Learn English @EASE

Practically speaking, you may not find it necessary to have the phonemic chart in your classroom. After all, you can always refer your students to one of those online dictionaries to hear the pronunciation of individual words and compare the pronunciation of similar-sounding words. Practically speaking too, I find the chart a useful aid in my classroom. Sometimes differences in pronunciation can be difficult to grasp for the untrained ear and perhaps the only way to show learners there is a difference is to let them see the phonemic script. Consider a learner who produces these words without any distinction: pit / p ɪ t / a hole – pet / p e t / an animal sit / s ɪ t / opposite of stand – set / s e t / put position / pəˈz ɪ ʃ ə n / way of standing – possession / pəˈz e ʃ ə n / having something In terms of communication, mistakes in pronunciation can be tolerated and they often are, as are other mistakes that do not make mutual intelligibility difficult. Exam boards...

Today, 18 December, is marked as the World Arabic Language Day. It was first designated by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in 2010. The date is chosen because it was when in 1973 the UN (United Nations) recognised Arabic as one of the official languages of the organisation. You might find it unusual to read about Arabic language on a blog about learning English, but there are links that I’d like to highlight which I believe can benefit at least some learners. Before that, I’d like to say that, personally, my love of Arabic was nurtured by, in addition to some of my Arabic teachers at school, a few of my teachers of English at school and university. As a high school student, we had to translate to and from Arabic as part of our English exams. I needn’t say that, as a learner of English in Egypt myself, teaching English has often been done in Arabic. At this point, I should say that doing English grammar in Arabic has helpe...