Sort by Type


Sort by Language


Product Reviews


About


Resources

Articles
FAQ


free

Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional
February 2, 2010

How To Start A Presentation In English For Second-Language Speakers

Many ESL speakers, when tasked to make presentations, commit the mistake of making everything sound too formal.  Truth is, much of English has gone the informal route – including getting up in front of people and giving the details of a report.

Most audiences, in fact, prefer a relatively informal delivery.  That’s because it’s less stuck-up and more natural.  The more comfortable they are, after all, the less of a hindrance it will be to impart your message.

However, informal doesn’t mean unstructured.  Presentations, after all, are best accomplished when everything is organized for the audience’s benefit.   When starting a presentation, make sure everyone is clear about what’s going to happen.  However, be vigilant about keeping everything brief (use your language software to help you if you’re struggling).  Here’s how you do it:

1. Get their attention. Project your voice and pipe up: “Let’s get started.”  If you have a more fitting “call to action,” use it.

2. Welcome everyone. Greet your audience and welcome them to the presentation.  It’s small talk, yes, but it breaks the ice and gets the ball rolling.

3. Introduce yourself. Make sure the audience knows who you are by giving your name and a short blurb about your qualifications (company, position and such).

4. Announce the purpose of the presentation. Tell them flat out what the presentation will be about. What are they going to learn?  What should they get out of it?  Keep it tight, though.

5. Tell them how you want to deal with questions. This is huge.  People raising their hands in the middle of a presentation can be distracting.  Different speakers have different preferences, so make sure you tell everyone how you’d like questions to come.

Filed under: English Learning, Learning English — Tags: , , — @ 7:01 pm
January 19, 2010

How To Learn And Use Word Stress In English

Word stress is one of the important keys to improving your English comprehension skills.  Without a good grasp of where stress appears in the language, it becomes difficult for a second language learner to communicate clearly with a native speaker.  And the confusion goes both ways.

In English, each word always has a single point of stress, meaning there’s one syllable that you accentuate.  You pronounce this syllable loudly, all while staying quiet with all the others.  If you hear two stresses, then the speaker just said out two words and so on.

In some languages, such as Japanese and French, all syllables are given equal emphasis.  As such, native users of these vernaculars typically have a difficult time making out a conversation among native English speakers.  It’s like learning a whole new system of using sound all on its own.

When you’re trying to learn word stress in English, the simplest rule you must bear in mind is that the stress is always on the vowel.  There are many other rules, too, although learning them all will likely complicate matters if you’re only trying to get a good grasp of communication skills.

Rather than perform calculations on the fly, we recommend the following to wrap your head around various English pronunciations:

  • When you memorize vocabulary with your language software, memorize word stress too.
  • Realize that word stress is a big part of the language.  Without learning where the stress falls on a word, you’re not learning a word completely.
  • Listen to native speakers – either in person, on talk radio or in films.  That’s the easiest way to get used to the way native English speakers use word stress.
Filed under: English Learning, English Learning Software, Learning English — Tags: , , , — @ 9:53 am
September 7, 2009

Dropping Your Thick Accent When Speaking English

Many ESL speakers never bother improving their accent.  While I’ve met tons of people who picked up perfect-sounding English over long periods of repeated use, I’ve also come across a lot who speak with the same thick, uncomfortable accent even after many years of working with language software and classes.

Why do some lose the accent and others don’t?  Simply put, they never bothered trying to drop it.  People who live in migrant communities, for instance, tend to speak continuously with the same accent, as everyone immediately around them also does the same.   If you spend the bulk of your time with social groups that don’t speak with the accent, it’s highly likely you’ll naturally shave it off over time.

Should You Drop The Accent?

Should you even bother trying to drop your accent?  After all, that unusual flick of the tongue speaks of your heritage and sets you apart from many of the people around you.  Isn’t it more fitting to wear it like a badge?

Unfortunately, sporting a thick Chinese accent (that’s half-comedic, half-painful, like you hear from Jacky Chan, for instance) is a guaranteed way to communicate badly with native English speakers around you.  I deal with a lot of French folks in my line of work and those that speak English with a hard French twist over the phone usually make my ears bleed.  Honestly.

To me, dropping as much of the accent to a point where you can easily be understood is not only polite, it’s a necessity.  If you’re in the US, finding success in business, life and career usually requires that people can actually understand what you’re saying without asking you to repeat it several times over.

Filed under: English Learning, Language Learning, Learning English — Tags: , , — @ 10:38 pm
June 29, 2009

Finding Where To Put The Stress On Words

When working to improve your accent and pronunciation, finding the right point to put stress on words is one of the most useful things you can learn.  Understanding how stress works in the English language can help you understand native speakers much easier as well as improve your overall ability to express yourself.

The Basic Rule

In a single word, there can be several points of stress.  This is especially true for words that are a combination of two or more words (e.g. outstanding, homemaker).  However, only one of these will feature the main stress, with the others playing as secondary stress, usually marked by a shorter length.

When practicing where to put stress in words, remember that in English, stress is usually placed on syllables that include a vowel.  It’s the sound of that vowel, in fact, that gives the stress its power.

Stress By Pitch

When you listen to native speakers (or to the audio component of your language learning software), try to note how the pitch changes when they pronounce words.  The point where the pitch is raised is the location of the stress – learn it and practice it with the same pitch to improve your own speaking.

Stress By Length

Similarly, the length by which a syllable is uttered is also an indication of stress.  The point of stress is typically uttered longer, along with the higher pitch.

Filed under: English Learning, Learning English — Tags: , , — @ 10:18 pm

Older Posts »

Promotion

Home | Sitemap