachers truly need? Textbooks Designing activities for the study phase Personal tools School supply Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Colin R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences For the past twenty years, I have had the pleasure of teaching English to Chinese students of all ages in both Taiwan and mainland China. The following are my observations: Listen to this blog post: Ancient Culture Differences in Students' Behavior Lack of Confidence Acceptance Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eugene E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. If one were to argue that Socrates was the beginning of modern Western Civilization, one could easily surmise that that modern Chinese civilization has its roots in the teachings of Confucius. While Socrates told his students that the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Learning difficulties can found in all teaching environments, be it a classroom of mixed ability students, a one-to-one tutoring session, teaching EFL or online teaching. Learning difficulties affect all age groups, both genders, and all languages and cultures, therefore a good teacher must be able to both foresee and prepare for supporting a student's learning difficulties. This is even more important when teaching EFL students as unless these difficulties are met and coping methods are established then the student will struggle to make any progress in their learning English as a second language. My Personal Experience Real-Time Lessons Learning Challenges Lesson Procedure Other Ways to Help Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today!...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Lesson planning is not a task that should be taken lightly; it is the foundation for all EFL classes and plays a significant part in determining how successful students will be. While motivation and desire to learn are factors in each student's success, a good teacher should be able to inspire motivation through interesting and student-centered lessons. However, this can only be achieved through careful consideration of all lessons. Lessons' Format Learning Stages Choice of Activities Minimizing Anticipated Problems Record of Your Work Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Natalie M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning difficulties means difficulty in learning but its not globalized. most kids get cold feet in the course of learning a new thing or a new language, some become shy, while some are not motivated or have confidence. I have been around kids for years and I can say that I understand them in some cases or scenarios.when we are working with kids that are shy, less motivated or lack confidence we should use materials that will help to solve that problem, same goes for an adult. Neurological disorders Behavior Issues Are you ready to teach English to ESL students? Related Articles: Listen to this blog post: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Chilotam O. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Learning a second language is an adventure, most people find it fascinating. Some people are intimidated, they take a glimpse, and then walk back to the familiar ground; some embark on the journey, but not all of them can truly enjoy the journey that is full of difficulties, some learners quit in the middle of the adventure; thus, only a small amount of people can finally master a second language. Teachers should be able to know what types of difficulty students might face and how to help them deal with these difficulties. In this post, we shall look into two learning difficulties — poor memory and lack of concentration. Poor Memory Lack of Concentration Are you ready to teach English abroad? Related Articles: Listen to this blog post This post...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a second language can be difficult, and this is especially true when the learners L1 and their target language are completely different in structure, sound, and tones. An English as a second language student who speaks French, German, or any other European language will have an easier task than one who speaks a language that is not of European origins. One such language is Mandarin Chinese. State of The Problem The Chinese Language Structure Tenses Sentence Structure Do you want to teach English in China? Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ashley L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The areas that native Mandarin speakers most often run...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In life, people learn throughout the course of their life. There is formal learning, where students go to school or complete a course of some kind. On the other hand, there is informal learning, where one may learn through life experiences, observations, and interactions with others. In both situations, one can encounter learning difficulties. In formal learning, one can encounter difficulties that may be due to a variety of factors which are not limited to: memory, attention, a challenge with a specific skill, or individual factors. Here are the 4 most common learning difficulties ESL students might face in the classroom. Short-term and Long-term Memory Students' Attention Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing Other Difficulties Are you...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Everyone has a personal genius. It's not up to us to change people, but rather to help individuals be the best they can be with the skills, strengths, and abilities they already possess. The way we go about teaching individuals with learning disabilities will require us to be creative, looking beyond conventional teaching methods. Humility will also be necessary, for we may be the problem rather than the learning disability itself. Will we be humble enough to accept this truth and then use it to improve our skills as teachers? As teachers, the ability to look outside the box and to be able to assess ourselves honestly will be essential if we hope to help students learn in a way that will work best for them. How to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences It is not a secret that pronouncing English sounds easily and correctly is a big challenge for non-native speakers. Of course, the complexity of English pronunciation consists not only of particular sounds but also of several other aspects such as intonation, stress, rhythm, and timing. I would like to analyze one of the biggest and most obvious pronunciation problems for Ukrainian speakers of English which, in my opinion, is sound differences and the way of pronouncing sounds. Sound System Articulation Aspiration Are you ready to teach English abroad? Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hanna H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There are a number...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Alumni Experiences Unveil the realm of learning difficulties. Discover insights into causes, strategies, and resilience against challenges. Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Explore the pros and cons of one-to-one language teaching. Personalized learning vs. limited peer interaction. Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Teachers, new and experienced spend a lot of time planning lessons and preparing materials. Anything that can help reduce this task is always welcome. Here are five trusted and tested sites to do just that. Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Unlock the power of English sounds! Learn how to enhance pronunciation and listening skills across different age groups. Federico Riva Alumni...  [Read more]

  This video looks at the difficulties students have when learning modal auxiliary verbs. The number of usages and the modal auxiliary verbs that can be used for various usages often bring about problems for the students. Also, the structure of sentences with modal auxiliary verbs can be confusing. Watch this video to understand all the difficulties students face with modal auxiliary verbs. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. Register now & get certified...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In this essay, I will deal with the pronunciation difficulties of German learners of English. In particular, I will treat some issues at the segmental level. English German I will discuss only the final devoicing in this essay Way to pronounce Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: Although both English and German are Germanic languages, the sound inventories of these two languages are quite different, especially the vowels. In the following table, the sounds are listed which exist only in one but not in the other language: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Gisella F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Consonants Consonants/θ/,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas First and foremost I'd like to address why phonetics issues very early piqued my interest in teaching English for foreigners. Ever since childhood, I was surrounded by people with substantial articulatory and auditory phonetic problems, not so much with the acoustic ones. Natural Problems Study Issues Self-consciousness Firstly, I attended the sign language and lip-reading courses. Are my efforts worthwhile? Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Asbiorn B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly, those auditory problems were inherited biologically by people around me and couldn't be helped much...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas It comes as no surprise that not all the students will sit quietly and be on their best behavior at all times when in a classroom setting. Teaching English as a foreign language comes with its direct issues, and throwing learning difficulties into the mix can make teaching even more tedious for both teachers and the students in the classroom. Definition of Learning Difficulties How to Understand Your Student Has it Are you ready to teach English abroad or online? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Melaine W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Speaking like a native speaker is always expected from learners. However, they encounter many factors that prevent their success. Therefore, as an English teacher, I want to explore some common difficulties that Vietnamese students face when they learn to pronounce English so that I can teach effectively and help them communicate more confidently. Problem with vowels Problems with consonants Word stress, sentence stress Intonation and word connection Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Thuong L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Four major features can cause problems for them. Firstly, the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Every learner of a foreign language may face pronunciation problems now and then. Languages that belong to one language group have more in common in phonics and are usually easier to learn to pronounce correctly. But such languages as English and Chinese are so different, that Chinese learners (and I bet English speaking learners of Chinese too) often have many difficulties in pronunciation. State of the problem Common pronunciation errors How to correct pronunciation problems Learn how to teach pronunciation effectively! Related Articles: Listen to this blog post: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Evgeniya S. I have been working in China as a teacher for more than six months now. When I arrived in this country, I hardly knew...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The purpose of my essay is to outline some of the most frequently occurred pronunciation mistakes made by Russian learners and share some of the teaching ideas based on a few sources and my own experience of teaching and learning English as a foreign and second language. State of the Problem Russian Phonetics vs. English Phonetics Choice of Activities Vowel Sounds Are you ready to teach English to ESL students? Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olga R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching English phonology and pronunciation for Russian learners is always challenging as there are a great number of differences rather than similarities in the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Helping students improve their pronunciation can be challenging for teachers and students alike. For students, they may have a strong desire to sound fluent but might struggle in knowing what mistakes they make and how to correct them. For teachers, they may be aware of the mistakes but may lack tools to help students accurately and precisely correct them. Common Methods Feedback Correcting Techniques Technologies and Pronunciation Are you ready to teach English abroad? Related Articles: Listen to this blog post This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kent L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Many of the common methods to help improve pronunciation have their own...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This piece will discuss the difficulties faced by Japanese learners of English regarding English pronunciation and suggest methods to help learners in different age groups overcome them. It posits that most difficulties stem from the differences in phonology between the English alphabet and the Japanese kana system. Differences in the Alphabetic Systems Ways to Overcome Difficulties Working with Adults How to Approach Young Students Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Niall M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. While the English alphabet is phonemic, with each letter representing a single...  [Read more]

Teaching pronunciation in TEFL is crucial as it plays a significant role in communication. Clear pronunciation helps students be understood by others and boosts their confidence. Poor pronunciation can lead to misunderstandings and hinder effective communication. Additionally, accurate pronunciation is essential for language learners to develop their listening skills and comprehend spoken English more easily. Therefore, focusing on pronunciation in TEFL classes is vital for overall language proficiency. There are various effective strategies for teaching pronunciation in TEFL. One approach is to use minimal pairs, which are pairs of words that differ by only one sound (e.g., ship/sheep). By contrasting similar sounds, students can improve their ability to distinguish and produce these...  [Read more]

1. Importance of Pronunciation in Teaching English 2. Effective Pronunciation Exercises 3. Incorporating Pronunciation into Lessons 4. Resources for Teaching English Pronunciation Pronunciation is a crucial aspect of language learning, as it impacts communication and comprehension. Clear pronunciation helps students convey their ideas effectively and understand others. Poor pronunciation can lead to misunderstandings and hinder language acquisition. Therefore, as a TEFL teacher, focusing on pronunciation is key to helping students become proficient in English. There are various exercises that can help students improve their pronunciation skills. Minimal pairs activities, where students practice distinguishing between similar sounds such as /l/ and /r/, can be beneficial. Tongue twisters...  [Read more]

  Whereas stress is typically concerned with one individual word, intonation is generally concerned with the variation in volume and pitch throughout an entire sentence. Intonation carries the message of a sentence. It's particularly important when questioning or agreeing, disagreeing and confirming statements. It's also very important when expressing emotions and feelings. The normal pattern for intonation is the rise-fall. Few examples would be ?I haven't seen him for a week,? or a simple word as ?okay?. With the falling intonation, we?re indicating that we're finished speaking. Again, ?I haven't seen him for a week? and ?okay?. A few more examples would be ?I'll see you at six then,? or a question of information ?How do you spell rough?? These are straightforward statements that...  [Read more]

  In this video we'll be looking at the international phonemic alphabet and how it's used in the classroom. There are other phonemic alphabets but this is the most popular and the system, which is most widely used. You may have seen some of these symbols before as any good dictionary will supplement standard English spellings with the phonemic spellings to aid in pronunciation practice. Here we have a situation where we have what are called phonemes and each phoneme represents a sound within the English language. How is this helpful? Well, what it does is help students understand how to say words rather than simply relying on the often archaic English spellings. To illustrate this point let's for a moment put ourselves in the shoes of our students when trying to understand how to say...  [Read more]