"Sounds of Speech" a great tool for the phonetics enthusiasts

     This tool, which started as a web project, is a collaborative effort of the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese, German, Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Information Technology Services at the University of Iowa in the United States. At first it was available through the website of the University of Iowa, but since the demand for this useful tool increased, the creators decided to also transform it into a simple phone application, which allows you to carry the information anywhere you go, and makes it simpler to practice. 

     This app helps the students of ESL have a better understanding of how the speech apparatus acts when speaking this language, it provides animations of the speech apparatus according to each sound with provided step by step explanation on how to produce the sound, short video clips of the sounds being pronounced, navigation of the sounds organized by how they are classified according to their manner, place, voicing and tongue position with a short definition of each of these features, and some examples of words which contain the studied phonemes. 

                                                         

     

     The use of this app, next to a dedicated practice of the sounds of English, can help those ESL students who believe they need to improve their speaking and pronunciation skills, due to the fact that it is very detailed and it provides great information, even for those students who are attending Phonetics and Phonology as a subject on its own. It particularly helped me when going through the subject, since it helped me practice and memorize the sounds and their names, while also providing me with the auditive tool to recognize the sounds in words more quickly.

     The application is available online through http://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/english/english.html and it is available (although sadly not for free) on the Google Play Store and on the iOS store. Still, the web version contains the same amount of information, and although it won’t be as convenient as having it on the cellphone, it still accomplishes its goal. 

Innovation and creativity as tools for teaching English

Today's students live in a changing world where the parameters of knowlegde are redefined almost every day. Internet has given people access to information that one time ago they could only acquire it within the classroom or in a library. As a result, teachers find themselves competing for students time and attention. So the old methods applied for teaching are no longer suficient and effective. The process of how people learn have changed, therefore techniques and ways to teach have to change as well. The most powerful weapons a teacher should use to win back students attention and interest are creativity and innovation. 

When it comes to teach a foreing language (in this specific case english), teachers need to be aware of the challenge that this might represent. Because they are not only giving new information but also this information is in another language. The answer to the problem is becoming a creative teacher, which is an art but totally purchasable (so do not fear those how believe they are boring because of nature, or their parents, or God's will or any other absurd reason. You can redefine yourself in order to be a better teacher). English teachers need to develop a full repertoire of activities which they can adapt to different situations. If something does not work it does not matter, do not give up, keep trying new ways to help people learn because that is the aim. Here are some creative and innovative ideas:

• Immersion activities

Through painting, music composition, a film project, in role drama or sculpture, people have had a chance to share vocabulary, ideas and concepts which gives their reading fresh meaning and purpose.

• Clear purpose

What's the point of reading and writing anything if you don't know why you're doing it? The main goal is to provide people with a clear purpose to all reading, and especially writing tasks for them to connect with the reading. 

• Tangible motivation

One effective way of valuing student's work as well as providing a real incentive, is to plan for a range of ways to publish their writing (maybe in the school or Highschool Newspaper and if there is no newspaper, What are you waiting for? create one!) . The students effort will be double, and the results will be stunning. 

• Meaningful planning

If the school or Highschool allows it, gather with all your english teachers colleagues and share ideas, creative ways for teaching, exchange lesson plans, resources. Create a creative and innovative English Teacher's community. Improve yourself, help others. 

• Inspirational learning environment

This is an abstract point of view. An inspirational learning evironment is not a physical nice place with great colors and lots of resources well made (even when that also helps) but a place in which students feel comfortable speaking, interacting, exchanging ideas, making mistakes and being themselves. The creation of such a nice environment is the teacher's job.

• Drama to engage and inspire

The use of drama is such a powerful tool. This technique helps to promote the exploration of characters, situations and historical events. This process expands student's imagination, and provides them with the ideas they need to give their writing that extra spark and flair.

• Grammar concepts taught creatively

Grammar cannot be taught as a stand alone activity. What's the point of that? People begin to understand grammar concepts, and start to apply them in their own writing, when they start to read with a writer's mind. Punctuation rules and techniques are drawn from shared texts; texts which they have already been immersed in and have a good understanding of. Exploring these, and embedding them creatively is how learning takes place.

So, go for it! Be creative and innovative and you will see huge changes in you and your students.

LEARN ENGLISH FOR FUN.

ABOUT THE TOOL

I don’t know about you, but I think one of the most successful ways of learning a foreign language is through a funny and interesting way in which you could feel comfortable and focused without the obligations and demands of being in a classroom. VOSCREEN.COM is a very useful tool for those who want to learn English all around the world. YES! Not only for Spanish speaking countries, but also for other fourth-teen countries with different language speaking. Before using this tool you will have to choose from the language box option identified with the icon in the toolbar on the head of the website.

VOSCREEN comes with a variety of functions in the case you are a person with a good background about the language or in the case you think you need support, in the option identified with the icon in the toolbar in the head of the website you can choose the level of difficulty according to your English background. Also, if you want to practice any specific structure related to English grammar, you can click in the same option and choose the structure you want to practice with.

You can sign up if you want or just to see how it feels, you can play as a guest. If you sign up, you will be able to monitor your progress and your scores, etc. You can also edit your profile and upload a photo. And so you can connect through your Facebook or Google account.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Well, it’s very simple. You watch a really short extract from visual media (film, series, ads, etc.) and choose from two options the correct transcription; this puts into practice your listening and reading skills. When you start using this tool, you will notice that the video is covering most of the screen. After you press the play button, you watch the short extract around five seconds. You can watch it again if you like. You will notice that at the end of the video, there are two ad boxes in which you will chooseif you are sure about responding without captions, and if you are not sure of what they said, and need the captions.

After, you choose one, you will be shown the transcripts. If the video you watched is in the target language, the transcript will be in your mother tongue and vice versa. You’ll notice that on the right, there’s a timer counting down from 15 seconds. The quicker you answer the more scores you can get. If your answer is right, the box will turn green, if wrong then red. After 15 seconds, the correct answer will be revealed if you don’t click on anything.

This tool is recommendable to use only as a way of practicing in order to be always in touch with the target language, in this case, English language.

PLAY IT EVERYWHERE!

The developers apparently didn't want to leave any missing aspect behind, VOSCREEN also allows you to download an app in the case you want to play it whether in Android or IOS devices. Only by clicking the options identified with the iconsin the toolbar you will be able to download the free applications for your smarthphone or tablet.

So, what are you waiting for? Go to and learn English in a very useful and funny way!

Reading and the EFL student.

Most EFL students consider reading in English anathema. Reading a book in a different language seems to be an intimidating, daunting task. However, most of them don't realize that they've already won half the battle: They already have a moderate understanding of the language. This obviously doesn't apply to the very basic beginners, but for intermediate learners and those above, it is very much a reality. They read English pretty much everywhere. From social networks, to advertisements to the materials they use to learn the language, English is present everywhere. 

Most of the course books used to teach English include short stories, dialogues, magazine or newspaper articles or even letters to characters in the context of a lesson. Reading those texts is not at all different from reading a short story, a poem or even a novel. Furthermore, lack of extensive vocabulary shouldn't be a problem. There are many simplified versions of books of all sorts, also known as "learner literature". What is a "simplified version", though? These are stories that have been adapted and edited to reduce their word count and to take the essentials of the story and put it into simpler writing. These types of books are perfect for EFL students, and have been designed with them in mind. They even have glossaries with short definitions of the less known words at the bottom of each page so the reader doesn't have to disengage from the story to look for a dictionary. So EFL students shouldn't feel intimidated by books. They just need to find a story that pikes their interest, grab a comfy seat, and enjoy the ride.

For those interested in knowing a bit more about this sort of books, here's a link to a very informative article: http://www.antimoon.com/how/reading-beginner.htm

JUST WRITING

What happened with education in Venezuela? We have always said that education begins at home; so many people are born in a place surrounded by cultured and well-educated people and also have the opportunity to receive a full or decent education, but what happens in the case of many children born in poor areas where parents have not received a good education? What kind of education will they receive? What can they learn from their parents if they have had no education? In this case it is when the professional teacher education plays an important role, because the teacher will guide the student to the future. But what is the purpose of all this? We are educated and prepared to live in a society full of discrimination, we are prepared to live in a place where you have to survive. Then we are as trained dogs to follow others; because I cannot see any other way. We spent half of our lives studying and then working on something that has nothing to do with what we studied. Where are we going with all of this and what is the future that waits the new generations of children?

okay let's talk about what we all want to talk, I think we should attach primary education to secondary and reduce the years of study keeping only the basics and adding programs to work in agriculture and produce our own food, because here in Venezuela there is so much land and so many resources but we do not take full advantage. Today our country is going through one of its worst moments in terms of food, then as a child without good nutrition may develop intelligence to learn the necessities to live in this place.

Moreover are we studying English, because we like and some others because there were not many options. Each with their reasons, but the goal of this project is to teach English in the best way and adapt to each stage of the student. Today the English language is the most commercial and we can help much in terms of travel and business with foreigners. The English language is just a bit of education.

Teacher Education

   When we reffer to education we can talk about: innovations, changes, knowledge, learning, cultures, values; and so on. As we know the education is an important tool that is applied around the world, allowing to many people the learning who belongs to different cultures, social status, religions and nationalities. Education enables the society to interpret the world around them rightly, innovating to new ways and means that conform to their environment and needs. we without education we are incomplete and our lives are useless. education helps us to set a goal and go ahead by working on that throughout the life.

   Now, as future teachers we must take into account that education improves our knowledge, skill, confidence level and personality to interact with our students in a classroom. If we as teachers or future teachers don´t try to improve or innovate our knowledge to help our students through different and several dynamics, teaching methods and strategies that exists; we could become frustrated and failed teachers. For that reason, we as teachers or future teachers we have to innovate, improve and accept new changes to be good teachers and to get a better development with our students.

Teacher Education and Professional Development

I think an effective teacher should have a good knowledge about English language (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and speaking) and also should be an excellent teacher (tolerant, intelligent, able to handle groups, inventive, friendly and counselor. However, the person to obtain those atrributes must have the personality, I mean teachers or future teachers must like teaching. So, he or she is going to have those attributes. Teachers must have a self- motivation everyday no matter if they are sick or have personal problem. They must work and teach. Students see teachers as leaders, father or mother. Also, a teacher must be a tireless researcher. I mean learning other cultures, thinkings, ideas, histories about other languages it can help them to look for a good means of teaching.

To improve the communication about this aspect is very important or we need to take into account social and political meanings. They are part of each society and we as future teachers, we should know and be prepare for those important aspects.

Language helps society to get a good education. Everyone knows that change means to improve something. Although, each change has some implications. In this case, a new education or changing refers to people must have an adaptation in communication because it is the base of a new introduction.