Help! Non-native English speakers: How is English taught in

[FBM]

Enlish is a wonderful language, innit? We get to say stuff like "Not that I can talk, so to speak" and it makes perfect sense.

Ennyhoo, I neutralized my Southern drawl when I started teaching here. Occasionally, a foreigner can pick up a hint of the South, but most people are shocked when I tell them where I'm from. Of course, when I do go back home, I have to turn it back on again. Otherwise, I'd tote an ass whoopin' fer tawkin' lahk a damn Yankee.

[MiM]

Thanks for that, MiM and Aza. I'll ask my students if they read aloud in class in middle and high school. I kinda doubt it, though, because they're only tested for reading and listening comprehension. Therefore, the teachers are under a lot of pressure to not waste class time on anything that's not on the test. I do, however, make reading aloud a significant part of almost every class. First the students read it, then I read it so they can compare my pronunciation to theirs.

Well there you have the first thing to change: The kids should learn for life, not for the test. That's a phrase I heard until nausea, when I was in school, but it dos make sense (just checked with a kid, it is still in frequent use ).

Do you ever do it the other way around? Read first yourself and then let the students try to mimic your reading? That might give them a better chance to perform well. Over here the kids get to listen to the text from a CD (as the teachers pronunciation is probably far from perfect), then train at home and the next lesson they get to read the same text aloud themselves. I remember that we also read the whole class in unison, that way the stronger readers could take the lead, but they don't seem to that any more (at least not in my daughters class).

[MiM]

To me, it sounds intrusive, but I guess people get used to it...

It is a bit intrusive yes, but it can be fun too. E.g. I remember watching "Who framed Roger Rabbit" at the cinema, and getting to laugh three times at the jokes and puns. In cinemas there are usually both Finnish and Swedish subtitles, and that movie happened to be translated really well. It really becomes offensive only when the translation is bad.

When watching an English speaking movie at home I usually put subtitles "off", but if I cannot have it load enough, or if the language used is particularly tricky, I will turn them on. Dubbing I find to be something absolutely horrible. Can you imagine how much you loose of the performance by an actor like Meryl Streep, if you cannot hear her own talking.

[FBM]

Well there you have the first thing to change: The kids should learn for life, not for the test. That's a phrase I heard until nausea, when I was in school, but it dos make sense (just checked with a kid, it is still in frequent use ).

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to change. But society over here is insanely competitive. Everything is about the test score.

Do you ever do it the other way around? Read first yourself and then let the students try to mimic your reading? That might give them a better chance to perform well. Over here the kids get to listen to the text from a CD (as the teachers pronunciation is probably far from perfect), then train at home and the next lesson they get to read the same text aloud themselves. I remember that we also read the whole class in unison, that way the stronger readers could take the lead, but they don't seem to that any more (at least not in my daughters class).

I have thought about reading first and then getting them to try to match my pronunciation. I'll give that a go next week and see how they respond. Usually I listen for words and sounds they have trouble with as they read, then model the correct pronunciation. Only my freshman class uses a book that has a CD. Again, though, they've been so indoctrinated with the idea that only test scores matter that very few of the freshmen have intrinsic motivation. There is a pronunciation element on the midterm and final exams, but I have to target specific pronunciation points that we cover in class. They improve those points (or try to), but getting the average student to do more than that is a non-starter.

One thing for me is that my students are in university, so I can't treat them like kids. I have to be careful how I structure the activities.

[Svartalf]

In Iceland I would say that around 80% of the TV is subtitled English and no games or DVDs have Icelandic as a language option. I'm certain this makes a big difference

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Thanks for that, MiM and Aza. I'll ask my students if they read aloud in class in middle and high school. I kinda doubt it, though, because they're only tested for reading and listening comprehension. Therefore, the teachers are under a lot of pressure to not waste class time on anything that's not on the test. I do, however, make reading aloud a significant part of almost every class. First the students read it, then I read it so they can compare my pronunciation to theirs.

To me, the constant presence of sub-titles (which, FBM, I'm assuming doesn't happen in Korea) would make a huge difference...

To me, it sounds intrusive, but I guess people get used to it...

You'd be surprised... I hate watching a series without the (English) subbing... then again, my hearing is not what you would like.

[FBM]

We get foreign films with hard-coded Korean subs. In order to get English subs for a foreign film we either have to buy the DVD ( ) with the multi-language pack or down-get it irregarry.

[FBM]

You'd be surprised... I hate watching a series without the (English) subbing... then again, my hearing is not what you would like.

Same here. And for the same reason.

[JimC]

It is very rare indeed to see subtitles of any kind in Oz, so I guess I'm simply not used to them...