Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Radius]

I know about tongue twisters. But for one day tomorrow I told them I want to concentrate on pronunciation since it is a vital aspect of mastering a new language.

What would be a good way to do this? What have you done?

Something without using the computer in class would be nice. Thanks

[sadguy]

work on common errors that koreans make.... b/p's, z/j's, sh's...

have them read an article out loud and take notes of which words they pronounce improperly and work on it, focusing on mouth shape and tongue positions. work on eliminating konglish pronunciation of words.

[meangradin]

1. buy a good book - I like "English Pronunciation Made Simple" by Dale and Poms

2. have them use the internet - there are numerous great sites that the students can use on their own time.

3. use mirrors so they can see their mouths

4. use tissues for aspirated v. non aspirated sounds

[ajuma]

I usually teach pronunciation to uni students once a semester and have done so for the past 10 years.

I start out by explaining that there are two types of pronunciation problems. The first is that there are some sounds in English that aren't in Korean...and vice versa. For example, Korean doesn't have "F", "V", "W" (as in wood), "Z", among others, and they have one letter for "L" and "R"( ㄹ ). I enunciate very clearly, showing mouth position, teeth position and drawing tongue position on the board. When doing "R", ask if they can roll their tongue. If they can (or even if they can't!) explain that they should try to roll their tongue, then pull it back into their mouths as far as possible, trying to keep that shape.

I go on to explain that this type of pronunciation problem is VERY hard to correct. It takes DAILY practice to become comfortable moving their mouths in an unfamiliar way. I use the example "의" which is VERY hard for English speakers to say correctly and we usually just say "we".

I then write the letters "S" "T" and "G" on the board and talk about "Korean language interference". Then I write "BU" in front of the "S" and ask them to pronounce it in Korean, then in English, noting the "uh" sound at the end of the word in Korean. I write "MAR" in front of the "T" and ask about the Korean pronunciation of "mart" and then the English pronunciation.

At this point I usually tell them about my "taxi experience" when I first got to Korea and wanted to take a taxi to "E-Mart" (English pronunciation). The taxi driver kept saying "Huh? HUH???" Until I used Korean pronunciation of the word.

I explain that the reverse is also true. If they travel to and English speaking country and ask to go to "Wal-Mat-uh" chances are people won't understand them either!!

I then add "ORAN" before and an "E" after the "G" and have them pronounce it in both Korean and English. I explain that if they go to a restaurant and order "oran-jee ju-suh" the chances are that the waitress will do the "Huh?" that the taxi driver did to me!

I then hand out a paper with some of the following sentences and work on them using what they've learned from the intro.


1. The vivacious vicious viper vanished with the victim forever.

Concentrate on correct mouth position for V and F and the pronunciation of "vanished" (it's NOT van-ish-duh, it's van-isht!).

2. The carriage did damage to the village bridge below the ridge.

This is pure "language interference". I usually pronounce it the first time "Korean style" then "English style" so they're clearly aware of the difference.

3. The zealous zebras zigzagged with zeal through the zoo.

Every student in Korean has learned that "z" is translated as ㅊ . Well, it's NOT!!! It's a WHOLE lot closer to ㅆ!!! 추 is a person from a certain religion, NOT a place you go to see animals!!! 쑤 is MUCH closer sounding!!

4. Tiger Woods would like Woody Woodpecker to woo his wonderful woman.

Koreans tend to "swallow" the "w" when a word begins with "w". They'll say "ood" instead of "wood". I point out that the "w" sound is something like kissing...exaggerating the lip movement to make the point.



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Depending on the size of your class, this might be all that you can get through. I go around from student to student after practicing each sentence with the class to give feedback and encouragement. You've got to stress that you KNOW how hard it is but if they want to be understood when they travel, they REALLY need to improve their pronunciation!! I usually blame their HS teachers!!


Here are a few more that you may want to use if time permits:

Did Jake take the rake that the lad had, or did Gus make a fuss and throw the dish in the ditch?

Earl the Pearl Railroad recently likes getting up really early.

Larry Lorrell and Randy Randel quarreled with a golfer and a juggler.

This thing things the thoughts that that thing thinks.

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Good luck and have fun with it!!

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me!

[jinks]

Tongue twisters can be fun for five minutes or so, but I don't think they really help students' general pronunciation. I like to use minimum pairs for the commonly mispronounced sounds of English, especially i/ee, p/f b/v, l and r.
Draw a chart and fill it with minimum pairs lip/rip, lice/rice, long/wrong etc (try and use common words if possible) - better still, get the students to fill in the chart. Once the chart is full make a game out of it and award or take away points for pronouncing/mispronouncing or hearing/mishearing the words.

[jinks]

Ajuma - it is interesting to read what you wrote about teaching Koreans to pronounce the English W. The local English dialect where I grew up used the same pronunciation; we'd say 'ood, 'ooman, 'ool and 'oo is it? I love hearing them mispronounce these words and I always tell them it reminds me of my childhood.

[ajuma]

[Radius]

Thank you all for you suggestions, class went very well tonight.

[meangradin]

another thing to tell your students is to give up on the idea they will be able to speak like a native speaker. at the start of the first class i try to hammer this point home to them by giving them an example from korea. specifically, i ask them if they have ever seen on tv a foreigner speak korean very well. they always answer yes, then i ask them if that speaker sounded like a native korean speaker. they always answer no. that usually gets the point across.

[sadguy]

I think that isn't really a good message to send to your students. I've met a few Koreans who speak fluent English and they've. Never even studied or lived abroad. If I met only person who spoke fluent English I wouldnt make this point but I've met a few.

[some waygug-in]

I had a lady tell me she wanted her English to be "perpect"!!

She wanted to focus on grammar and the like, but what she needed also was to work on pronunciation.

I've also had some students tell me that they know how to pronounce English correctly, but they are too lazy to do it. Because they know we will still understand them saying things like "perpect".

You can teach them all you want, but it's up to them to apply what you are giving them.

[Highwayman]