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Practical English Usage: The book and the App.

written by Francisco Sanjurjo
Probably if you are reading this, you are already familiar with Practical English Usage as a book, and know how practical it is. There are many other interesting, well-known books, like Quirk and Greenbaum’s A Student’s grammar of the English Language which I used in college. There are plenty of books on grammar geared specifically either to students or to their teachers.
Other grammar books include exercises. I have already spoken in one of my old posts about the classic English Grammar in Use which continues to be an excellent reference book for students and teachers, either in its original form or in its manifold reincarnations.
But this one is just there to help you solve doubts. It is clear, easy to use and to the point. And now there is an app and for which I gladly paid a little over 20€. The opening screen looks definitely familiar.

The look and feel inside is equally practical and nifty. Since it is an app, the in-built instructions on how to navigate it are welcome:

 

The app offers you several “views” or approaches to the information. Watch out for the icon (flower? cabbage?) which appears on the front of the book and to the right of the word index in the following screenshot. (To the right of the word “index”):

Here the same icon appears next to “contents overview”,  but transformed, because it is a different view.

Yet another view, the topic index search. Again, the icon tells you which environment you are in.

Do you remember that grammar point you searched a while ago? The app remembers it for you.

And if you want to keep tabs of the grammar points you like, you can create favourites. Remember your old book full of bookmarks and highlighted sections?

Although I wonder what this is doing in a grammar book, I think it is very welcome anyway in a reference book.

All in all, it is as complete as the book on which it is based, the interface is simple and practical and it allows to manage the information in useful ways. The creators seem to have had in mind what people use the book for, and so the result is really functional. Because I am a sentimental, sometimes I go back to my old paper version, but I can carry this around with me, even in my phone!

9th February 2014 0 comment
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App ReviewLanguage SkillsSpeaking Skills

Pronunciation basics

written by Francisco Sanjurjo

If you would like some theory first, start here… if you would like some advice, start at “rule #1”. IF you just want to get to the practical things, start below rule #4 (a pity, because I think my advice is quite good hehehe).

A long time ago, when students asked me about pronunciation I would go automatically on a rant about many things, that boggled their minds and probably discouraged them from trying to do anything about it. I hope I have changed. In today’s post I will try to offer a foothold for those who feel lost and don’t know where to start.

Think of languages as flats in a building: they all have the same function: languages are self-contained communication ecosystems. This is one flat, this is another. The owners of the flats can modify and adapt the internal distribution in the way they think is best. That is why languages are sometimes similar and sometimes they are different.
To follow the same metaphor, imagine your flat, the layout, the rooms, the furniture… and now think that as you visit your neighbour’s flat, you find out that he’s got a different number of rooms, or he built an extra bathroom, has a shower instead of a bathtub. Still, it is a flat and the family live there.
Languages are diverse and their pronunciation too. Therefore, it is very important to learn to manage that difference.
Rule #1 Different is good. It is refreshing, it can be funny. All right, it can also be frustrating and confusing. Be a good tourist, enjoy the view.
Rule #2 Awareness of its importance. Pronunciation is not only needed for speaking better but it will improve your listening skills. The bigger the difference between what you expect to hear and what you actually hear, the worse your listening skills will be. If you know what you can expect to hear, then you will recognize the word.
Rule #3 Make an investment. Investing your time and effort (and perhaps some of your money) in learning pronunciation for a language (English here) will get you good returns. All languages have things in common and you can recycle what you learn. Once you learn to go from your native system to a new one, you can reproduce that movement to other languages. Once you learnt to adjust the movements in your mouth for new sounds, you are not just learning those sounds, but how to try new experiences, like an exotic ice-cream flavour.
Rule #4 Know your strengths and weaknesses. Identify your challenges. With the help of a good teacher, a good book and/or good online resources you can find out what your standing point is by learning the basics about pronouncing your native tongue.
You will be very surprised to realize the complex adjustments you make constantly in your mouth. The bonus of learning to pronounce new sounds is that they are very likely to appear in other languages that you may want to learn. The more vowels you can pronounce, your ability to assimilate new ones will improve. It’s cumulative learning.
OK, you feel you are past the motivational speech stage and you want to get down to work. You should start by gathering your tools. My recommendation is to start here:

 

This is an excellent app by the British Council that consists of an interactive chart of the phonemic symbols that represent the sounds pronounced in English. You can click as many times as you want on each symbol to hear the sound it represents.

Why do you want to do this? Because if you go to your dictionary (paper or online) you can find these symbols after the word you are looking up. That means you can figure out how a word is pronounced, without actually hearing it. At least its standard pronunciation.

 

But there is more. If you click your mouse on the little blue tabs on the top right corner of each symbol, you will find examples of each sound in context.

This is a good tool to get you started. My advice here: build on those examples and make your own list of words that include each of the sounds that you find problematic.

This is very similar to what Macmillan, the book publishers, have on their website:

http://www.macmillaneducationapps.com/

However the Macmillan app is more complete, as you will be able to see. First of all, there are two version: a limited version for free (the one I am using for this demonstration) and the full version.

 

 

 

Once you start the app you will find a menu with several options. We wil go through the first three of them. The “more option” is only interesting because it includes the instructions!

 

 

The chart os the part which reminds us of the British council app. You have the buttons, you can hear the sounds if you tap on the symbols. If you tap and hold you can hear one example.

 

 

Let’s go now to the practice section. This section is limited in the free version of the app. You can judge for yourself once you download it. The full version is worth the money though. Here you have three options: read, write and listen. In the read section you will be given a phonetic transcription (oh those funny symbols!) and you have to figure out which word it is. In the write section, you are given a word and you have to write it with phonetic symbols. Finally in the listen section, you will hear a word and you will have to write it! Here you have some screenshots for you to get an idea.

 

 

Good I did it!

 

 

Will I get this one right? Let’s check!

 

 

Oh this one was pretty easy!

 

 

The listening part is probably the most difficult… and sometimes you get surprised. Listen well! There is actually no “b” in “lamb”!

 

 

Well, I hope you can all benefit from these tools. I believe they will empower you, whatever your level, to improve your listening and speaking skills. And provided you have a tablet or smartphone, you can use in anywhere (yes, even there). Enjoy!

13th March 2014 0 comment
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