Pronunciation Exercise: The Dreaded "Short i" Sound

Hello Students!

Please follow this link, and make sure you are on a computer with speakers (and preferably one where you can speak into a microphone and record your own voice). Compare the sounds in these two links.

http://www.spokenskills.com/student-activities.cfm?section=studentpractice&practicepageID=404

http://www.spokenskills.com/student-activities.cfm?section=studentpractice&practicepageID=408

Play the recordings of the sounds and repeat what the speaker says to practice the pronunciation. Also, on the right side of the page you will see that you can record your own voice (painful but so helpful for you!!!) and listen to yourself. Pay close attention to the short i sound on the first link, as that seems to be one of the most troublesome for many students.

After you have listened to the examples, please post a comment telling us what you thought about the website, the assignment, and the sounds you were practicing. Did you record your own voice? Did that seem to help?

Thank you and have (or, hope you had) a good weekend!

Whitney

Questions for "Schools Kill Creativity" Talk

If you are new to the class, please explore TED.com and the various speakers, themes, and options you can select, such as subtitles, translations, and (interactive!) transcripts.

For everyone, please respond to the following questions with at least 1 paragraph per question. (Like the last time, I would like 5-7 sentences minimum per paragraph). Please answer thoughtfully and thoroughly.

1. How well did you understand the lecture? What did you think of the speed of his speaking and his accent? Did learning about the main ideas and some of the vocabulary help you understand it better? Why (or why not)?

2. Go to 7:40 (to about 9:50). What do you think about what he says?

3. Go to 11:00 (to about 12:15). What do you think about what he says?

4. What are your thoughts on the topic?

TED Talk: Schools Kill Creativity