Five Lessons from Barack Obama

Here are five lessons English as a foreign language teachers can learn from American President-elect Barack Obama. This was adapted from “Six Marketing Lessons From Barack Obama” by Steve Harrison which originally appeared as part one of a two-part series in his Book Marketing Update print newsletter.

1. Get feedback from your EFL learners – and USE it

Obama sent several dozen drafts of his second book “The Audacity of Hope” to friends, media, legislators and followed up with them and asked them for feedback.

More importantly, he listened to what they had to say, and made changes based on their feedback. Be a good listener, and adapt to the feedback you receive like President-elect Barack Obama does.

2. Be determined and Pleasantly Persistent in Your EFL Teaching

In 20 years of helping authors sell more books, marketer Steve Harrison discovered that 95% of all authors give up way too quickly and easily. They’re not determined and persistent.

Back in 1995, Barack Obama was relatively unknown and trying to get whatever publicity he could. So even though he wanted to meet the N’Digo book reviewer, he ultimately failed to persuade her to review his book. But here’s the key. He didn’t give up. He persisted.

“He would call me every week and say, ‘Did you read my book?’” the publisher told the New York Times.

Successful people like Barack Obama are not considered pests because they’re always friendly, always patiently staying in touch and continually dispersing some new information or slant worth considering.

Let me ask you, do you have that kind of persistence?

3. Don’t let any perceived lack of EFL qualifications permanently stop you.

Many teachers and other professionals are held back by a belief they’re not “qualified” simply because they’re not the world’s leading authority in their field. You need to be competent at what you do, of course, but the fact is you don’t need to be the MOST accomplished, MOST knowledgeable, MOST credentialed “expert” in your field to be successful.

You do however, need to be very good at presenting yourself and your ideas. Rightly or wrongly, presentation and rapport are often more important than “qualifications”.

Obama hasn’t let any apparent lack of qualifications stand in the way of making himself a wealthy, best-selling author (3 million copies in print to date) and finally being elected to the highest political office in the land. You shouldn’t let any hole or flaw in your resume stop you from getting where you want to go either.

4. Work at becoming a master at Developing rapport with your EFL learners

Your EFL learners don’t care nearly as much about your credibility as they do about your rapport with them and how you can help them. Are you telling your own personal story about why you do what you do in a way that connects with your learners? Are you telling stories which agitate EFL learner’s motivations and shows them how much they need the English language communicative skills which you help to provide for them? Do you work at creating a dynamic, communicative lesson that connects with your learners emotions?

5. Your Success in Teaching EFL is Up to YOU

Resist the temptation to dismiss other successful teachers and professionals as simply being “great teaqchers or speakers” or think that they are successful simply because they may be “well-educated.” Instead, watch them and learn if you’re really serious about
making a difference.

President elect Barack Obama knows and practices these things as they relate to HIS field … do you?

By: Larry M. Lynch

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Did you know that you can get many “”Learn English Lessons”" free online? Many people say that English is the hardest language to learn if you were not born in a primarily English speaking home. English is the most common language spoken all over the globe and in order to do business deals or travel to foreign lands those who do not know how to speak English need to do so. Therefore, there are now products available for people to learn English free.

Knowing the English language will help people travel more easily and be able to communicate with others from different backgrounds. Being able to get “”Learn English Lessons”" free is a great opportunity especially for those who can not afford to take classes at a grade school or college. Not only can you find free lessons on the online, but you can also find tons and tons of resources to help you learn the ins and outs of the English language.

Benefits of Learning English from Home

One of the best things about getting “”Learn English Lessons”" free online is that you do not have to travel to and from the school. You can learn English right from the comfort of your own home. It does not matter where you live, whether in South America or Africa; you can take great English speaking lessons from anywhere! As long as you have a computer with Internet access, a printer, a mail box or other way of getting mail, and speakers to be able to listen to words, you can learn English in no time from home.

Another great bonus to getting “”Learn English Lessons”" free online is that you can study whenever you want. If you want to study at 2:00 in the morning in your PJs, go for it, no one will be offended. If you are having a hard time with the current lesson, you can go back and look through it again no one will care. You can repeat any lesson you need to; rereading and listening again are great when you do not understand something.

What You Can Learn From Online Courses

You can get “Learn English Lessons” free online that will teach you every aspect of the English language. This includes grammar, writing, spelling and speaking in correct terms. Online classes and lessons will also teach you how to read in English. There are so many websites out there that are offering English lessons for free; there is no longer any good excuse not to learn the most common language on earth.

Conclusion

Whether you are looking to brush up on your English speaking skills or you actually need to learn the entire language, there are lessons online that you can take for free. There are lessons for adults who speak no English and adults that speak a little English. There are also free online lessons to teach children how to speak, read and write the English language.

By: Maysaa Bazbouz

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Caffeinated Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress

English is an international language which is used for communication by people all over the world. The use of English has increased after the internet and computer has become the main means of communication. This has also made it a compulsion for people to know English and that too have a good knowledge of the language if they want to be in step with the fast and competitive modern world. If you want to learn English but do not have the time or the finance to join an institution then you can learn English online and that too absolutely free of cost.

Things required for Free English Lessons

If you are interested in learning English without having to leave your present job or relocate yourself to an English speaking country then you can fulfill your desire. The only things that you need are, a computer with an internet connection and some part of your precious time which you have to devout for the studies. Do not worry if you do not have a computer you can visit the libraries which provide internet access without charging any type of fees.

Where To Get Free English Lessons

When you search on Google for “free english lessons” a lot of results show up. This doesn’t help you out.

The trick is to search for “free english lessons inurl:pdf” or “free english lessons inurl:mp3″ so you get cool pdf files on english writing topics or even free audio lessons. To support your learning experience you could use a proprietary english grammar software i.e. the one I’m using and not allowed to mention, which helps a lot to understand grammar and punctuation faults.

Advantages of Free Online English Lessons

The prime advantage is that it is free of cost which will not be provided by any institution throughout the world. Moreover you can adjust your classes according to your convenience even if it is at midnight after you have completed your daily work. It is not necessary that you have to attend your classes at the stipulated time everyday the lessons are always available on the net.

By: Jane Sumerset

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Thanks to the internet we now have many more resource for learning to speak French than we ever had in the past. What’s more you can start learning, the basics at least, using a number of sites that provide French language lessons absolutely free.

Over at the BBC website (the British Broadcasting Corporation) there are a number of really excellent starter courses for learning French. You can subscribe for a 12 week email course, you can take part in a quiz which tests your current level of French and suggests further study and, given a good internet connection, you can even take part in an interactive video course called ‘Ma France’ which covers a variety of subjects like eating out, asking directions, holidays, cooking and more. It’s voiced by a native French speaker so you can hear what each French word sounds like. It’s a superb way to start to learn French and it’s absolutely free.

That’s probably the most comprehensive set of French lessons but there are plenty of others. Just do a search on the internet and you’ll find dozens. While writing this article I entered ‘free French lesson’ in Google and got over half a million results! Of course a lot of those results are duplicates, and a lot of them are, frankly, rubbish, but if you take a bit of time to search around you’ll find a few gems.

For instance, one thing I didn’t find at the BBC was how to pronounce the French alphabet. Maybe it’s there but I missed it, but it’s not important because I found several other places with short audio clips so I could hear each letter. A trawl around the internet will find free lessons for French days, weeks, months, greetings, food, clothes, romance, you name it there’s somewhere online you can find the French for it!

The audio lessons or sound clips are the most useful, of course, because hearing the language is vital in understanding it and speaking it. Don’t just rule out the sites that only offer written texts though – there’s a lot there that can be useful too and the actual construction of French grammar is difficult to explain by sound alone – sometimes you need something written down.

I’m sure you’ll come across some websites that you find frustrating. I certainly did. It’s rather annoying, in my opinion, to click several times in search of French sound files only to discover that the written texts are free but you have to pay for sound. It’s not that I object to paying necessarily, but I do object to being led along like that. Never mind, along with the benefits of the internet you’re bound to find one or two sites that don’t deliver.

Nevertheless, you can find free French lessons online and good ones at that. If they’re limited in any way it’s that those I’ve found can really only deal with the French language at the beginner level. Going on from that I’m afraid you’ll have to pay. That said, there are some extremely good systems out there and many of those you can get a free sample of so you can try before you buy. Well worth looking into when you want to take your French lessons to the next level.

By: Dennis Cordy

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You have come a long way in your basic English lessons. From learning nouns and conjugating simple English verbs, you can now read and interpret complete sentences. You are also able to write these complete, grammatically correct sentences yourself.

You have learned sentence by sentence, until you can read paragraphs, pages, and even entire works of literature.

There is no reason to stop there. You can build on your basic skills with advanced English lessons.

With an advanced knowledge of this global language, you will be able to communicate with people around the world. You will also be able to read and comprehend books written in the English language that will enrich your understanding and ability.

As an advanced student, your English lessons will be very different than those you took when you were a beginner.

Reading material that is very technical, as well as being immersed in the English language (speaking English solely) is typical of advanced English lessons.

Advanced writing is also required. You can expect to write essays and papers on a variety of subjects.

You may also learn more about dialects and the differences in how English is spoken in different areas of the world. Even though English is a global language, it is not spoken the same way everywhere.

Advanced English lessons allow you to learn about these differences and to appreciate how others use the language.

Because you are now an advanced student, you will go beyond simple sentence structure, conjugation, phrasing, and other basic functions of English. You will be expected to read complex books in different genres and also to write reports that use English both correctly and masterfully.

It is very important that you are exposed to complex language when you are taking advanced English lessons. This is why many instructors use such diverse works as scientific writings and Shakespearean plays and sonnets.

A good way to learn advanced English on your own is to browse different websites or to read Shakespeare, Dickens, and other prominent English writers. This way, you can further your knowledge without having to pay.

Self-study is great, but having a structured course is extremely helpful if you want to master English. You benefit from having a skilled instructor who can provide quality lessons and feedback, and you will advance more quickly towards your goal.

By: Brad Morgan

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english language lessons

Why Little Juanita Maria Can’t Read

If you teach English as a foreign language in a country or location where reading isn’t a particularly strong skill, getting your EFL learners to read can be a unique challenge. In Colombia, for example, a published report stated that 22% of homes said that they had NO books in the house as compared to Mexico, where only 4.1% of homes reported being without any books in the house. Even though reading can be promoted at home without having a home library, these statistics would indicate that reading is very likely NOT a highly promoted skill in many households. What too, if parents lack adequate reading skills?

Then too, many schools, especially those in impoverished areas worldwide, simply do not have ready access to an ample supply of books and other reading material. This can have even more of an impact where English is not a first or official language. When English is also not given any particularly high status in the school or learner curriculum, you have all the makings for LEP (Limited English Proficiency) learners with poorly developed reading and reading comprehension skills, probably in their first language (L1) as well as in English as a foreign language.

The Four Language Skills

Of the four basic language skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking; reading is certainly not a skill we’d want to neglect or minimize as English language teaching professionals. Here then are a few starter suggestions for getting your EFL learners to read in English.

o Read a captivating story aloud to them with an “installment” of the story being reading each class

o Have learners start by reading dramatic or attention-grabbing headlines from English language tabloids, newspapers or magazines

o Play a story or fairy tale on tape with learners following along in written transcripts

o Use short passages from novels, literature, magazine articles, news stories, even comic books to pique their interest and motivation

o Cut a printed story’s paragraphs into separate parts pasted on a sheet of paper or cardboard. Have learners re-organize the paragraphs to read the story aloud

Where to Get Reading Materials

Oh, you thought that I’d forgotten that part, didn’t you? No, I haven’t. First, try asking your learners to bring in something if they can. Old magazines and newspaper pages, flyers, printouts from online materials, letters, used books and whatever else they might be able to scrounge will at least get you started with some reading materials to work with. You, enterprising ELT professional that you are, might try a few downloads of news, articles or other reading materials from the internet. If you have a stash of materials like old novels, magazines and newspapers at home, now’s the time to put them into play with your EFL learners.

Start Off Short and Slow

Just remember to start off your reading program short and slow, using only five minutes or even less to start. Each week, build up the reading activity time by an additional three to five minutes until you have a steady pace of about 15 minutes during the class based on reading and reading comprehension skills development using as wide a variety of materials as you can accumulate. I’m sure you and your English as a foreign language learners will be pleased with the results.

By: Larry M. Lynch

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english language lessons

Frankly speaking, it is highly essential to know the language for communication. In general, the most popular language is English. In this computer age, English is the only language that any one can understand. So to say, it has become as an ideal language for expressing our feelings. First, we have to learn the language and then we have to gain fluency in the language. Unless we have the fluency in English language, it would not be possible to work with the computer. If you do not know English, then you would be in need of a translator to do the job.

The first stage of learning this language would be very interesting. Once you are fluent with the alphabets, slowly you can learn many words. It would always be better to follow the method of reading first, then writing. You can use the picture books for this purpose. When you feel that you are familiar with the words, you can form sentences. This is the most interesting stage to learn. You just think of a sentence in your mother language, and try to write the same sentence in English. There could be some mistakes. But you should not bother about it. But, you have to write the same sentence using many different words till you are satisfied with your sentence. If you follow this way, very soon you can create sentences of your own.

The next step is learning the grammar of the language. It is quite simple and very systematic compared with other languages. There are certain rules and regulations for each and every topic in grammar of this language. As long as you follow the rules and regulations, it would be a difficult task to make mistakes. You would gain that much guidance from the grammar.
The presentation is the most important factor in communicating your feelings. So, naturally you must be sure while you are presenting. what you really wish to say. At any point, do not try to write or speak, beyond your capability. Even if it is a small and simple sentence, it would reach the receiver perfectly. This is our basic idea. Slowly, you can improve the standard of your language by practice. If you know to form the sentences, it is more than enough to go deep into the subject. Though this only an article about the importance of the English Language, we have to learn some of the basic points in presenting the sentences.
There are three different types of sentences: They are,
1. Statements. 2. Interrogative sentence. 3. Imperative sentence. 4. Exclamatory sentence. To begin with, you must know the difference between a phrase and a sentence.

Phrase is a group of words, which gives meaning, but not complete meaning.
A sentence is a group of words, which makes a complete sense.

1. Statement: The sentence starting with nouns or pronouns is known as statement.

Example: Rome is a church city.

2. Interrogative sentence: There are two types of interrogative sentences.

a. “wh” type question. The sentences starting with the following fords are “wh” type question. What, When, Where, Who, How many, How long and etcetera.
Example: Why did you come late? 2. What are you doing there?

b. “yes or no” type question. For which sentences you get the reply either with yes or no they are called yes or no type question.
Example: Is your father a doctor? The answer: No sir.

3. Imperative sentence: The sentence that gives command, request, and advice is known as Imperative sentence. Example: Walk on the pavement. 2. Eat regularly.

4. Exclamatory sentence: The sentence that expresses the sudden feelings or strong emotions is known as exclamatory sentence.

Example: Alas! He is dead. 2. Oh! What a beautiful sight.

When you are familiar with the above points, it would be very interesting to you to create many wonderful sentences.
In general, the sentences are divided into three different kinds. They are,
1. Simple sentence. 2. Compound sentence. 3. Complex sentence.

Though it very essential to have knowledge in handling the above sentences, we have to study them separately. In this essay, we are talking about the importance of the language.
Many people make mistakes even with the usage of articles. It is a pity that even scholars may make mistakes. So, you should not get dejected with your style of writing.

There is a lot of difference between these two. 1. a few 2. few
When you want to say that you have friends, you have to say that,” I have a few friends.”
When you want to say that you do not have friends, you have to say that, “I have few friends.”

This is the opposite meaning of the word, many.
Apart from these, there are many points to be discussed later.
When you feel that you are already strong on the above subjects, you can develop your knowledge for betterment of your knowledge. As long as you educate yourself, you will come across many new things. There is no end for learning. All the above points are used in the normal usage of English. The literature value of the English Language is entirely different and should be dealt separately.

By: Raghu Sundaram

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Caffeinated Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress

I really like the English language. I’ve been speaking it all my life, but it’s not until I became an English teacher, teaching English as a foreign language, that I really started to understand how it functions and to appreciate both its richness and its versatility.

I believe that, at an elementary level, English is easier to learn than some other languages. A beginner can form good basic sentences without knowing a lot of complex grammatical forms. English verbs don’t have many different endings to memorize before one can express the simplest of thoughts.

Another strong point is that English does not, as a rule, have masculine and feminine nouns and there are no changing forms for adjectives to slow a learner down. For instance, in French you must memorize a number of verb endings and match adjectives to nouns before you can verbalize even the simplest ideas, but a novice does not need to study English for long before being able to construct good basic sentences.

English has a mix of vocabulary with Germanic roots and vocabulary with Latin or French roots, allowing speakers of numerous European languages to recognize and understand many English words. Although sometimes the meanings are no longer the same in the two languages, they are often still similar enough to serve as an aid to comprehension and to help a learner get the gist of texts.

Once English learners have reached a more advanced level, they become exposed to additional structures that reveal some unexpected complexities in the language. For example, the uses of the present perfect tense can be quite confusing. On the other hand, English verb forms allow for a wonderful element of subjectivity and point of view in expressing attitudes towards events. Consider “I’ve just lost my glasses” and “I lost my glasses an hour ago.” Both are fine, but your choice of one or the other reflects your attitude toward the situation. Do you want to emphasize the consequence of losing your glasses? If so, then choose the former, the present perfect tense. If you prefer to focus on when the glasses were lost, then use the latter, the past simple tense.

English can be wonderfully expressive. Because it has accumulated vocabulary from many different languages, there are far more words to choose from than some other languages offer. You can discuss a topic at length without ever repeating yourself or overusing a specific word. You can choose from an array of words with similar meanings to find the most perfect match in meaning and connotation to suit the thought that you want to express.

Sure, you can simply walk down the street, but you can also stroll, march, amble, trot, mosey, shuffle, skip, run, race, promenade, lope, slink, fly, zip, crawl, gallop, whiz, zoom, or careen down the street. A cursory glance reveals that the English section of my bilingual dictionary is considerably larger than the French portion. The enormity of English vocabulary allows for precision and economy of expression. Ideas and instructions can be concisely stated. When viewing multilingual signs and equipment usage manuals, the English version is frequently shorter than that of many other languages. To take a simple example, in French it takes four words, “sautez a cloche pied,” to express what English does in just three letters: “hop.”

English easily absorbs new words from other languages and cultures. Just think of “salsa,” “smorgasbord,” “taboo,” “wampum,” and “pajamas,” for starters. When necessary, English also seems to revel in inventing entirely new lexicons of words, such as for new technologies like the Internet. Internet is full of colorful and amusing imagery from “the web” to “spidering” and “click on the mouse,” let alone such silly sounding words as “googling,” “blogging,” and “WIKI.” It is a riotously “living” language and this flexibility has helped English become such a widely used international language.

I also love English because colorful wordings and vivid imagery abound in both old and new expressions. I picture tall sailing ships and Errol Flynn films when I hear someone say, “She passed her exam with flying colors.” Think of other expressions, too, such as “That makes my skin crawl,” “It sent shivers up and down my spine,” “He’s got his head in the clouds,” “She’s full of get up and go,” and “They’re head over heels in love.”

English even has a strong sense of whimsy, and so lends itself to delightful combinations of alliterative phrasings like “the whole kit and caboodle,” or “footloose and fancy-free.” It’s also chock full of amusing words that are especially for children. Think of “choo-choo train,” “puppy dog,” “kitty cat,” or “do the hokey pokey.” Fun-loving authors have added to the festivities by feeling free to invent their own words, just for the pleasing sound of them, from Edward Lear’s “Dong with the Luminous Nose” to Dr. Seuss’s “Sneeches with stars on thars.” J. K. Rowling has invented an entire vocabulary of her own to use in the magical world that she has created for Harry Potter. The so-called “language of Shakespeare” has contributed much literature and poetry to the world, plus other beautiful expressions of thoughts through the abstraction of words. As someone who writes stories for children, I’m also fond of simple jingles and fun forms such as Mother Goose rhymes.

Now that I’m an English teacher, I try to unlock many of the mysteries of the English language for students who have other languages as their mother tongues. In doing so, I’ve taken a much closer look at the language myself, in all of its complexities and inconsistencies, all of its rules and abundance of exceptions to its own rules, in its enormous vocabulary and subtleties in shades of meanings. Whenever possible, I try to give my students the logic behind the grammar, so that they can gain a deeper understanding of the thought processes behind our many ways of looking at time, rather than just have students randomly memorize rules.

To put English into perspective and make allowances for its many idiosyncracies, I try to briefly explain the history of English and the many historical influences that have affected it, from a series of early invasions of the British Isles, by people such as the Romans, Saxons, Vikings, and Normans, to later British Empire building around the world, and then to America’s melting pot of cultures and languages from the world over. With each new group has come an infusion of new vocabulary. Some element of comprehension of that historical perspective can explain to students both the richness of expression and vocabulary that English possesses, plus the maddening inconsistencies in English spelling and pronunciation. I’m no authority on other languages and I’m not saying that English is the best language in the world but, as I’ve taught English to others over the years, my own appreciation of it has grown immeasurably and I’ve really come to love it.

By: Barbara Freedman-De Vito

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“Why do we have to study English?” When your reluctant learners ask this dreaded question how do you respond? How can you motivate them to really want to learn and use English? Here is an approach I’ve used successfully.

Often when I give an academic presentation plenary speech or English teacher training session, I ask the audience, “How many countries have Spanish as the first language?” Since I live and work in South America you’d think the response would be swift and forthcoming. Usually it’s not. After the group has sweated it out for a couple of minutes or so I ask, “Would you like to see the list?” They do, of course so I project the 20 key Spanish-speaking countries, which are:

o Spain

o Mexico

o Honduras

o Guatemala

o Nicaragua

o El Salvador

o Costa Rica

o Panama

o Colombia

o Ecuador

o Peru

o Bolivia

o Chile

o Argentina

o Uruguay

o Paraguay

o The Dominican Republic

o Puerto Rico

o Cuba

The Fun Begins

Then the fun really begins. My next question is, “How many countries have English as a first or official language?” To twist the screw just a bit more I add, “You’ll all English teachers, so you should know where the language is spoken, right?” They agree that they should and for the next few minutes set about fathoming the English L1 list. More squirming, a few shouted out queries and I let the pressure off. “How many do you have on your list?” Rarely does the number exceed ten or fifteen. Take a moment; how many can YOU list?

Countries with English as the Official L1

“Would you like to see my list?” I ask. You know what the response unanimously is. “Do you think that is something that might be useful for an English teacher to know?” A resounding “Yes!” always follows.

In truth, there are at least thirty-five English L1 countries!

Surprised? Most English teachers are. And my current list might not even be all-inclusive by now.
At any rate, here it is:

o United States, Trinidad & Tobago, Belize

o Barbados, Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands

o Guyana, British Virgin Islands, Australia

o Falkland Islands, England, Grenada

o St. Nevis / St. Kitts, Jamaica, India, Bermuda

o South Africa, Bahamas, New Zealand

o Cayman Islands, St. Vincent, Grenadines

o Samoa, St. Lucia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone

o Singapore, Liberia, Ghana, Ireland

o Hong Kong, Zimbabwe

Why not check out the official country websites for these and other countries for some eye-opening information on the impact of English on their respective cultures? Many foreign country websites include news, local current events, audio, radio and streaming video as well. Need more information? Just “Google” the country name to get a trainload or two of related websites.

What’s the Point

So what’s the point? Just that it’s helpful to provide practical aspects to learning English. World travel and commerce are just two of the many reasons to be cited for the practicality of English-language learning. The internet, e-mails, chats and forums all contribute to a preponderance of English-language use online. A plethora of English teacher resource websites and a growing cadre of English language learner websites help contribute to the usefulness of the tongue.

o http://www.etprofessional.com/

o [http://promo.net/pg/]

o http://www.quia.com/

o [http://www.weblogalot.com/ping/]

o http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/teacher/

o http://www.eslbase.com/

The international news is online at so many websites it’s almost embarrassing to try to keep up with them. Did I also mention music, radio and entertainment?

o http://www.allyoucanread.com/newspapers.asp

o http://www.radiotower.com/

o http://www.live365.com/

o http://www.cnn.com/

How about online and computer games, fun places to learn and practice grammar and usage, or getting assistance in researching a hard-to-find-information-on theme and podcasts?

o http://www.zillions-of-games.com/demo/

o http://zone.msn.com/en/root/downloads.htm

o http://www.eslpod.com/website/index.php

Scientific, technical and medical knowledge are posted online in English first, even when the initial production of the knowledge was not in English. Linguistic Imperialism? Hegemony? Perhaps, but reality nonetheless.

So next time you get the question, “Why do we have to study English?” don’t pout, start ponying up with some practical aspects for your learners. It may well help them to see things in a different light. Learning English can be both fun and useful. Help your learners to see how and you may rarely have to face the dreaded, “Do we have to study English?”

By: Larry M. Lynch

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english language lessons

Oh Say Have You Seen …

Have you seen the “Star Wars” saga? Remember the funny, short, long-eared green character named “Yoda”? Well, he’s quite an interesting character for English as a foreign language teachers and learners to study because of the way he speaks English. He doesn’t speak incorrectly, but his word order in particular is specialized and unique. Can you tell why?

Who hasn’t seen any of the “Harry Potter” series of movies? While reading the books by J.K. Rowling can be more interesting, the movies lend themselves well to use by English language teachers and learners too. The groundskeeper, the giant Hagrid, speaks an exemplary version of northern British English that can serve as a distinct model.

The Plan

Whether on VHS or DVD, select scenes in which the character you wish to model speaks. You, the EFL English teacher, can prepare the script directly from the movie scenes or use the original dialogues from the book. A practical sequence might go as follows:

Play the selected scene and dialogue

Rewind and replay, but now you, the learner, are the character.

Mimic the character’s speech and dialogue

Repeat the mimicking process as much as you need to for improvement

Try recording your voice at the same time you’re speaking at the beginning of the process

Practice multiple times for at least three to five days

On the last day of your mimicking practice session series, record yourself again.

Now listen to your first efforts and compare them to your latest recordings. You should notice some considerable improvement. Select yet another scene from the same movie with a dialogue from the same character, if possible and repeat the process.

Don’t Stop There

Once you’ve gone through a couple of different scenes or so of mimicking the same or different characters, you’ll definitely have noticeably greater ease and fluency in speaking. Besides, it’s usually quite a lot of fun, especially if you work with a friend, classmate or partner. But don’t stop there, look for other scenes and movie clips that you can use.

Some of My Favorites

How about trying other films by your preferred actor or actress? A variety of English language speech models will help to broaden your range of listening comprehension as well as aid in rounding out your pronunciation of connected speech elements. There are a slew of actors and actresses with noteworthy speech in the English language who can have you speaking like a native in very short order. There are also, unfortunately, some whose speech is more reminiscent of something the cat drug in.

These actors are normally good English language speech models which I like to use with my EFL learners:

Harrison Ford

Sidney Poitier

Sean Connery

Pierce Brosnan

Clint Eastwood

Brendan Fraser

Danny Glover

James Todd Smith (aka LL Cool J)

John Travolta

These actresses are normally good English language speech models which I also like to use with my EFL learners:

Angelina Jolie

Sandra Bullock

Julia Roberts

Angela Bassett (pictured above)

Halle Berry

Cameron Diaz

Reese Witherspoon

Remember to check out the speech of Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies and Yoda in the Stars Wars saga. You’ll find them and many other characters excellent models of what to say (or NOT to say).

By: Larry M. Lynch

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