Ultimate Vocabulary – Vocabulary Building Software

English Vocabulary Words Are a Window to the Past

August 30, 2013

People create new words to describe the world around them: what they see, what they do, what things are used for, and the thoughts and emotions and ideas connected to everything. As the world changes, vocabularies change, too. New words are invented for new inventions, and other words are forgotten as old tools or habits or clothes stop being used. When you read books written a century ago, you’re getting a glimpse of the lives that people lived back then, and the words they used to talk about their lives. In Jeffrey Kacirk’s book “The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten,” he brings hundreds of these words back out into the light of day. When you read through the word lists, you’ll travel back in time to the days when those words were part of common conversation – and maybe you’ll find a word or two that you like so much you’ll start using it, and bring it back to life. Here are seven words we particularly like:

mundivagant
Wandering around the world, traveling.

kedge-belly
A glutton, someone who eats too much.

latitudinarian
Someone who has broadly tolerant religious views.

zythepsary
A brewery or ale-house.

ornithoscopy
Telling the future by watching how birds fly.

miscomfrumple
To crease or rumple fabric.

wuther
Blowing with a loud noise, like a strong gust of wind.

Amanda Davis Links Language And Literacy With www.SchoolSpeechAndLanguage.com

August 28, 2013

Parents of children who seem to be having problems in school are always anxious to find resources to help identify and solve the issues that are causing those problems. If the problem is due to a learning disability that affects a student’s ability to read and write, it’s even more important to get help and support so that a child doesn’t continue to fall further behind because of their lack of these important skills. Amanda Davis has created an innovative approach to answering this need, and we talked to her recently about the program she developed.

UV: Can you tell us a little bit about Words First, and the approach you take to helping students with special educational needs?

AD: Firstly, thank you for this opportunity. Words First is an independent speech and language therapy practice based in London that offers innovative services to mainstream primary and secondary schools.

At Words First, we do not see how the disciplines of speech, language and literacy can be separated. When you’re reading, you’re reading language. When you read, you don’t just need to decode words, you also need to decode language! The rationale for addressing both spoken and written language in our approach is based on the reading circuit of Maryanne Wolf, which I’ve described very briefly below.

Our brains are not prewired for literacy – there are no reading centres in the brain as there are speech or language centres. As stated by Stephen Pinker ‘children are wired for sound but print is an optional accessory that has to be painstakingly bolted on’. When learning to speak, babies use a pre-existing network that connects the auditory cortex with the speech / language areas of the brain. However, when learning to read, speech enters the brain through the visual cortex but there are no pre-existing connections between the visual cortex and speech / language. The brain must develop a new circuit in which the features of a visual symbol (letters) are connected to the speech / language centres – ample reason, in my opinion, for literacy and language to be part of the same discipline!

We have designed an assessment battery that aims to identify the specific area of weakness in the reading circuit in any pupil who is experiencing problems at school. These may be academic, social or behavioural manifestations of a deficit in any of the areas described above. Our assessment battery is based on the Double Deficit Hypothesis (Wolf and Bowers, 1999). We employ speech and language therapists (SaLTs) to administer assessments and provide intervention because of their expertise in the areas of language/communication and their disorders (our SaLTs have additional training in literacy). The entire Words First approach was designed around mainstream curriculum demands and is therefore easily implemented in schools. The assessment identifies the underlying area of need and intervention is targeted at that deficit. Pupil progress is measured after 12 weeks and parents / schools are presented with impact reports.

As far as possible we like to work with parents / teaching assistants and teachers to transfer skills and share knowledge. Our whole school approach aims to embed principles of differentiation and strategies for children with language and literacy difficulties in the planning and delivery of lessons. For more information about the Words First approach please visit our website.

UV: How do you distinguish between children who have a challenging learning disability, and those students that simply have some problems with reading and writing?

AD: Pupils who receive our assessment / intervention cycle usually make good progress over the course of 12 weeks due to the fact that we target the exact area of underlying weakness. In many cases, we see pupils who have impoverished language / vocabulary due to under stimulation rather than a core learning difficulty. These pupils require a targeted assessment and intervention approach, such as the one offered by Words First, to determine their exact area of weakness and provide stimulation in that specific area. These pupils make great progress because they seem to have ‘ah ha!’ moments – we teach them strategies that they have not developed naturally but are more than capable of learning and using. We are seeing more and more pupils in primary and secondary schools who have not had enough exposure to rich and varied language and of course, vocabulary is an on-going concern in our schools.

At Words First our focus, especially in secondary school is on teaching pupils strategies that can be generalized across the curriculum. We aim to teach our pupils a life long understanding of how language works, in a relatively short (realistic) time frame. Therefore, we use a carefully selected group of core words to demonstrate morphological, phonological, orthographics aspects, semantic neighbourhoods, multiple meanings and syntactic structures and then provide opportunities to practice these in social contexts. Again, because some pupils have had little exposure to explicit teaching in these areas, or have not developed these strategies naturally, they make excellent progress.

However, there are some pupils who do not make adequate progress with our assessment and intervention approach. We analyse these pupils in depth and aim to identify the reasons for their lack of progress. In most cases, these pupils present with a significant learning difficulty that affects their performance in all areas of the curriculum. We discuss their unique needs with the special educational needs co-ordinator at the school and create a care plan for them. This may include attending a further block of intervention, one-to-one work with a trained teaching assistant or in some cases discussions around suitability of the school to meet the pupil’s needs. In addition, some pupils who do not make progress may have attendance issues or significant attention and listening difficulties. Of course there are some pupils who present with visual processing difficulties who require referral to a behavioural optometrist. Therefore, each pupil is seen as unique with their own set of challenges – we make time to think about each pupil and whether our approach is the right one.

UV: With so many demands on a teacher’s time, it’s often difficult for them to help every student in the classroom who may have a problem with an aspect of English language learning. Are there things that teachers can do to provide support to these students?

AD: Absolutely! I am always conscious of adding to a teachers load when I begin to talk about differentiation. However, the feedback we have got from our teachers is that the strategies and tips we advise using in the classroom actually reduce the workload. Our ideal situation is to work with the teacher at the lesson planning stage and then co-deliver lessons. However, we understand this is not always possible. Therefore, Words First has developed a ‘toolkit’ for mainstream teachers to use when planning and delivering lessons. These consist of a set of points to remember when a) planning a lesson – including a number of different games to recap vocabulary b) adjustments to use when delivering the lesson.

We have worked with classes where behavior has been turned around by simple strategies that have improved access to the curriculum for many of the pupils. If teachers understand how to differentiate for language, they will be supporting pupils who have a range of needs including those with specific language impairment, autism spectrum disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, behavioural difficulties (which often stems from a language / literacy difficulty) and attention deficit disorders.

UV: What can parents do to help children succeed in vocabulary development and English language skills?

AD: I don’t need to tell your readers about the direct correlation between vocabulary and academic achievement, this will be well known to you all. My belief, after years of research and practice in the area of literacy and language is that one of the greatest gifts you can give your children is an interest in and love of words and language. An inquisitive mind will wonder about words, sounds and letters and will make connections on its own – parents can encourage this inquisitiveness in their children by having fun with words, playing with words, exploring all aspects of words and overall enjoying their time investigating words together. My daughter, who is three and a half, is constantly bombarded with multiple meanings – when we walk in the forest and we hear a dog bark, I just cannot resist the opportunity of connecting the two meanings of the word ‘bark’ as we walk past the trees and listen to the sound of the dog barking.

However, I also believe that it is never too late to ignite this interest in language. Many of our secondary aged pupils become engrossed in our vocabulary strategies as we explore and learn about words – we often use these opportunities for teenagers to teach us about words, there is so much as adults we just don’t ‘get’! My favourite ‘vocab’ moment was with a group of 15 year olds – one boy whose surname was ‘Ball’ was sitting on a gym ball, as I blurted out ‘Wow, John you’re on the ball today’, the entire class erupted with laughter! These were pupils who had significant difficulties with flexibility of language and for them to understand the multiple meanings in that sentence was one of the best moments of my career so far.

So, parents cannot teach their child every word they will need to know by the time they get to school or secondary school. What they can do, however, is encourage an enquiring mind.

UV: You work with schools and individuals in the UK, but literacy issues are a worldwide problem. Do you provide resources for schools or organizations in other countries as well?

AD: We offer schools an approach to literacy and language assessment and intervention with resources to support this procedure. We have started working in South Africa where we are supporting an organization called Girls and Boys Town. Words First would be delighted to provide access to our approach to many more schools / pupils and therefore, we are able to offer our services on a consultative basis anywhere in the world. I would be absolutely delighted to hear from anyone outside the UK to discuss our approach and whether it may be suitable for your school and your pupils. Please email me (Amanda) at wordsfirst@virginmedia.com

There’s More to Learn Than English When You’re an Exchange Student

August 23, 2013

For people who want to learn to speak English, one of the quickest ways is through the immersion method, where you’re surrounded by people who are speaking that language, seeing signs in English, and only reading books and newspapers in the English language. And one of the best ways to immerse yourself in a language is to move to a country where that language is spoken. For many students, a year abroad in the United States during their secondary school or university years is an excellent way to get a good fluency in English, but even knowing the basics of the language won’t help when you come up against parts of American culture and idioms that might be hard to understand. The Buzzfeed site has a funny list of things you might find weird about America, like the fact that the ground floor of a building is called the first floor (and the first floor is called the second floor, and so on) – something that’s essential to know if you want to find your way around a new campus.

English can be a weird language all by itself, even without the extra confusion created by American terminology, especially if you’ve learned English in a former British colony. For example, you might be used to wrapping up a flapjack to take as a snack on a long hike, but if you suggest that to one of your American friends, they’ll think it’s a little odd. Flapjacks are thick pancakes or batter cakes in the United States, and your snack is called a granola bar. You’ll pick up these differences fairly quickly if you make an effort to join in campus activities and talk to people. That will help you practice your conversational skills as well.

If you’re planning on spending a few months or a year studying in the United States, check out the school’s website for resources for international students. They’ll be able to direct you to conversation groups, tutors, English clubs, and other opportunities to improve your English and get the most out of your time abroad.

John Hemming and Patrachit Chotikapanich Provide Complete English Language Training At English-Click.com

August 21, 2013

For more than 50 years, young students, university hopefuls, and aspiring professionals have been getting the training they need in English language skills from the qualified teachers at the English Click campus in Bangkok. The school was founded in 1957 by the pioneering English teacher, Mr. Karess Kukreja, who was one of the first English teachers in the country that adopted the communicative techniques to teach Thai to speak English. In the past few years, Patrachit Chotikapanich, daughter of Mr. Karess and the present school managing director, and John Hemming, who joined English Click in 2005 as the director of studies, have expanded the course offerings and services to include an online English test and specialized vocabulary training for people in fields like medicine and business, while still providing comprehensive English language classes for people in Thailand. We talked to Patrachit and John about the history of the school, and their plans for the future.

UV: Given English Click’s long and successful history in Bangkok, it’s obvious that there continues to be a great deal of interest in Thailand in learning English. What percentage of the population speaks English as a second language today?

PC: The highest estimate is that 27% of Thais can speak English, though some other sources state that the percentage is 10%. The difference in these two figures is no doubt attributable to the researcher’s criteria of linguistic ability that qualifies a person to be an English speaker.

Although English is a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools in Thailand, only a relatively low percentage of school leavers are able to converse in the language at an advanced level because the traditional method of teaching English is grammar oriented. Students who attend an international school where all subjects apart from Thai language are taught in English language have the best chance of achieving a high level of English proficiency, followed by those going to ‘English Programme’ or bilingual schools where mathematics and science are taught in English.

UV: It’s always easier to learn a new language at a young age. Do you work with primary and elementary schools in Thailand to improve their English classes, or do you find that most English language training for children happens in private schools or with outside tutoring?

PC: We do not have any formal arrangements with individual primary and elementary schools in either the public or private sector with respect to English teaching. We do however provide English tuition to primary and elementary school students at our language school as additional instruction to their school programme. As mentioned above, English is a compulsory subject for all Thai schools starting at the primary and elementary level, with students attending international and ‘English Programme’ being exposed to more hours per week of instruction in English.

As an important component in the delivery of English lessons in schools, we have conducted a training programme for Thai teachers of English in one province under the auspices of the Office of Private Education Commission within the Ministry of Education, and our aim is to continue to provide teacher training on a wider scale.

At the secondary level, English Click was the project manager to start up, establish and maintain the British curriculum International Programme of Srinakharinwirot University Prasarnmit Demonstartion School (Secondary) that began operations in 2010.

UV: In today’s global economy, being able to speak English is a huge help to anyone in a professional field, and especially if they want to work for a multinational corporation or find a new job overseas. How do you approach teaching English to adults who don’t have a good background in the language from their school years?

JH: Our starting point is that we will provide English language training that is going to be of the highest benefit to the particular student in his / her professional context. As a general rule, we ensure that the student reaches an upper elementary / pre-intermediate level of English proficiency before embarking on a more specialised business English or profession-based (for example engineering, computer industry, medical) training. To achieve the optimum amount of student improvement in English language skills, we carefully select the teacher who as expert knowledge in the particular work field of the student and use the appropriate course book as the basis for the training programme.

UV: What do your Multimedia English Language Courses involve?

JH: We can assist people, who wish to improve their English conversational skills, by supplying a series of internationally renowned and proven video CDs – “Dynamic English”. The CDs present everyday conversations spoken by native English speakers which the student can listen to and practise speaking in the comfort and convenience of their own home or workplace and at a time that is convenient for him or her. The programme is available in three levels with topics including greetings, numbers and time, weather, things to eat and drink, meeting a friend and travel.

The learner has four options of studying with “Dynamic English”:

1. Self-study with the CDs only – at home or place of work.

2. Self-study plus additional audio contact with an English Click teacher, for example through Skype, who will provide further tuition on the programme.

3. Self-study plus additional face-to-face contact with an English Click teacher – either in an English Click classroom or at the student’s own premises.

4. Study an English Click course using a course book, either privately or in a small group and either at English Click or at the student’s own premises, and supplement the course with “Dynamic English” for additional self-study and practice purposes.

Whichever of the above options is selected, “Dynamic English” will provide a very effective way of improving the conversational abilities of the person seeking to communicate well in English.

UV: When the school started in 1957, there weren’t computers and online resources available to students. How have you incorporated technology into the classroom, and what would you like to develop in the way of new course offerings in the years to come?

PC: It is now standard practice for our teachers to use a computer in the classroom as an interactive means to enhance the instruction provided by the course book and the teacher him / herself. Examples of computer usage include PowerPoint presentations, extracts from web pages and video material.

English Click currently offers a comprehensive and very wide range of courses with the traditional face-to-face with the teacher in the classroom being the method of delivery being used. With the availability of modern technology, we believe that some of our future expansion lies in also teaching via online contact, for example Skype, with the student.

Relax and Rejuvinate With These Five Refreshing Words

August 18, 2013

In the latest additions to the Oxford English Dictionary, we found words that are perfect for a summer vacation, or for a short break any time you want to treat yourself and have some fun. Whatever it is that you like to do in your free time, there are words that you can use to talk about it, so kick back and enjoy these new words that will help you expand your English vocabulary.

mani-pedi
This noun is probably more familiar to our female readers, though men also go to salons for nail care and beauty treatments. A word that’s moved from slang to serious (okay, not too serious) English, this refers to a combination manicure and pedicure in one session at a salon. These treatments often include a hand massage and a foot massage, so it’s an extra-relaxing way to spend an hour or two.

mochaccino
Although this word is usually associated with a beverage that became popular with hipsters in the last decade, the word researchers at the OED actually found mentions of the word back in the 1970s – proving that what’s hip in the past can be just as cool in the future. This American-invented drink with an Italian-style name is a blend of coffee and hot chocolate, served with or without whipped cream.

kombucha
Another newly-popular drink of the last decade has been around much longer – at least several hundred years, and possibly even several thousand. This fermented yeast tea can trace its origins to China, Russia, and Japan; the word kombucha is Japanese, although in Japanese the word means “kelp tea” while the Japanese term kocha kinko, or “red mushroom tea,” is what English speakers mean when they use the word kombucha. This beverage is said to promote mental clarity, which you’ll need if you try to figure out this confusion of names!

fun day
This term has become popularly used with organized events sponsored by churches, civic organizations, and schools. A fun day generally is held in one location with a variety of free activities for children, races and games, food and drink for sale, and sometimes carnival rides and musical performances. Some groups use fun days as fundraising opportunities.

bluegill / bluefin
If fishing is the way you like to relax, then you’ll appreciate these two new entries. A bluegill is a small freshwater fish found in shallow lakes and streams, a great favorite with anglers in the United States. It’s the state fish of Illinois. The bluefin tuna is a large saltwater fish that’s also popular with sport fishers, and the Pacific variety is highly prized in Japan for sushi.

Bringing English To Life With Richard Graham At GenkiEnglish.com

August 15, 2013

English classes can be boring for native speakers of the language, and as ESL teachers around the world know, non-native speakers can find those classes even more dull and difficult when they’re expected to learn long lists of words or practice phrases they’d never use in real life. ESL expert Richard Graham saw this during his time teaching English in Japan, and decided to come up with a new and better way of helping children learn English. We asked Richard about the strategies he uses to make learning fun.

UV: In Japanese, the word “genki” can be translated as “full of life,” which brings up an image of a classroom full of noise and activity, rather than one that’s filled with rows of children sitting quietly at desks, bent over pieces of paper. Does that describe some of the classes you’ve taught using the Genki English method?

RG: Absolutely! And this is how humans naturally learn, by moving, communicating, asking questions and actually using the English. It’s just sad that most schools still teach in the industrial education model where the first thing they learn is “sit down, shut up.” In Genki English we start with “stand up” and “I can do this!”

UV: Using songs and games definitely gets children interested in a topic, but some teachers aren’t used to that format. Do you provide help for teachers who might be uncomfortable at first with this style of teaching?

RG: As long as the teacher has the passion and motivation to learn more and try new things out for their students then we have “baby steps” for everything, with videos, photos, animations and lots of support. In fact it works out a whole lot easier to teach because the kids are doing all the work!

And to be honest most of the great teachers in the world already teach using games, songs and all sorts of crazy innovative ideas.

UV: Your materials are a huge help to English teachers around the world, but not every child has the opportunity to go to an ESL class. Can parents use the resources on your website to give their children extra help with English language skills?

RG: Yes indeed, and we have many parents buying the materials and using them at home. It also works out great for the parents as they learn English as a bonus for free!

UV: The materials on your website all have brightly-colored illustrations that will be attractive to younger children. Can older children, teenagers, college students, or even adults use the program to learn English?

RG: We actually get our best feedback from kids aged 13 to 18! The fantastic research Harvard did on Genki English was also with teenagers.

Plus quite a few of the games I actually learnt from very high brow business workshops!

If you think about it, every super serious business person has Angry Birds on their phone, so everyone loves bright, colourful, cool images. The trick is all in how you present it, to add in something “serious” and “boring” to make it feel like work, then switch to Genki English where, ironically, they’ll actually be doing all the learning!

UV: If someone wants to learn English, would you recommend that they learn how to speak English first, or to read and write in English? Or do these two aspects always go together?

RG: Definitely 100% learn to speak first. You wouldn’t teach the alphabet to a baby, and it’s just the same for children or adults.

Half my year is in different countries doing workshops and you can instantly tell people who have learnt to speak first and are super confident, and those who have spent years learning reading and writing together but can’t say a word. It’s like night and day.

Plus once you can speak well the reading/writing becomes super easy.

So we always say, speaking and confidence first, then reading (which is easy with a good phonics programme) and finally writing. Although in this day and age that last step should really be “typing” if you really want to up your salary and productivity!

Be genki,

Richard

Getting Kids Excited About Vocabulary And Writing

August 13, 2013

We learn language as children by listening to the conversations around us, and to what people are saying to us specifically. Because this is an automatic process at the beginning, children are often not sure why they should deliberately learn new words. After all, if they made it to the age of 7 just by picking up words from what they heard and read, why should they study and memorize a list of uninteresting vocabulary words in school? You can help children develop a love of learning new words by making them understand the benefits of a good vocabulary, and by making the process fun.

Give them something tangible. Have children use the words they’re learning to create a short story, and then help them illustrate the story with clip art or images cut from magazines, or with hand-drawn pictures if they enjoy working with crayons or colored pencils. Keep a binder for these stories so that you end up with a “book” that the children have written by themselves, and that you can use to read out loud.

Help them see connections. Learning is most effective when there are many methods involved, because multiple learning styles create stronger memories and associations. For example, you can create lists of words like volcano, igneous, sediment, and erosion that all relate to the topic “geology” and then go on a field trip to a nearby river or stream to illustrate sediments and erosion, or show a documentary about volcanoes and igneous rock. Give kids ice cubes and glasses of water along with the word iceberg so that they can see for themselves how ice floats in water.

Teach cooperation as well as vocabulary. If you’re a teacher, or lead a school group, or have more than one child, you can take advantage of this by having children work together and help each other. The best way to learn something is to teach someone else about it, so have older children help younger ones with words, and have students correct each others’ tests. Remember to emphasize that learning is a process, so a wrong answer isn’t something to make fun of or be ashamed about, but just another chance to focus and get it right.

Practical Vocabulary Improvement With Gerry Luton At www.EnglishVocabularyExercises.com

August 7, 2013

Years of working with students in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes around the world have given Gerry Luton an in-depth knowledge of the best techniques for teaching English vocabulary. On his website and in his popular software product, “Gerry’s Vocabulary Teacher,” he provides tips and exercises that help students at every level learn vocabulary quickly, and help teachers work with those students to maximize their progress. We asked Gerry about his work in the ESL field, and the best ways to learn English vocabulary.

UV: You recently gave a talk at conference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) on “Harmonizing Language Learning and Social Responsibility.” What was that talk about?

GL: This presentation describes a project in which students in an upper intermediate / low advanced ESL class research various charities and conduct a series of discussions before choosing one charity to support. Students then prepare presentations and promotional materials, visit other classes to talk about the charity, hold a bake sale to raise funds, which are donated to the chosen cause, and finally write an essay about the experience.

UV: With your background in teaching ESL, you’ve had experience with many different teaching tools. What made you focus on using “gap fill” exercises for vocabulary improvement – and what’s an easy way to explain what “gap fill” means and how it works?

GL: Gap-fill exercises are exercises in which sentences are given with a word missing. The students have a choice of words to choose from and must choose the correct word to fill in the blanks. Research shows that students need to review vocabulary repeatedly in order to truly learn it. In particular, students need to see the vocabulary in various contexts in order to remember it and to develop an understanding of the range of usage of a given word. In his book “Learning Vocabulary in Another Language ”, Paul Nation notes “Multiple contexts provide rich information on a variety of aspects of knowing a word including collocates, grammatical patterns, word family members, related meanings, and homonyms” (2001, p.111). My vocabulary website uses gap-fill exercises so that students can encounter target vocabulary in various contexts, including sentences using different derivations of the word (noun, verb, adjective or adverb).

UV: You group your exercises by topic, like “arts, entertainment, and literature” or “the political world.” Does this also group similar words together? And if so, why?

GL: The general vocabulary exercises are divided into categories, and the words which are in these groups are related to that category. For example, under the category “War, violence & conflict”, you will find words such as destroy, weapon, torture, massacre, bomb, etc. Dividing the vocabulary into groups may help the student remember the meaning and the vocabulary may be reinforced as it appears in different contexts related to a specific topic.

UV: Your website is subdivided into two sections: general vocabulary, and the academic word list. What is the academic word list, and why do people need to focus on it?

GL: The AWL is a list of words which appear with high frequency in English-language academic texts. The list was compiled by Averil Coxhead at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The list contains 570 word families and is divided into 10 sublists. Sublist 1 consists of the 60 most common words in the AWL. Sublist 2 contains the next most frequently used words and so on. Each sublist contains 60 word families, except for sublist 10, which contains 30. To find these words, an analysis was done of academic journals, textbooks, course workbooks, lab manuals, and course notes. The list was compiled following an analysis of over 3,500,000 words of text.

The words selected for the AWL are words which occur frequently in a range of academic subjects, including the Arts (including history, psychology, sociology, etc.), Commerce (including economics, marketing, management, etc.), Law and the Sciences (including biology, computer science, mathematics, etc.). This means that the AWL is useful to all second-language learners who wish to study in an English-speaking institution no matter what their field of study. The AWL does not, however, include technical words which are specific to a given field. Nor does it contain words which are of general use and very high frequency. Students need to learn the vocabulary in the AWL because they need to know this academic vocabulary if they want to study in an English-speaking college or university.

UV: Your weekly study guides give links and suggestions for topics and exercises that focus on reading, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. How much time do you recommend that people spend each week on vocabulary improvement and general English skills?

GL: This is a difficult question to answer. It depends on the student – their goals, their needs, etc. A student who is already enrolled in school full-time in a program which includes English language instruction will need to spend less time doing independent study than a person who is not in school and whose sole exposure to English is through independent, online study. Each student needs to make a decision as to how much time he/she can devote to language study, realizing that the more time they spend, the faster they will improve. Certainly, of the different language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar, vocabulary & pronunciation), certainly vocabulary development is probably among the most important. This is why language learners carry around dictionaries, not grammar books. One thing to keep in mind however, is that language study should be complemented by reading for pleasure in the target language. The student needs to use English in an authentic, communicative way – through conversational speaking, listening to another speaker, writing or reading for information. Much of our language learning is unconscious. Therefore, online study of vocabulary, grammar or whatever, should be in addition to, not as a replacement for, authentic communication using the language. If no opportunities to speak and listen to native speakers exist, reading for pleasure in the best way to improve all the language skills.

Why Learning Pronunciation Makes You A Faster Reader

August 6, 2013

Because avoiding subvocalization – saying or “hearing” the words in your head as you read – is one of the keys to good speed reading, you might not think that proper pronunciation has anything to do with learning to read faster. However, it’s important to learn how to pronounce new words as you learn them, because that will put the pronunciation of the word in your long-term memory where it forms part of your unconscious brain, and when you next see that word on the page you’ll automatically process it without stopping to think about it. But when you don’t know how to pronounce a word, you’ll probably stop without even realizing it and try to sound the word out as you read, because that part of your word knowledge isn’t already stored in your memory. Your brain will see this as a “hole” that needs filling. Once you know the pronunciation, you’ll be back to smooth and automatic reading.

One of the problems that people often have with English pronunciation is that the same letter patterns can represent entirely different sounds. Take a look at this popular and funny rhyme about some of the ways that English words are a bit confusing, even for native speakers:

I take it you already know
of tough, and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
on hiccough, through, slough and though.
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps
To learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead; it’s said like bed, not bead!
For goodness sake, don’t call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat,
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt)
And then there’s dose and rose and lose –
Just look them up – and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward
And font and front and word and sword.

When you read through that verse, did you find yourself “stumbling” over some of the words and their pronunciations? Practice the things that trip you up, and you’ll eliminate one of the things that’s slowing down your reading speed. Remember to always add pronunciation to the checklist for learning new words, and you’ll increase your reading speed as you increase your vocabulary.

Cross-posted at the 7 Speed Reading blog.

www.ABCTEACH.com: Sandy Kemsley’s Resource For Parents, Teachers, Homeschoolers

August 2, 2013

If you have questions about education, ask a teacher! Sandy Kemsley has taken her decades of experience as a classroom teacher and developed a website full of materials, study guides, multimedia lesson plans, quiz samples, and so much more – in fact, everything that you need to support your child’s learning at school or develop your own homeschool program. Teachers can use this site to get suggestions from other educators around the United States, or share their own experiences on the ABCTEACH.com blog. Parents can learn how to work with their local schools, and how to guide and encourage children through homework and study time. Aspiring educators can learn the basics from experts in the field, and find the materials they need to make a successful start in their first classrooms. We talked with Sandy Kemsley about the ways that we can all help children learn.

UV: On the site, you have a section devoted specifically to ESL (English as a Second Language) resources. What are the challenges that teachers face from a classroom of kids at different vocabulary levels?

SK: ABCTEACH has members across the world, not only in the United States. Our ESL sections were initially created in response to requests from schools in China and other countries where English was the second language. Some of those schools were for adults learning our language, and our materials were valuable because they could be used to teach English words without being too childish in appearance.

In the United States, Australia and other English-speaking countries, teachers and schools have reported to us that they effectively use ABCTEACH materials to help teach their students whose primary language is other than English. The ABCTOOLS feature has been very helpful to some teachers, who have been able to create crossword puzzles, word searches, and other individualized materials to help those students and to maintain their interest. Vocabulary lists, flashcards, handwriting papers, and other aids are available on the website or can be created with ABCTOOLS.

One of the challenges posed by students who are just learning English, is the extra time that must be devoted to individual explanations and help. Teachers are very good at multi-tasking and providing materials at different levels. Having the supplemental materials that are offered by ABCTEACH can help teachers and teaching assistants deal with these challenges.

During my career as an elementary school teacher, my experience was that the younger the student, the faster they learned to communicate with their classmates. Often those students were exposed to English only in the classroom, because only their first language was spoken at home. I found the best approach for elementary students was to speak English and provide as many visual and auditory clues as possible. Basically, I found that students learned quickly through immersion and I would teach them to read as I would any non-reader in my class. I would request students to pair up and help each other. Once there was basic communication, my challenge was exposing the students to words beyond daily speech. Science and Social Studies lessons were hardest for them to understand. They could sound out the words, but not comprehend their meanings. In my classroom, we used picture dictionaries, flashcards and other aids that I prepared in advance or had the students prepare as part of our lessons.

One of our goals at ABCTEACH is to have supplemental materials available for teachers and schools to help meet the challenges of multilingual classrooms.

UV: The new Common Core Standards requirements for teaching language arts and math have been getting a lot of coverage in the news. Is this another “teach the test” strategy, or will it really help improve the educational system?

SK: Because ABCTEACH is used by teachers and schools in many countries, and in public and private schools, curriculum standards and teaching approaches vary widely. In the United States, there has been a move toward having similar subjects taught at similar grade levels. While there are many reasons for this development, one important reason to assure that interstate moves don’t cause students to miss blocks of the core curriculum, creating a gap in their education. The Common Core Standards are useful in this regard, constituting a guide outlining subjects and skills to be taught at certain grades.

ABCTEACH provides supplemental materials that can be used by teachers to keep their lessons interesting and their students engaged. Many of our members have asked us for supplemental content that correlates with the Common Core. Sometimes we try to match our materials with Common Core and similar standards to make it easier for teachers looking for materials.

UV: You offer lots of multimedia and interactive tools through the website for teaching math, reading, and vocabulary skills. How do games and animation help children learn?

SK: Students learn differently. Providing multimedia and interactive tools helps teachers and parents meet the needs of their students. Some students are visual learners, some are auditory learners, and many understand skills by seeing the lessons in video or interactive forms. Variety is also a good way to present a topic in different ways, promoting understanding. Students who are exposed to a variety of teaching presentations become better thinkers, and also learn to present their own projects using these tools. ABCTEACH responds to the suggestions of our members and visitors to the site. There has been an increase in requests for Interactive Whiteboards, video, PowerPoints with audio, as well as traditional supplemental skill worksheets.

UV: One of the most interesting parts of your website is the ABCTOOLS section, where parents and teachers can create customized materials. When you were teaching in the classroom, did you make your own worksheets and visual aids?

SK: Thanks for discovering our ABCTOOLS feature! It is one of my favorite parts of the website. When I taught elementary students, I created most of the supplemental materials used in my classroom. I shared these materials with other teachers at my schools and elsewhere. I loved teaching theme units, and I created lessons, worksheets, and hands-on materials using the theme approach that integrated language, writing, science, research, oral presentation, art, and other subjects.

When I did a study abroad program while in graduate school, I visited schools in England that used the theme approach. It fit my teaching style and I found students retained knowledge and loved making choices within the theme. Often my students would turn my classroom into a virtual rain forest, or some other theme, and they loved it!

I started ABCTEACH as a way to share my ideas, and to make my theme units and supplemental worksheets, and other hands-on materials available for others. Right away I began receiving suggestions and requests from teachers and parents, and we have tried to respond to as many of those requests as possible by creating new materials.

The ABCTOOLS section helps teachers create their own skill sheets, vocabulary word walls, word searches and more, customized to fit their needs. This is a very popular part of our site. Visitors can sample ABCTOOLS with limited options, and members have more variety and customization.

UV: In the United States, school is out for the summer now, but that doesn’t mean that learning has to end. One of the latest posts on your ABCTEACH Blog talks about field trips, nature walks, and even grocery store games that keep kids in the learning mode even outside the classroom. What are some other easy ways that parents can encourage the habit of learning?

SK: The easiest way to encourage learning is to have fun. Every walk can be a learning adventure. It is a time to put away the smart phones and tablets and observe and talk. Ask stimulating questions about what you see. Let your students answer and guess; don’t just tell them the answer. Children love to explore nature and animals. Communicate with your kids, show them your love for learning and they will love learning as well. If you don’t know an answer, look it up in an encyclopedia or on the internet; your child will learn the thrill of discovering an answer by research. Take pictures of what you see and discuss, and use them as discussion aids in later conversations. Make fun projects. Go to the library together. Yes, students still enjoy being read to. ABCTEACH wishes all of your readers an enjoyable summer!