How To Speak Like A Native

reblogged from TIME Ideas

The surprising truth about learning a foreign language:  accent isn’t the most important thing

By Annie Murphy  Paul | @anniemurphypaul | April 4, 2012

Can an adult learn to speak a second language with the accent of a native? Not  likely, but new research suggests that we would make better progress, and be  understood more easily by our conversational partners, if we abandoned a perfect  accent as our goal in the language learning process.

Read more: http://ideas.time.com/2012/04/04/how-to-speak-like-a-native/#reblog#ixzz1rCIled00

Pronunciation Matters – Robin Walker

Reblogged from Oxford University Press – English Language Teaching Global Blog @OUPELTGlobal:

via Pronunciation Matters – Part 1.

Pronunciation could be a tricky area for both students and teachers, but it is a vital skill for students if they wish to be understood in the real world. Pronunciation expert, Robin Walker, author of Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca, gives his views on teaching pronunciation.

Q: How has the attitude to teaching pronunciation changed recently (if at all)?

RW: I don’t really know, but if I think about pronunciation at teacher’s conferences, I have to conclude…

via Pronunciation Matters – Part 2

Continuing from last week’s post about teaching pronunciation,Robin Walker, author of Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca, talks to us about the challenges of teaching and learning pronunciation.

Q: What are the challenges for teachers when teaching pronunciation?

RW: The main challenge is the need to gain and maintain an adequate level of pronunciation knowledge and competence in each of three areas:…

Brave New World English

 Reblogged from Oxford University Press – English Language Teaching Global Blog @OUPELTGlobal:

via Brave New World English.

Last month I took on two clients, both seeking coaching in pronunciation. …