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

            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

            B. CD-ROM Software:
                - see Fry's; www.wor.com; www.amazon.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: note, begin by knowing something about where you need grammar help, what your goals are

            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 previous 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. Decide whether to continue or try something new.

2) FOR MONDAY JULY 30 - Write a report on the individual assignment you committed to in the individual meeting (As Yoda says, "try not, do!"). Email it to me by 10:00 PM Monday July 30. 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, including about yourself as a learner. Especially, comment on the relation between how you studied and what you learned.

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