Pecha Kucha reflection

Lisa and I have decided to give a presentation on the trilingual education system in Luxembourg. Frank and Hendrik suggested contacting Selma, a student from Luxembourg who is studying at the Department of Theoretical and Applied Translation Studies. We wrote her a mail and she was immediately ready to help us with our presentation. Selma turned out to be a very helpful person who gave us useful advice on our presentation.

The most strenuous part was definitely preparing and recording the transcript. Unfortunately, Lisa and I hadn’t seen us during the weekend before the deadline and so we had to spend a looong evening at the ITAT splitting up our text into a dialogue. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that we talked in a monotonous tone – but we weren’t bored, just very tired.

I have to admit that I wasn’t keen on giving our presentation in the form of Pecha Kucha. I was horrified by the fact that a slide will be shown for 20 seconds and then the next slide will appear. This required a lot preparation and I felt impelled to learn my text by heart. However, in the end everything went fine and PK turned out to be not as bad as I imagined it. I don’t want to say that I enjoyed giving the presentation, but the meticulous planning of every detail was worth it and we received a very positive feedback:

“Interesting and well-structured”

"The time management was great, it was loud enough and good to understand

I liked the language examples :)"

Pronunciation diary 2

This blog post is going to be dedicated to the individual feedback I received for the diagnostic exercise. I would like to improve the pronunciation of the final -s. There are three different ways of pronouncing it:

1.     The /ɪz/ sound
If the last consonant sound of the word is pronounced hissing or bussing (c, s, x, ch, …), the final S is pronounced as /iz/ such as in races or busses. This sound is pronounced like an extra syllable. (e.g. the word buses has two syllables)

2.     The /s/ sound

The final S is pronounced as /s/ if the last consonant of the word is voiceless (p, t, k, …).. Examples are the words cups, cooks or books. This S is similar to the sound a snake makes… sssssss

            3.     The /z/ sound (the one I've most difficulties with)

If the last letter of the words ends in a voiced consonant (b, d, g, l, m, r, v, …) then the S is pronounced like a Z. This Z sound is similar to the sound a bee makes.. zzzz. Examples are shoes, kings, bags.

The man in THIS video seems to really know what he’s talking about! Although I still have problems with the zzzz, I now clearly understand the differences between the three final S sounds.

Studying Porter words for PC2

It’s that time again: studying vocabulary for our progress check! As I consider studying with sheets in my hands as much, much easier, I had already decided for PC1 to copy all Porter words in a document and print them out. This time, Lisa and I decided to split up the work. We thought it would be the best way to create a Google-spreadsheet. After three days working intensively on our vocabulary list, we finally could start studying.

 

As we are going to be tested orally on the porter words, Lisa and I have met two times in order to examine each other’s. Most vocabulary words are learned from context; therefore, we have paid special attention to our ability to use all words in sentences. With a cup of tea, popcorn and a good friend sitting in front of you, mastering the Porter vocabulary seems to be a doable challenge!

If I have any problems in memorising a word, I try to make up as associations and connections with a memory trick: I try to use the word in a hilarious sentence. When I was learning the word “venison” I simply couldn’t remember its meaning. So I formed the sentence “Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!” – and I haven’t forgotten the sentence until now ;-).

Pronunciation diary

Grammar and vocabulary make up a huge part of the studies of a language learner. However, the correct pronunciation is the crucial part of mastering a language. When you are talking with a native speaker, they might not notice the grammar mistakes you make or your limited vocabulary, but they will definitely take notice if your pronunciation is bad. Moreover, if you speak English with a strong foreign accent, native speakers might even have problems understanding you. Before you start improving your pronunciation, though, you should decide which accent you would like to adopt. For learing the British accent, I recommend this site http://www.wikihow.com/Speak-in-a-British-Accent for a detailed step by step explanation and this site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtXcrElq5jM to gain a quick insight into the most essential aspects of British English. I personally like watching interviews of my favourite British actors like Emma Watson. This is like mixing work and pleasure!

In terms of my pronunciation in general, one of the fields I really need to improve is the intonation. When I listened to our record of the Pecha Kucha transcript, it was actually the first time I have ever heard myself speaking a foreign language. I have to admit, that I wasn’t very satisfied with my tone of voice. It sounded like I was reading a awfully boring legislative text and was falling asleep any moment! Except my monotonous pronunciation, I also realised that I tend to end high at the end of a sentence which makes it sound more like a question than a statement. For this reason, I was searching the Internet for useful websites. The two best tips I found are: Firstly, to correct improper intonation, you need to remember to start high and end low. Secondly, listen to natural English conversation through T.V., radio, podcasts, the news, movies, etc. and afterwards recording yourself how you are speaking some of the sentences. This will give you the opportunity to directly compare your pronunciation with the original speech.

In terms of English oral communication, speaking fluently therefore is a formidable challenge for me. However, I think there is one vital characteristic you need to acquire this ability – a characteristic that I’m without doubt lacking: confidence. Emotion is critically important for fluent speech and if you are confident you are able to use your knowledge without hesitation. I don’t think that any of my class mates face the same problem, but whenever I have to talk in English, I’m nervous, worried, and afraid of appearing foolish. Fear of mistakes, fear of other people’s opinions– these destroy English fluency. I know that my difficulty has nothing to do with studying English vocabulary, listening and speaking, but with missing inner strength.

Now that I found out what my main pronunciation weaknesses are, I was able to strategize. Pronunciation is something totally individual and each student has to find their own ways to improve it. However, I think that it would take me a looong time to acquire a credible British accent.

Hendrik's Thursday Class

In our English lecture on Thursday we were given the task to write down a sentence containing one of the Porter words. Then we had to pass on this piece of paper to the person sitting next to us, who had to draw a picture of the sentence. Another student was given this drawing and had to put it into words, and so on. The fact that nobody in our class is very good at drawing led to some hilarious misinterpretations!