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This is a GREAT 10 minute activity for low-level students, but I’m sure that students at any level could benefit from this.
First, i draw a picture on the board illustrating top and bottom teeth and the tongue between the teeth. I tell my students that when they say words like “thank” or “think” that their tongue should be between their teeth. sometimes i illustrate this with my hands, and i put a piece of paper between my hands to act as the tongue.
Then, in order to practice, I give three suggestions; practice with a partner, having the partner watch their mouth; practice with a mirror so that they can see their mouth; and to practice saying “TH” words while holding a finger against their mouth–when they hold a finger against their mouth and say ‘thanks’, their tongue will touch their finger. I also tell students that in order to train their mouth to do the right thing, they can practice saying 3,333 (three thousand three hundred and thirty three) over and over again.
Finally, I give this very short listening/dictation exercise. I tell them that punctuation doesn’t matter. I don’t exaggerate the sounds when reading these, either.
1. I think something
2. I sink, some sing
3. You sink, I think
4. I sing one thing
As they write, students might be a little confused, because to them, these sound very similar to each other, esp. 1 and 2. When you’re finished, write the statements on the board. Almost everyone will get the first one right, but you’ll only have a handful of students get the rest of them right. Then I explain to the students that they need to re-train their ears so that they know the difference between ’s’ sounds and ‘th’ sounds.
I do this as a 10-15 minute acticity at the beginning, and then during the last 10 minutes of class, i do another dictation. you could also do this at the same time as the other one, or you could wait until the next class period.
1. I think some sing
2. i thank you sank
3. i sank you sink
4. i thank you sink
At the end of this, I choose 4 students to come to the board and write their answers and we check them as a class.
12 different powerpoints about various aspects of culture. Krista K, Chongqing 12 initially e-mailed these to me, but she didn’t make them–I think she told me that a friend of her’s made them.
australia and new zealand. Covers basic geographic information, history, politics, and economy.
british education–Includes pictures of Oxford and Cambridge, focus is on history of British Education and higher education.
british holidays–Includes Christmas, Easter, Boxing Day and other national holiday’s
education in america. Covers trade and technical education, private schools, home schooling
intro american politics and govt
love and dating. Lots of info about weddings.
us history. Covers early American history through the Revolutionary War
usa culture. Basic facts about America
us expansion west. History from 1781-WWII
submitted by Cassie F, Chongqing 12
“This class is designed to help the sophomores start to focus on increasing their fluency and eliminating the small mistakes and common grammar errors, with a special focus on preparing students for the TEM-4. The class will also aim to give the students a broader knowledge of the culture of America and other English speaking countries.”
submitted by Cassie F, Chongqing 12
“This class is designed to help freshmen increase their confidence to speak English as well as the fluency of their oral English, specifically focusing on practical daily skills and possible real-life situations. The class will also aim to give the students a broader knowledge of the culture of America and other English speaking countries.”
Submitted by Cassie F, Chongqing 12
“This course was designed for an 18-week class of oral English sophomores (with Intermediate-High level English) that met 4 hours a week or 36 classes. I developed this course that covers American pop culture because I felt that these topics encompassed other larger and more important social issues by their very nature, but looked interesting to young students on the surface. Also, American pop culture provides a lot of controversial subjects, which make debates and interesting conversation very feasible. The students also get to study their American counterparts, which they seemed to really enjoy.
This was my attempt to create a CBI (content based instruction) course rather than simply create an oral English class without a cumulative sense of achievement for the students. There were some struggles in the presentation of the CBI course, both with the students and with the administration, as this is not a typical approach to a Chinese English class. However, students warmed up to the idea of CBI English learning quickly as the semester progressed. Most of the reading is given as homework so as to not take away from student talk time in class. In this way, they both learn new things about American culture and are able to practice their oral English as much as possible. It should be noted that some of the material in this textbook might not be appropriate for every school. Teachers should read all the material carefully, and take out anything that might not at the age/maturity level of their students or anything that might make their administration uncomfortable.
MAKE SURE to read the entire text before the beginning of the semester. Some of the lessons need advance preparation, like writing for supplies from America or finding copies of certain movies.
Submitted by Jessica W, Guizhou 13. For oral English/speaking
Goals: understanding what gender is, understanding how gender ideas are connected to stereotypes (review), understanding how gender ideas create difference and inequality between men and women.
