EFS 689E: Week 3

EFS 689E - STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Learning English on Your Own

Notes

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EFS 689E: Learning English on Your Own

Week 3: Pronunciation, Speaking, Writing, and Grammar

I. Review from last week (including material we didn't have time to cover)

A. Vocabulary: idiom list -- discuss in groups

1. Babylon: www.babylon.com; Google definitions using "define:"; Answer Tips for Firefox

                        2. Keeping a list and reviewing it:
                            a) note new words that you've seen before or that seem important
                            b) get the word, its definition, and a sentence from the context you saw it in
                            c) collect in groups of 10-20 and review regularly (till you know them)
                            d) try actively to notice these words in other contexts; google the word for more
                            e) review using www.flashcarddb.com

3. Other techniques for learning: analysis of roots and affixes, context guessing practice, learner dictionaries (e.g., Longman's)

4. Finally, remember how important phrases are, not just individual words

B. Developing skills and strategies: pre-reading, skimming, scanning, etc.

C. Intensive vs. extensive: the pleasure principle (read what you like!): What do you like to read in your own language?

D. Remember, familiar material is generally better for language learning: read in areas you already know something about (links to Pleasure Principle)

F. Help with finding the right level of materials: Google News or many other sites for news material; You can also use blogs or anything else that appeals to you.

After identifying the material, copy it into a word document for a word count (<2000 words)

Then go to http://lextutor.ca/vp/bnc for a word frequency count. Try to find material that is not too far beyond your level (has too many unknown words). If you wish, look up a few of the words if they seem important (appear in the title or appear more than once)

Time yourself reading and divide number of seconds into number of words and multiply by 60 for words per minute (e.g. 1342 words read in 5 min 22 seconds = 1342/322 * 60 = 250 wpm)

II. Discussion of your independent project

What did you do?
What did you learn?
What will you do next?

III. Pronunciation on your own: before we begin, how would you try to improve your pronunciation?

            A. Listening and repeating: how to make it work best
                    1. Focus on meaning as you speak; talk about something familiar
                    2. Get rhythm & intonation, not just words

B. Pronunciation practice online: www.englishcentral.com

C. The English sound system - an overview

            1. Basic sounds (phonemes): http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#

            2. Rhythm: http://languageinstinct.blogspot.com/2006/10/stress-timed-rhythm-of-english.html

            3. Stress: www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/word-stress.htm

            4. Intonation: www.americanaccent.com/intonation.html

            5. Linking: www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/linking.htm

            6. Reduced forms: www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/ReducedForms.html

7. Try sound discrimination practice for pronunciation at www.manythings.org/pp

8. Overview of English sounds in different dialects at http://www.fonetiks.org/

            D. Developing an English persona
                 Value of role play: you can be yourself (as an English speaker!) or make up a character.
                    1. Name
                    2. Where you live: describe your house
                    3. What you do: describe your job
                    4. Other biographical information: family, hobbies, secrets
                Note: this works well for online forums and virtual worlds (e.g., www.secondlife.com)

            E. Pronunciation and listening: noticing what you write/say and noticing the difference between that and what the speaker said.

                    1. Written dictation, followed by
                    2. Oral dictation: record it for best results

IV. Speaking

            A. Methods
                1. Observing interactions: eavesdropping, movies, other videos
                2. Practicing monologues (see E below)
                3. Engaging people in conversations: friends, neighbors; meeting new people

            B. CD-ROM Software:
                - see Fry's; www.wor.com
                - TRACI Talk: The Mystery in Green Library Call #ZMS 561 - practice conversation while solving a mystery.

C. Dialogues at www.focusenglish.com; www.talkenglish.com

D. Online chatting at Dave's ESL Cafe or EnglishBaby; explore a chatbot at http://www.csiec.com/MSAgent/en/index.htm.

            E. Recording yourself: Windows sound recorder, Audacity, mobile phone, mp3 player, etc. Review your recordings and re-record once or twice.
                1. Keep an audio journal or diary, describing thoughts and experiences
                2. Practice telling stories, especially interesting or funny ones
                3. Practice presenting opinions
                4. Practice descriptions of your job, research, etc.
                5. Practice responding to the interview questions at www.elllo.org, or to the many questions at http://iteslj.org/questions/. [e.g., Annoying Things]

F. Online learning with a live tutor (not free): www.avatarlanguages.com/home.php.

V. Grammar

A. Grammar reference: www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar

B. Learn from quizzes: Internet TESL Journal: www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/grammar.html

            C. Grammar and vocabulary: words that go together.
                    1.Google: www.google.com. Search for words & phrases in context.
                        Use quotes (" ") around phrases for exact matches; also www.stanford.edu/~efs/google
                    2. Edict Web Concordancer: http://vlc.polyu.edu.hk/concordance/wwwconcappe.htm

VI. Writing resources

            A. Methods
                1. Post to discussion lists at Dave's ESL Cafe or EnglishBaby
                2. Keep an English journal or blog; www.blogger.com; post to social network like www.facebook.com.
                3. Write to friends and colleagues or find a "keypal" (check discussion lists; search for friends at www.englishbaby.com)

B. University of Wisconsin's Writer's Handbook

C. Advice on proofreading (final editing)

D. Online textbook in English for academic purposes

E. Other links from the Advanced Graduate Writing website

F. Email language exchanges: Interpals (www.interpals.net/).

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Homework

1) FOR THE INDIVIDUAL MEETING - Come prepared to discuss your project. Also, be sure to review the class notes so that you can a) tell me what was most interesting or useful and b) ask questions about anything that wasn't clear.

2) FOR MONDAY JULY 25 - Write a report on the individual assignment you began last week, fulfilling whatever commitment we agree on in the individual meeting (As Yoda says, "try not, do!"). Email it to me by 10:00 PM Monday July 25. As before, the report should state:

What you did; what material you used (if any)

How you did it--the process

How long you spent

At least two useful things that you learned about learning from the experience

3) FOR THE NEXT CLASS - Briefly explore at least 3 of the sites above: come prepared to discuss your experiences in class (you may also include this in your report if you wish).

Last modified July 19, 2011, by Phil Hubbard