Learning Article : How To Help Your Children Avoid Commonly Made English Errors

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Do you want your child to become a fluent English speaker? As a non-native English speaking adult, do you find it difficult to help your son or daughter practice English? If so, don’t worry. Here are a variety of games, activities, and exercises that you can use to help your child avoid making some of the most commonly made English errors.

旧金山的唐人街 我上个周末去过加州旅游。这是我第一次去旧金山。我们在唐人街去过很多的地方。旧金山的唐人街很大！我觉得我在中国，我有中国文化的感觉。我会说普通话，不过很多人进广东话。当我买过东西，我跟店员用普通话联系。他来自成都，五年住在加州。我买很多东西，不过有点贵。点心的东西非常好吃。我也去过火锅店。我觉得真的很真实的！我吃过火锅的时，我听电视的中国歌曲。我很开心可以去过唐人街，因为我今年不会去中国。我希望可以回来！

Teacher/Student Testimonial Here is my story as a teacher and student on italki. http://stories.italki.com/story/3236

Learning Article : 3 Scenarios To Help Learn English Colloquialisms

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If you've ever listened to native English speakers, you've certainly noticed they use a lot of colloquialisms! Never fear: here is a guide to three common scenarios and the English colloquialisms you might encounter in them.

Learning Article : Your Guide To Reading Comprehension

Discuss the Article : Your Guide To Reading Comprehension

<a href='/article/367/reading-comprehension-and-writing-articles' target='_blank'>Your Guide To Reading Comprehension</a>

Why is reading and writing in English so difficult for foreign language learners? The English language originates from dozens of languages such as Latin, French, German, and Greek. The diversity of English words and variations of nuances and sentence structure is nearly infinite. Here are some simple tips to help you begin improving your reading comprehension and writing strategies.

Tricky Accents: How to Speak and Listen Fluently- Part 3 PRACTICE Now you may be asking, how can you simultaneously use these concepts effectively? Here are a few activities that may help you practice your listening and speaking. Choose an activity that interests you or create your own. Dialogue- Create a scenario with a partner. Example: You will be the store clerk and your partner will be the customer. Converse. Pay special attention to your accent. Imitate words with the same tone of voice that your partner speaks with. Description- Take a photograph and describe it to the best of your ability. Use as many adjectives as possible. Can you use slang terms and idioms to describe the objects? Topic- Pick a topic. Listen to the ways in which your partner slurs his or her words. When you respond, let your words flow from the tongue. Read aloud- Choose an article and read it aloud to a native speaker. Ask the teacher to correct your pronunciation after you finish each paragraph. Break apart the difficult words into syllables. Conclusion: Every language learners’ goal is to speak and listen to a foreign language fluently. If you separate speaking from listening, you will absorb more than you think! When you combine both speaking and listening together, you will be able to apply what you absorbed to the conversations. With practice, this task won’t feel so tiresome. Remember, it is okay for you to make mistakes. This is the most effective way to learn. As a nonnative speaker, will inherently have an accent. However you will soon find native speakers will be able to easily understand the way in which you speak. What are you waiting for? Go for it!

Tricky Accents: How to Speak and Listen Fluently- Part 2 LISTENING Why is it so difficult for nonnative speakers to grasp what native speakers are trying to communicate? You will encounter English speakers with very distinct accents, depending upon the region the native speaker originates. Although speaking is an absolutely necessary skill to achieve, it is important to make a habit out of listening without responding out loud. Listening to native speakers is one of the most difficult tasks when learning a new language, because you cannot take your time to understand each and every word he or she says. You need to be able to quickly understand the meaning of what the speaker wishes to convey in real time. Slurring of words- Native speakers naturally slur their words together. Example: “What do you want to do today?” Instead you may hear something like this, “Whado you wanna do tray?” Too fast- English is often spoken too quickly. Speak with a real person (an Italki teacher or language partner). Ask him or her to speak slowly for you. You may also find it helpful to watch television shows with English subtitles. Watch one scene of your favorite television drama without subtitles. Do you understand the main idea of what is going on? Next, watch the scene with subtitles to check your understanding. Lastly, watch the scene one more time to pick out phrases and idioms that you do not understand. Accents and dialects- If you live in a region in which English is common, learn to communicate with these people first. Notice the tone of the dialect (harsh, subtle, lazy, etc…). Observe vowel sounds. Are the vowels pronounced short or long? Are the ends of words shortened or softened? Idioms- Although you may not know the meaning of an idiom, understand the context it has been placed in. Can you make an educated guess about the idiom’s meaning? Person 1: “I can’t find my phone.” Person 2: “I can’t find my keys.” Person 3: “You guys are in the same boat.” This idiom refers to two people experiencing the same situation. Beware: Slang- Native speakers will often say something indirectly, implying something completely differently. It is important for nonnative speakers to remember that not every piece of information is literal.