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I hate pronunciation!
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Don’t worry, I’m neither possessed nor schizophrenic and I haven’t lost my mind! It’s not the field that I hate, just the actual term itself. Why? Because the term “pronunciation”, as it is understood now by ESL specialists and schools, does not do justice to the actual concept of pronunciation. Ask an average ESL…
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More opportunities in the land of opportunity for better speakers of English
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I realize that may sound arrogant as it assumes that the land of opportunity has to be where English happens to be the first language but no one can argue that countries like the United States, Canada and Australia (and certainly some European countries) have been a common destination for the world’s immigrants over…
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Good English? Stuff it! Try Impressive English
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How’s your English? No bluffing! “My English is good” they say. Good English! Can’t tell you how frustrating for me to hear those words. What a vague answer! It’s like someone either really sucks at English or is trying to be modest about it. In whichever case, it infuriates me. It’s an “in-no-man’s-land” sort…
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Bad pronunciation: 3 don’ts
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Bad pronunciation comes basically from 3 reasons that your pronunciation may not be good enough or clear enough. We’ll refer to these 3 reasons as the 3 don’ts. We’ll use the following sentence to demonstrate the 3 dont’s. I will get back to you as soon as possible (you often say or hear that…
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Good pronunciation: Intelligibility or Impact?
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Most English teachers seem to consider good pronunciation as being intelligible. They view intelligibility as the ultimate goal of learning pronunciation. “If I can understand you, and you can understand me, then your pronunciation is good enough”. It has somehow been agreed upon in this industry that to be understood is just “good enough”…