A Break From Winter

March 10th, 2010 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Vacation is Good

Well, Kim and I have just returned from our winter break from the Lake Tahoe Institute of English.  It was great to get away for a little while.  When you work where you live, it can be difficult to relax sometimes, so going completely away is what is called for.

Living at Lake Tahoe in the winter is incredibly beautiful, but when we have too many storms in a row, we can all feel the need to get away and get some sun.  So, Kim and I headed south on Highway 395 to Phoenix to visit our daughter, Eve.  We’ve only driven this route before in the spring and summer, so this was a very new experience for us.  After leaving Tahoe, the road fairly quickly begins to hug the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada.  If you are not familiar with the Sierra Nevada, it is a very rugged mountain range that runs nearly the length of California, and into Nevada a bit, too.  Incline Village, Nevada, where we live, is on the western slope of the Sierra.

On the western side of the mountains it is less rugged, with more trees and greater snowfall.  The eastern side is very barren, rocky and dramatic.  Highway 395 winds along beside these mountains through beautiful high mountain valleys, alongside lakes and through high desert landscapes.  In the spring and summer the valleys are filled with wildflowers, and the mountainsides are carpeted, from a distance anyway, with greenish-purplish foliage.  As you drive you pass by small towns and ranches; it is truly representative of the old west from the movies.

Winter Transformation

In the winter, though, it is quite a different scene.  All is covered with a light layer of snow, cold and windswept.  The sky, too, is a cold, cold blue.  Snow clings to the craggy mountains, highlighting their ruggedness.  It is a grand landscape, with great beauty in the desolation of the desert, the frozen and misty lakes, and the high, wild mountains.

It is a 12 hour drive from Incline Village to Phoenix, Arizona, and I was reminded during the long day of driving just how easy it is to travel enormous distances in the United States.  And, I was reminded of the enormous contrasts of the western United States.  In one day, we transported ourselves from the beauty of Lake Tahoe, all glistening water and snow-covered pine trees, through a desolate and dramatic mountain and desert landscape into a great desert city that takes 2 hours to drive across.  We transported ourselves from a frozen world, into eternal summer, with a day long drive.  That alone is an adventure.

Mono Lake Covered with Mist

Mono Lake Covered with Mist

Ranch on the Eastern Slope of the Sierra

Ranch on the Eastern Slope of the Sierra

Baby, it's cold outside

Baby, it's cold outside

Highway 395 - A Long, Lonesome Highway

Highway 395 – A Long, Lonesome Highway

Learn to Speak English Without Panicking

March 5th, 2010 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Don’t Panic

Sudden panic.  I am unable to think.  I am unable to understand.  I am unable to respond, even though I know I know what to say.  This is one of the most prevalent problems our clients at the Lake Tahoe Institute of English have.

Most of our clients come to us with a fairly good understanding of the structure of the English language.  They have good vocabularies.  When listening to a conversation from outside the conversation, they have a pretty good understanding of what is being said.

But, put them in a one-to-one conversation with someone speaking English, put them on a telephone call in English, and everything they have ever learned flies from their head.  They stutter, they stammer, they immediately try to decipher what was said, they try to formulate a response, but come up with a total blank.

So, what is happening?  And how do you fix it?

Responding to a “Crisis”

Recently I stumbled on an interesting article on the More Than Sound website, in which Dan Goleman discusses emotional intelligence and emergency response.  As I was reading, I thought how similar to an emergency or a crisis trying to speak and understand another language is.

According to Wikipedia, there are 3 elements common to most definitions of a crisis:  a) there is a threat to the organization  b) there is an element of surprise, and c) there is a short decision time.

Think about this.  When learning another language, our brain perceives a “threat to the organization” when we are put on the spot and have to immediately understand and respond in a language that is not familiar to us.

Then there is the element of surprise.  What is being said?  This is another language.  This is not what I’m used to hearing.  Can I understand this?  Oh my gosh, I’m going to have to respond.  Help!

Finally, we also realize that we have to respond in a short amount of time.  We have a short decision time.  We have to listen, understand what is being said, and then formulate a quick and appropriate response in order to not appear totally stupid and inept.  Total panic!

Goleman describes how, when in crisis, our brain’s decision making center shifts from the left pre-frontal cortex, which governs logical and analytical thinking, to the amygdala, , the brain’s emergency response center, which produces the fight-or-flight response.  He says that in order remain logical and analytical in a crisis, we must learn to resist the amygdala hijack, as he calls it, and remain calm and focused.

Rehearsal

Of course, the big question is how you do this.  Well, repetitive practice and rehearsal is the key.  When we rehearse an event and reaction over and over, we strengthen the neural connections in our brain.  The stronger we make the underlying circuitry of appropriate response in our brain, the more likely we will be able to resist panic.

Gary Player, the famous South-African golfer, says “the more I practice, the luckier I get.”  We can do that, too, when learning a language.  We need to continually rehearse in our minds the common situations we find ourselves in.  As a learner of English, what you can do is rehearse in your mind how you will ask a particular question, how you will respond to a particular question.

When listening to radio, TV, or other people’s conversations, try to put their words and conversations into English.  Imagine yourself in situations and imagine what you will ask and how you will respond in English.  Do this over and over and over again.  The more you rehearse, the luckier you will get.  The more you rehearse, the less likely you will be to panic.

The less you panic, the more you will be able to draw on the knowledge and understanding of English that you have, and participate appropriately in conversations.  The more appropriate conversations you have, the less likely you’ll panic when confronted with new, and more difficult conversations.

So, as with anything, practice, practice, practice, and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

Calm down, you can do it.  You already know how.  Good luck!

The Music of a Language

January 30th, 2010 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Every Language Has Its Own Rhythm
To continue in this series about pronunciation, another, less important aspect of English pronunciation, is the intonation, or music of the language. Every language has its own rhythm and music, and in addition, languages can have regional sounds as well.

A friend of mine, who is Portugese, was raised in Mozambique, and who has traveled extensively in Brazil, demonstrated this to me recently. When speaking the Portuguese of her mother, from Lisbon, I can only describe it as a rather somber sound. Saying the same thing, in her Portuguese from Mozambique, her rhythm sounded more poetic to me. Then, with her Brazilian interpretation, I heard the samba in it. It was interesting for me, as a non-Portugese speaker, how each regional sound was so differently melodic. If I was a Portuguese speaker, it might not have been so very distinctively musical.

The Music of English
English is much the same. The English considered, at this point in time, to be most “standard”, is west coast American English. This is the English used by American newscasters, and is readily understood by most all English speakers. This English has a particular rhythm and lilt to it, different from the English spoken in places on the east coast, in the mid-west, and, most notoriously, the American south. And of course, all of this differs from the English spoken in the UK (which has many different melodies of its own), Australia, New Zealand, and the many English-speaking islands of the Caribbean and Bahamas. They are all lovely, and all distinct.

Listen to Traditional Music to Understand the Music of the Language
A good way to gain an understanding of the music of American English is to listen to the traditional American forms of vocal music: folk music, blues, and of course, the very influential jazz. This is what we’ve listened to for generations, and this is the musical poetry we have transformed our speaking into.

In fact, listening to traditional native vocal music is a very good way to understand the music of any language.

Word Stress in English

January 27th, 2010 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Watch Your Mouth

In the last 2 posts, I’ve talked about pronunciation as a function of the position of the mouth when speaking English. There is, of course, more to it than that, although I believe mouth position makes the biggest difference in speaking English clearly and understandably.

But, it is not the only thing. Also very important is where the stress is placed in a word, and the music, or intonation of the language. Today I’m going to give you the bad news about word stress in English, and the best way to cope with it.

Bad Habits

English, Russian and Greek have the same bad habits when it comes to word stress. That is, just like most else in English, it is irregular. Which syllables are stressed varies from word to word. There are no rules. This is very difficult for speakers of other languages to understand, since most languages have very specific rules about stress, with few exceptions.

For example, in French, the last syllable is stressed. In Spanish, it is normally the next to last syllable. In German, it is the first syllable, with some exceptions, and in Japanese, the stress is even.

One of the things that makes speakers of English as a foreign language difficult to understand (but also what makes their accents so charming) is that they continually stress the wrong syllables in a pattern familiar to them. In English, the syllables in a single word can be stressed in a number of different ways, with each way having a different meaning. So, it is very important to stress the syllables correctly.

Here are some examples of words that look like they would be pronounced the same, but are not:

noble: honorable, distinguished, aristocratic
Nobel: a prestigious award of achievement

invalid: a sick or disabled person
invalid: not valid, void

personal: individual, private
personnel: a group of people employed in an organization or place of work

pronouns: parts of speech that subsititute for nouns, such as he and she
pronounce: to say words

advantages: benefits or gain
advantageous: beneficial, useful

content: subject matter of a book, speech, etc.
content: satisfied and happy

So, you can see how important it is to stress the correct syllables in order to convey the correct meaning.

As Ususal, Listen!

As usual, the best thing you can do is listen and listen and listen to spoken English. You can memorize some pronunciations, but with enough listening, the correct pronunciation will sound right intuitively. Soon, it will become habit.

Also, it is very helpful if you become aware of the stress rules in your own native language. Once you are aware, then you can guard against using your habitual stress rules to pronounce English words while you word to make the correct stresses habit.

It’s all in your mouth!

January 23rd, 2010 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Learning English is Difficult

English is such a difficult language! So many rules, and so many exceptions to every rule. How anyone trying to learn the language could possibly remember even half the rules and exceptions is beyond me. Trying to memorize and master the rules makes learning so tedious and frustrating. Plus, that’s not how to learn a language.

In this second of a series of posts about pronunciation, I will be talking more about pronouncing the sounds of English. I don’t mean, at least at this time, the sounds of the letters, or where you place stress in a word. I mean the basic sound of the entire spoken language. I talked about this in the last post, and want to continue here. I’m talking about the point of articulation and point of resonance that makes the sound of the words.

The Point of Resonance in English

As you may recall from my last post,  in English, the point of articulation and resonance is in the middle of the mouth. English is spoken from a kind of a hollow in the middle of the mouth, the tongue most often bounces off the gums above the front teeth, and the lips, jaws, and corners of the mouth remain relatively relaxed, at least as compared to many other languages. In order to improve your English accent, your mouth must be in the correct position. The best way to learn the correct position is to imitate the English accent of someone speaking your own native language.

Getting Your Mouth In Position

At first, when you get your mouth in the correct position, your jaw, lip and tongue muscles will no doubt feel tight and tired. Keep practicing, though, until it becomes natural and instinctive when speaking English. This is really important. You cannot make the sounds that are exclusive to any language without having your mouth in the right position. An example of this is English speakers trying to roll their r’s. Unless we tense our tongues, lips and corners of the mouth, we cannot speak forward in our mouths enough to make the rolling sound. It just won’t work. Just try to roll an r sound with the point of articulation being in the center of the mouth. That’s why you laugh at us!

German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Polish are among the many frontal, or dental languages. The tongue in these languages is always somewhere around the front teeth, tapping against them. This is not the case in English. English is spoken as if the speaker has a hot potato in the mouth.

Following are a few examples of how the mouth is held in other languages, by way of comparison to English.

It’s All In Your Mouth

In English, the jaw is fairly relaxed, and the mouth is held in a medium open position. The tongue is held in the middle of the mouth, and the corners of the mouth are relaxed. The tongue hits the gums above the front teeth more often than the teeth themselves.

In French, the tongue is kept slightly raised to make a narrow tunnel in the vocal cavity. The muscles at the corner of the mouth are tensed and the lips protrude a bit when speaking. The tongue is always in the vicinity of the front teeth, in a more forward position than it is in English. The point of resonance is high.

Spanish speakers keep their jaws loose, their mouth in a medium open position. The tongue is held slightly raised and forward, always in the vicinity of the front teeth. The lips are relaxed, but the muscles at the corners of the mouth are slightly tensed. The point of articulation is near the front of the mouth.

In German, the jaw is tight, and the mouth is held in a somewhat closed position. The tongue is held slightly raised and forward. The lips are relaxed, but slightly protruded, and the muscles at the corners of the mouth are a bit tensed. The point of articulation is back in the mouth.

Russian speakers keep their jaws loose, with their mouth in a fairly wide open position. The tongue is held raised and slightly back. Lips are relaxed and slightly protruded, and the muscles at the corners of the mouth are relaxed.

Imitate Accents

Practice imitating the various accents of foreign speakers speaking your native language. That is where it is easiest to see how each language requires a different mouth position to speak the language properly. Then, practice speaking your own language with an English accent over and over again, until you can feel the difference between how you would normally hold your mouth to speak, and how you need to hold your mouth to speak English.

Simple Tips For Pronunciation

January 20th, 2010 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Speaking Clearly

You know, it’s one thing to speak another language, and it is entirely another to speak another language so that it can be understood by others. I know that sounds pretty obvious, but you would be surprised how many people don’t pay any attention to speaking clearly and understandably. And that, really, is the most important part of communicating. Well, of course! You can have the largest vocabulary in the world, but if I can’t understand what the heck you are saying, you have wasted your breath.

What really drives me crazy are all those pronunciation diagrams that are out there which supposedly show you where your tongue is supposed to be in your mouth when you are speaking. Maybe it’s just me, but I can never figure out what they’re showing. And even if I could figure it out, how could I put it into action? I can’t see what I am doing and match it to the side-view drawing. And how could I possibly remember that, when I am in the middle of talking, anyway? It’s like learning grammar – fairly useless as a practical exercise to help learn to speak another language.

Mouth Position is Critical

I think the best way to start working on pronunciation is to get your mouth position right. Every language requires its speakers to hold their lips, mouth, tongue, and jaw in a different position. The proper sounds cannot be made unless the mouth is held properly. Mouth position is critical.

So, first notice how you hold your mouth when you speak. Is your jaw relaxed or tense? How about the muscles at the corners of your mouth? Tight or relaxed? Your lips? Are they relaxed against the teeth, or do they push forward a bit when you talk?

And where does it feel like you are making the sound in your mouth, approximately? Forward, middle, high, low, back? Each of these positions makes a big difference in the sounds that are created. This point in your mouth is called the point of articulation, and creates the point of resonance. It is difficult to scientifically analyze these points of articulation and resonance, but, with practice, it is easy to feel them.

Imitate Accents

So, don’t spend time learning exact rules for mouth positions. Pretend you are an actor, learning to do an accent for a film. Imitate the sounds that an actor makes. In your native language, imitate someone who speaks your language with an English accent. Can you feel how you have to hold your mouth to speak with an English accent? That is how you have to hold your mouth when you speak English. Only it won’t be funny when you’re actually speaking English!

Speak From the Middle of the Mouth

In general, American English is spoken from the middle of the mouth. A hollow is almost created with the tongue, which is held in the middle of the mouth. The tongue bounces off the ridge of gums directly above the front teeth, not so much the teeth themselves. The lips are back and relaxed against the teeth. The jaw is fairly relaxed and loose, and the muscles at the corner of the mouth are relaxed.

For now, pay attention when you are speaking to how you hold your mouth. Pay attention when you are watching television to how speakers of your native language hold their mouth as compared to those speaking English. Try to get a feel for what it looks and feels like.

In my next post, I will explore this topic some more, and give some suggestions as to how you can learn to speak with a better American English Accent.

In Defense of Americans (Sort Of)

January 13th, 2010 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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OK, all of you internationals.  I’ve heard all the jokes about Americans and their famous lack of language skills.  And, they are true, and they are funny.  But, I have to come to the defense of Americans, too, at least partially.

There are reasons why Americans are monolingual, and they aren’t all that we are ego and ethno centric.  Which we are, also.  But I digress. 

The United States, more than most any other country in the world, is a nation of immigrants.  Since our very earliest days, we have been so.  Our national language has long been English, but our immigrants have frequently come to the U.S. speaking only their mother tongue.  But they came here to start a new life, to have opportunity, to join a new and different kind of community.  For those immigrants to thrive in their adopted country, and for that country, the United States, to thrive, there had to be a common language. 

For many, many decades, immigrant families struggled to learn English, to assimilate, and to become part of our famous “Melting Pot” of cultures.  Parents, in an effort to give their children the greatest advantage in their new country, often forbade their children to speak their native language, and forced them to speak only English.  Many first generation American children did not speak the language of their parents as a conscious decision on the part of the parents to make their children fully American, and to give them the greatest possible opportunity.  They knew that many intelligent, educated and hard working immigrants led a frustrating and unfulfilled life because they did not speak the common language of their new country, and they wanted better for their children.

I think this is hard for people from countries with little experience in immigration to understand.  But now, many countries, particularly those in the European Union, are experiencing great waves of immigration from other countries, by people who speak other languages and have very different customs and cultures.  Countries of the E.U. are now experiencing many of the same issues that the United States has grappled with for a couple of hundred years.

Speaking only English became a cultural habit out of necessity in the United States.  In earlier years, there seemed little need to offer substantial language programs in schools.  English was needed, and English was taught.  We needed to focus on our citizenry owning a common language.  That has become the norm that has made us the butt of many jokes, but has also united us as a larger community.

The world has, of course, changed.  The United States is no longer in its youth.  The world has become very much smaller, and more interrelated.  Americans, in my opinion, need to move beyond this older cultural habit, and become greater citizens of the world. 

Speaking a second language, or a second and third, opens windows of understanding into other cultures.  English has become, interestingly, the international language, but that is no excuse for any of us to speak only that. 

Americans are, by and large, ego and ethnocentric.  Your jokes about us are fully justified.  We need to move forward, but please, be a bit more understanding of why we speak only English.  In these times, it isn’t good, but in a previous time, it was essential to the development of our nation.  You, who are from countries experiencing masses of immigration, will see.  I just hope you will do it better than we did.  I hope your immigrants will become fully fluent in the language of your country, while maintaining the language of their native land.

Keep It Slow, Keep It Lazy

January 8th, 2010 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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FASTER IS NOT BETTER

Most of us feel, when we are learning to speak another language, that if we could just think and talk faster, we would be speaking better. In my experience teaching English as a second language at the Lake Tahoe Institute of English, it is exactly the opposite that is true.

A LAZY SOUNDING GROUP

We American English speakers are a lazy group, in general. Because we speak from the middle of our mouths, we can’t make sounds as quickly as in other languages. We need to speak fairly slowly in order to speak clearly. If English as a second language learners would force themselves to speak more slowly, rather than more quickly, they would sound much better to a native English speaking ear. So, all you language learners out there, keep it slow, keep it lazy. You will be amazed at how much better understood you will be.

THE POINT OF ARTICULATION

Remember, too, to hold your mouth in the correct position. The point of articulation for English is in the middle of the mouth. The tongue is not held taut, as in many languages, but is rather lazily held in an almost hollow shape. The tongue moves slowly, and does not punch the front teeth. Relax your jaw, and, especially, relax the corners of your mouth. Don’t work your lips too much; keep them back and relaxed. Remember, slow and lazy is good.

In general, when speaking English the lips are more relaxed and back than in many languages. Two exceptions to this are when saying the letters R and W. In order to properly enunciate these two letters, the lips push out dramatically (for English) and with force.

TIPS TO BE UNDERSTOOD

And, a final tip for speaking English clearly, so that you can be understood, is to keep the consonant sounds strong. Remember, vowel sounds are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. All the other letters are consonants. Give these letters more force and clarity when you speak. That is, of course, except when there are exceptions, as there always are in English, and the letter is silent or aspirated. 

And, don’t forget to enunciate the final p, b, t, and d sounds.  Many speakers of English as a second language drop those sounds off the ends of words, which makes them very difficult to understand.

So, slow down, take it easy, don’t try to go too fast.
The song Summertime, from Porgy and Bess demonstrates, both through the lyrics, and also the tempo of the song, just what I’m saying. Follow this link to give it a listen:


Summertime

The Most Delicious Cake You’ll Ever Eat From The Lake Tahoe Institute of English

December 12th, 2009 . Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
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 December Snow

My Favorite Tree in Winter            Winter At Lake Tahoe

We’re deep into winter here at the Lake Tahoe Institute of English.  It’s been unusually cold, and although it is sunny and beautiful today, we’ve had a number of nice storms with lots of snow.  We have clients right now, but in a few days I’ll be able to try out my new skis!  Yahoo!  We love winter here.

My Favorite Cake

I wanted to share my very favorite recipe with you today.  Many of our clients have had Sweet Potato Cake when they have studied with us, and I think it has always been their favorite, too. 

This recipe came to me many, many years ago from a friend’s mother, who is from Macon, Georgia.  It has been in her family for a long time, and is an authentic and incredibly delicious traditional Southern cake.  I hope it is easy for you to make, and that you find it delicious, too!

Here is the recipe:

SWEET POTATO CAKE

from the kitchen of Juanita Huckaby

Macon, Georgia

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potato

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup coconut  

            

Beat eggs and oil;  combine with dry ingredients.  Fold in potatoes.

Bake at 375 degrees F in tube pan.

 

                       ICING

1 stick butter (1/4 pound)

1  8 ounce package of cream cheese

1 cup chopped nuts

1 box confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)

2 tablespoons vanilla

2 tablespoons of milk, if needed

 

Soften butter and cream cheese.  Mix well.  Add vanilla, sugar and nuts.

 

**Note from Boni:  This is the recipe exactly as it came to me from Juanita Huckaby. 

I usually add a little vanilla to the cake.  Since I live at 7000 feet altitude (2,350 meters), I bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  At sea level, it probably takes about an hour.  Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

When I do the icing, I mix the butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and milk, and spread it on the cake.  Then I sprinkle the nuts on top.

Bon apetit, buen provecho, etc.!

                         

Double Your English Language Immersion

December 10th, 2009 . Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
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On the Cutting Edge

Most of our clients come to us at the Lake Tahoe Institute of English wanting to read better in English, as well as speak better English.  With English being the international language of business, and often of cutting edge technology, any business person who wants to be out ahead of competitors must learn to read English well.  If you want your business to be on the cutting edge, then you have to be able to read the most cutting edge materials and ideas when they are first published.

Increase Your Reading and Speaking Ability at the Same Time

Here’s an idea to help you keep up on the newest ideas while increasing your abilities at the same time:  Many general business books are now distributed in an audio version at the same time they are published, or soon thereafter.  Buy both the book and the audio version.  Listen to the audio version as you read along.  Read and listen to one chapter at a time.  Then, go back and repeat the chapter.  Do it several times until you are able to understand 80 to 90 percent of what you are hearing and reading.

Engage More Than One Sense at a Time

Research tells us that engaging more than one sense at a time while learning will significantly increase learning and decrease the time needed to learn.  So, both reading and listening to the same words at the same time will enhance your ability to understand both the written and spoken word. 

It is really important, though, not to stretch your ability too far.  If you take on something that is far beyond your ability to understand, it will be frustrating to you, and you will not learn as much.  Better to try something fairly simple at first, and increase the level of difficulty as you find your comprehension improving.

Here’s another thought, but I have not actually tried it myself.  I would love feedback from someone who has.

I know people who have purchased the Kindle from Amazon.com, and who love reading with it.  They have over 350,000 titles available, and most are available internationally.  You can download just about anything.  They also have audio books available.  This might be a great solution for people wanting to read or listen to the latest books, but who have some difficulty obtaining the books at home.

And, here’s another thing with Kindle that sounds very cool.  They have what they call a Read-to-Me feature that can be activated with any book or English-language newspaper, magazine or blog that they publish.  Apparently, you can turn this feature on at any time while reading, and have it read to you.  You can also speed up or slow down the speech.  It sounds great, doesn’t it?  Has anyone used it, and can you tell us how well it works?

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