MyEnglishClub2024-03-29T12:54:22Zhttps://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/feed/allCan You Say /ə/?https://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/can-you-say2016-08-07T14:45:57.000Z2016-08-07T14:45:57.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p><strong>The Schwa /ə/</strong></p><p>Welcome to our very first pronunciation lesson! If your goal is to enhance your accent and pronunciation skills, do join the activity. And if you’re brave enough, you can record your own voice pronouncing the schwa sound in our pronunciation challenge below. You can use Audioboo or any recording apps so you can upload your recording on the comments box.</p><p>Now, the schwa is a short vowel sound. Please watch the video below from Ms. Alex of BBC Learning English and imitate how she pronounced the schwa vowel sound. Do it at least 10 times or until you’ve mastered it. The schwa has a slight similarity to another vowel sound - <b>/</b><span>ʌ</span><b>/</b>. You’d be familiar with both of the vowels as we continue the lesson in my future discussions, but for the meantime let’s focus on the Schwa - /ə/ sound.</p><p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wg0P0oYkniE?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0"></iframe></p><p></p><p>Always remember that the schwa is the most common sound in English and we can hear it in a lot of words. In addition, since we’re on Englishclub, we’re going to use the IPA symbols in British accent.</p><p>Are you ready for some pronunciation challenge? Can you say these words and the sentence stressing the schwa sound? You may record these words if you like and share it here!</p><p>Teach<b>er</b> beaut<b>i</b>f<b>u</b>l und<b>er</b>standing </p><p>Th<b>e</b> teach<b>er</b> is beaut<b>i</b>f<b>u</b>l <b>a</b>nd und<b>er</b>standing.</p><p> </p><p>Now here’s an IPA Challenge.</p><p>Could you provide the answers on the following words? Write your answers on the comment box below. I’m looking forward to your participation. </p><p>Example: /vəʊˈkæbjʊl<b>ə</b>ri/ - Vocabul<b>a</b>ry</p><ol><li>/ˌkriːeɪˈtɪv<b>ə</b>ti/</li><li>/ˌɪnf<b>ə</b>(r)ˈmeɪʃ(<b>ə</b>)n/</li><li>/ˈsɪn<b>ə</b>m<b>ə</b>/</li><li>/ˈfæm(<b>ə</b>)li/</li><li>/ˈsɪl<b>ə</b>b(<b>ə</b>)l/</li><li>/k<b>ə</b>mˈpjuːt<b>ə</b>(r)/</li><li>/ˌɒp<b>ə</b>(r)ˈtjuːnəti/</li><li>/ˈɔːt<b>ə</b>m/</li><li>/<b>ə</b>ˈblaɪdʒ/</li><li>/ˈhæpin<b>ə</b>s/</li></ol><p>Wishing you the best of luck! :)</p></div>Binomials Challengehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/binomials-challenge2016-06-05T14:15:53.000Z2016-06-05T14:15:53.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p><span style="color: #000080;">Let's have a vocabulary challenge. This discussion is about binomials. Oh, it's not about math! What are those? Well, I'm referring to a topic about improving our vocab.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;"><strong>Binomials</strong> are short English phrases made up of two words together. They are usually joined by 'and' or other particle. Please be reminded that binomials are always fixed, so we can't interchange one word from the other.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;">Here are some common binomials and their meanings;</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;"><strong>Cheap and cheerful</strong> - quick, simple and basic</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;">My teacher always gives a <strong>cheap and cheerful</strong> quiz after the discussion.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;"><strong>Sick and tired</strong> - angry, fed up or bored</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;">The employees are <strong>sick and tired</strong> of their manager's constant complaining about their poor performance.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;"><strong>Bit by bit</strong> - to accomplish something by small effort constantly</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;">Jarvis assembled the gigantic puzzle <strong>bit by bit</strong>.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;">Here's your challenge. Post a new discussion in our group with a title - Binomials Challenge. Kindly include a binomial of your choice and its definition and sample sentences. In this way, other members would learn new phrases. Challenge your friends to post their own discussion about binomials, too.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;">Don't forget to include the link on this discussion. Good luck!</span></p></div>penpal programs anyone?https://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/penpal-programs-anyone2016-02-18T08:17:38.000Z2016-02-18T08:17:38.000Zjoannahttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/joanna373<div><p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Hello fellow teachers, are any of you involved in penpal programs,where your students exchange letters/mails with students from other countries? I am thinking about such a project and don't know how to start. Do I have to ask schools at random if they are interested? Perhaps, someone here would be willing to try?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">joanna</span></p></div>English by skypehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/english-by-skype2016-02-05T23:59:10.000Z2016-02-05T23:59:10.000Zalexandra mariehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/alexandramarie<div><p>Hello learners! How are you doing ? I've got something to tell you since we all have known that there are so many ways in learning English to get influence in speaking with perfect pronunciation and accent, some of them are through movies, listening to the musics and even having a chat with natives, and all in all we do the repeated tools to support us to do so. Here I'd like to tell you ways we do with a group of people how we take english lessons with natives by skype supported by one of reliable online platforms Preply <a rel="nofollow" href="http://hamlet.stanford.edu/foswiki/bin/view/Main/Web" target="_blank">http://hamlet.stanford.edu/foswiki/bin/view/Main/Web</a></p><p>What do you think, guys ?</p><p></p></div>Express Yourselfhttps://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/express-yourself2016-01-08T11:33:28.000Z2016-01-08T11:33:28.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p><span style="color: #000000;">There are thousands of phrases and expressions in the English language. Learning them enhances your chances to sound more natural. It also increases your vocabulary, too. You could impress your friends by using them correctly.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000000;">Let's learn them together under this page. Share what you've learned by defining them and giving some examples. Write them on the comment section below.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000000;">If you can't think of an example, here's a vocab reference <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/reference.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #000000;">link</span></a> to get you started.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000000;">Here are my examples:</span></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">All the Best</span></strong></p><p><span style="color: #000000;">- to wish someone good luck when you're saying goodbye.</span></p><p><span style="color: #003300;"><em>All the best, Teacher Tara! Thank you for all the great things you've done in our club.</em></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Use your Loaf </strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000;">- an old-fashioned slang but still being practiced today. It means to use your head or brain to do the right thing</span></p><p><span style="color: #000000;">- to think about things before you do them, otherwise you'll make silly mistakes (from the BBC)</span></p><p><span style="color: #003300;"><em>Use your loaf whenever you're charging your gadgets. Don't leave them unattended whereas overcharged them. Their batteries might get damaged.</em></span></p><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2352898745,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_self"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}2352898745,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" class="align-center"/></a>Now, it's your turn. Express yourself in English!</p></div>News Reading #4https://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/news-reading-42015-10-22T12:00:04.000Z2015-10-22T12:00:04.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p>Hello, English Educators!</p><p>For this activity, we will use the latest Interesting Facts in Easy English recorded by Teacher Tara. Did you know that tortoise and turtle are two different types of reptiles. Know more about this activity through listening to the recording. If you read the texts that go with it, you'll notice that you're like saying a tongue twister because of a lot of 'T's. It's gonna be fun recording this one!</p><p>By the way, check the link below to listen to the recording.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://edition.englishclub.com/podcasts/interesting-facts/tortoises-and-turtles/" target="_blank">Tortoises and Turtles</a></p><p style="text-align: left;">You can record yourself using that clip above. Don't forget to share it here.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Wishing you the best of luck!</p><p style="text-align: left;">Robbie</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;">Related topic:</p><p style="text-align: left;">What do you think about this <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.myenglishclub.com/photo/photo-challenge-18-photo-and-idiom?context=user" target="_blank">photo</a>? Are they tortoises or turtles?</p><p style="text-align: left;">I attached my recording below.</p><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2352898268,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tortoises and Turtles (4).mp3</a></p></div>News Reading Activity #3https://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/news-reading-activity-32015-09-24T10:45:11.000Z2015-09-24T10:45:11.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p>Hello, English Educators!</p><p>Welcome to our new activity. Have you been to a zoo? It's always fun visiting such ecological park where we can have leisure time with our family and friends. Here's the latest Englishclub news recording from Tara which we can use to practice our speaking abilities. Please click the link below to listen.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://edition.englishclub.com/listening-news/new-zealand-zoo-tiger/" target="_blank">New Zealand Zoo Will Not Euthanize Tiger</a></p><p style="text-align: left;">Take part in the challenge and improve your confidence in speaking. You may record this news and don't forget to share it here!</p><p style="text-align: left;">Wishing you the best of luck!</p><p style="text-align: left;">Robbie</p><p style="text-align: left;">P.S. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I've attached my recording about this topic below.</p><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2352897920,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Zealand Zoo.mp3</a></p></div>Reading Challenge #2https://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/reading-challenge-22015-09-11T11:27:08.000Z2015-09-11T11:27:08.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p>Hello, English Educators!</p><p>This challenge is a bit different from the previous one. This is an important activity where we can learn grammar and practice reading and speaking (pronunciation) all at the same time. Please click the link below to access the podcast. Listen carefully about the pointers and examples about double negatives.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/everyday-grammar-double-negatives/2743416.html" target="_blank">VOA - Learning English (Double Negatives)</a></p><p style="text-align: left;">When you're ready, you can record yourself reading one to two paragraphs based from the transcripts. Share your recording here and challenge other learners to participate in our activity. English teachers and advanced learners may give their tips about your recordings.</p><p style="text-align: left;">You can also check out a blog of mine related to this discussion. Please click <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.myenglishclub.com/profiles/blogs/this-ain-t-a-blog" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p style="text-align: left;">The very best of luck!</p><p style="text-align: left;">Robbie</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;">P.S.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I've already attached my sample recording below.</p><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2352897543,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Double Negatives.mp3</a></p></div>Reading Challenge #1https://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/reading-challenge-12015-09-04T15:22:46.000Z2015-09-04T15:22:46.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p>Hello, English Educators!</p><p>Do you love reading? Have you tried reading an article using your mobile phone or computer? One of the best ways to improve our confidence in speaking is being used to listening to our recordings. It helps us spot the weak points in our pronunciation, inflection, and tone of voice. Furthermore, it increases our confidence in speaking English.</p><p>A few months ago, I found a listening podcast from the British Council. I've decided to use it as our reading challenge. The challenge is to read and record a paragraph or two and share it here as part of our activity. When you open the link, you can click the play button of the recording and listen to the narrator. You can even read its transcript so you can follow what's being read.</p><p>Without further ado, here's the link from Learning English - British Council</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine-articles/asthma" target="_blank">Topic: Asthma</a></p><p style="text-align: left;">After sharing your recording, you may invite others to continue reading and recording the succeeding paragraphs until we completed reading the entire article. Please let me know if you have questions.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Wishing you the best of luck!</p><p style="text-align: left;">Robbie</p><p style="text-align: left;">P.S.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I've recorded the introduction of this topic.</p><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2352897036,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Asthma.mp3</a></p></div>News Recording Activity #2https://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/news-recording-activity-22015-08-23T11:14:45.000Z2015-08-23T11:14:45.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p>Hello, English Educators!</p><p>How have you been? I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend! I'd like to invite you to participate on our second news reading activity. It's the latest MyEC podcast recorded by Tara. Please click the link below to listen in.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://edition.englishclub.com/podcasts/interesting-facts/diomede-islands/" target="_blank">The Diomede Islands</a></p><p>You can start recording the news and have it shared on the comment below. I'll try to respond and give you some pointers. English teachers and advanced members are welcome to give their pieces of advice, too! </p><p>Here's a YouTube clip of the islands.</p><p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DpXqzK2ea4E?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0"></iframe></p><p>The best of luck!</p><p>Robbie</p></div>News Reading Activity #1https://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/news-reading-activity-12015-08-20T15:14:38.000Z2015-08-20T15:14:38.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p>Hello, English Educators!</p><p>Are you a fan of Mr. Bean? I know he doesn't speak enough on his shows, but let us hear a news clip from him courtesy of Interesting Facts in Easy English which was recorded by Tara. This podcast is quite old, but still very useful to practice our reading skills. Here is the link...</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://edition.englishclub.com/podcasts/interesting-facts/mr-bean/" target="_blank">Mr. Bean Saves the Day</a></p><p style="text-align: left;">You can now read the clip and start recording the news if you're ready! Please don't forget to share it here. You can do it! </p><p style="text-align: left;">Let's practice our reading, shall we? The best of luck!</p><p style="text-align: left;">Robbie</p><p style="text-align: left;">P.S. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I'll post my recording shortly.</p></div>Word of the Dayhttps://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/word-of-the-day2015-03-26T13:36:21.000Z2015-03-26T13:36:21.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p>Hey, Vocab Learners!</p><p>Learning new words once in a while could help us widen our vocabulary. If we tend to know plenty of words, it would increase our chances to excel in everyday conversation as well as in writing.</p><p>Here's our word of the day!</p><p><strong>cringeworthy</strong> <span class="PRONS"><span class="PRON"><span class="SEP">/</span>ˈkrɪndʒˌwɜː(r)ði<span class="SEP">/ (an adjective) is a feeling of embarrassment or awkwardness to yourself or to the person who is in a difficult situation.</span></span></span></p><p><span class="PRONS"><span class="PRON"><span class="SEP">For example:</span></span></span></p><p><span class="PRONS"><span class="PRON"><span class="SEP">The performer is making me <em>cringeworthy</em> because the people kept on laughing on his ridiculous dance moves.</span></span></span></p><p><span class="PRONS"><span class="PRON"><span class="SEP">Now it's your turn!</span></span></span></p><p><span class="PRONS"><span class="PRON"><span class="SEP">What's your word of the day? Share it on the comment section! :)</span></span></span></p></div>Modal Verbshttps://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/modal-verbs2015-03-17T20:54:08.000Z2015-03-17T20:54:08.000ZSalemhttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Salem696<div><p>To express about ability or permission, we use can verb. May and could use for permission and possibility, while might is used for remote possibility. In the obligation situations we use might and have to,but should to giving advice and recommendations.The best form for all cases of future is will. To make suggestions and offering we use shall.</p><p></p></div>Plants and lifehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/plants-and-life2015-03-10T20:38:56.000Z2015-03-10T20:38:56.000ZSalemhttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Salem696<div><p></p><p>Plants are very important in our life, they are the only group of living beings, which can produce their food by their selves, depending on the green pigment in the presence of sunlight, plants take simple minerals and water from soil and carbon dioxide, the main pollutant agent from air to produce the essential food for their selves and for the whole of other living beings even the microorganisms like bacteria and liberate the fresh oxygen within this food production process.</p></div>Does Learning English a Tedious Process?https://www.myenglishclub.com/groups/english-educators/forum/does-learning-english-a-tedious-process2015-02-23T16:15:47.000Z2015-02-23T16:15:47.000ZRobbiehttps://www.myenglishclub.com/members/Robbie<div><p><span style="color: #000080;">Some learners think that learning a language such as English is a boring process. What do you think might be the reason for this? What would you suggest to make it appealing to learners?</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;">Share your thoughts on the comment box below. Your answer might help other learners.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080;">Good luck!</span></p><p></p></div>