If you’ve ever taught adult ESL students whose first language is Arabic, you already know what’s coming. The b and p sounds. They sound harmless enough. But in practice? Oh gosh. *heavy sigh* And no, it’s not because your students aren’t trying hard enough. This happens because of how Arabic sound systems are structured and […]
Look, we all know why we teach Short I and Long E sounds. Nobody wants their students accidentally talking about going to the “b*tch” when they mean “beach.” I’ve watched students’ faces turn bright red when they realize what they just said. It’s either painful for their classmates or provokes irrepressible laughter, which isn’t helpful.
Afaf threw a pencil at me once during a pronunciation lesson. She missed on purpose (I think), but still. That’s what minimal pairs can do to your feistier students. They’re frustrating as heck, but that frustration? It means they’re working. So what are minimal pairs, and why should you care? The Basics: What are Minimal
I’ll never forget the day one of my Saudi students accused a classmate of “sheating” off of them. Except it wasn’t just the sh/ch mix-up…the vowels were also a mess, so what I heard was closer to “shitting.” Did I immediately demonstrate what a blush looks like? Yes. Yes, darn it, I did. This wasn’t
“And then,” my professor paused dramatically, “the Muslims were playing in the streets! Everywhere! They were playing in the streets all over the country!” Everyone paused their notetaking in confusion. Did they miss something? Why were the Muslims playing right after the tragedy? Well, they weren’t, and I was left trying to low-key whisper to
I’ll never forget watching Ahmed confidently grab a marker when I handed out the first listening labyrinth of the term. “You want a pencil?” I asked. “No pencil,” he said, waving me off. “I know this.” Three minutes later, his paper was a disaster of crossed-out lines, scribbled corrections, and increasingly frantic marker strokes as
