TEACHING ENGLISH TO FOREIGNERS Trying to explain English, colloquial English, is like trying to tie your shoe while it’s on your ear; the concept isn’t new, but somehow you feel it’s out of place. I have a student who is very eager to learn. He talks… incessantly. He talks about nothing, and spins it into a 30 minute conversation. My role in his learning has almost become what I’d call an accent coach. I correct his pronunciation, his flow, his word choice, and try to make him sound like he’s been speaking English since he could speak. First, Chinese speakers do not have a “th” sound native to their language. When they say “something”, it sounds like “some-sing”, “they” sounds like “zay”, “thirty” sounds like “sirty”. Trying to teach them to put their tongue between their
... read more
