How can you find out the pronunciation of a written word?

What options would you pick?

a. Guessing from the spelling.

b. Listening to the pronunciation from an online dictionary.

c. Learning and reading the IPA (International Phonetic  Alphabet) of the word.

d. Asking a friend or teacher.

e. Knowing the 'silent' letters of English. 

f. Knowing how to pronunce the -ed endings of past tense verbs. 

 

Are there any good web links that you use?

Use Your "Speaking "Muscle" Many people are good at grammar, writing or reading but not good at speaking. The reason is that speaking uses a different part of your brain. So to get better at speaking, you need to exercise that "speaking muscle" part of the brain". So if you practice speaking with a native speaker that, will of course, help you greatly.

Life is a roller coaster ride, sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down I just want to share with you something written by Les Brown, a great motivational speaker. Yes, life is about motivation as well as communication and relationships. The better we are at it, the better we feel and the better we are in life. We also need to uplift others too. Wishing you all the best, Angie "The worst is over!! You have gone through a lot and you're still here! Despite how you may feel at this time, this experience will not break you. Whatever happened to you does not own you or determine your future. It is an experience that you must choose to grow through and not allow it to shut your life down. No question, this is easier said than done. But you have the power in you to put this experience in your past. Do not allow it to overwhelm your present or dictate how you show up in the world. Pause for a moment to get your head right and resolve to handle this. You know, life is like a roller coaster. Sometimes you are up and sometimes you're down. Expect things to get better and they will. Do you know who you are? You are more powerful than you give yourself credit for being. In time you will overcome this and become more resilient than you have ever been before. Look at the road ahead and know that tomorrow will be better than today. Pull yourself together and take time to heal. Where your life goes from here is your call. Believe in yourself! You have something special. You have GREATNESS within you!" by Les Brown https://www.facebook.com/Brown.Les

How to learn a language?

I read an interesting article about language learning by Tim Ferriss. He said you must understand the reasons why you are willing to learn a language, what topics are you going to focus on, what is the thing that will motivate you to carry on inspite of any difficulties and what would be the most efficient way to learn that target language. 

So he said the ideal system is 

1. Effectiveness (Priority)

2. Adherence (Interest)

3. Efficiency (Process)

 

Talking about the 80/20 rule, 80% of the language should come from 20% of effort. So look for the most frequent words. Get a list of 100 of the most common words in your native language and get the translation of all of them in your target language. Then get 300-500 words of vocabulary in the topic that you will most likely to use in that target language. Identify the grammar patterns in the target language or deconstruct the grammar in the target language. Then plenty of repetition and practice in that target language. 

To your success!

To achieve any goals, great efforts are needed initially, later it becomes easier and easier

"There comes a time in life when you must make the difficult decision to let certain things go: a negative attitude that you know no longer serves you; a relationship where you are dying together, rather than growing together; an addiction that you know is destroying you and does not represent your highest good.

It takes courage to face the truth about who you are, the choices that you have been making in your life and to decide; that is just not me anymore. I can't do this anymore. I have had it.

It takes a level of self love, of dedication and determination to live your greatest life. So, look within. Look at every area of your life and ask yourself these questions: Am I on course? Am I growing mentally, emotionally and spiritually? Anything that is blocking that, anything that is preventing you from living your greatest life, make the tough decision to let it go.

Life is about surrendering and releasing. Surrendering to the higher calling of your life and releasing all of the things, habits and behaviors that no longer serve you. You have something special..... You have GREATNESS within you!!"

By Les Brown

What points do you appreciate about a community language teacher?