Blog 6: Every Day Idioms

The article I chose this week deals with the proper use of idioms in English that are popular in America. It talks about how some people coming from other countries, where their native language isn't English, hear am idiomic statement and may take it in the literal meaning of the phrase. Some examples could be "taking a bull by the horns", "a fish out of water", and "sounding like a broken record". The article talks about ways to learn how to recognize and understand idioms. The most effective way is to listen carefully to the world around you. Soon enough, with enough pracitce,idioms will become apart of daily speech.

http://abcspro.vbatech.com/PublishedArticles.htm

Blog 5: English Language Learners

So, as a prospective teacher I am obligated to take some classes that help me prepare for a mulitcultural classroom. In  that classroom, there may be student that are still learning how to speak English. I chose this article to aid me in some techinques that run side-by-side with my ELL class.

This article is telling me to approach each child individually, because different children will be at different levels of English Language Learning. I know from my ELL class there are 5 stages to language acquisition. Pre-preproduction, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and fluency. Each of these has a time frame of an average ELL student. It could take 5-7 years to become fluent. That really is a long time.

Within this article it talks about the basic construction of a classroom. This can affect the way ELL students learn. I, personally, like the cooperative learning, or group learning, scenarios. The article also talks about 4 skill areas: Function, form, fluency, and vocabulary. Functions are the purposes of communication. Form refers to the structure of the English language, like grammar and sentence stucture. Fluency is the ease in speaking the language. The development of a wide and varied vocabulary is essential. Research shows that English language learners should be taught key vocabulary, or brick words, prior to a lesson in order to assist them in their language development.

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http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/strategies-teaching-english-language-learners

Blog 4: Translation of English to French and back to English



So, I am a total Disney FREAK, for real! I am totally in love with most of the stories and movies! SO I was recalling the movie I saw in fouth grade that got me interested in French. We watched Beauty and the Beast all in French. SO it sparked my intrest to a little comparison on how they translated our English version over to French and then their French Version over to English. This is what I found....

This is the English version. As you may see, this is pretty standard for what we saw as children. Now the French version is a little different. There are translation differences, mainly because some of our English words do not transfer over well into French and they have to substitute.

If you notice there are pretty big changes with the words from French to English! However, if you read the translation it is similar to the actual words in English!!

 

Au revoir!







Blog 3: Nonverbal Communication

My article this week is on nonverbal communication. Not only is this important with deaf people, but all the people you speak to and even pass by cause perceive what you are saying or displaying based on your demeanor. We are constantly giving off nonverbal symbols, gestures, how loud or fast we speak, or the way we stand. Nonverbal communication usually accommodates what we are saying. This can help gain trust. When our nonverbal gestures do not match up, this can cause suspicion and distrust.
The human face is very expressive and able to portray emotion without even speaking.

As shown above, the face can convey a vast number of different emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, excitement, worry, doubt, etc.
The average human is also sized up by how they present their body. There are a multitude of different movements and postures one can express.

Gesturing is part of our daily life. Do you talk with your hands? Have you ever pointed out something using your hands? What about having an argument? We speak and use our hands to animate what we are talking about. However, there are some American gestures that mean different things in other languages. So be careful when using gestures around strangers :) 

A lot of how we communicate has to do with touch. Think about when you shook hands with a stranger. Was their handshake firm and sturdy or timid and weak? When you leave your grandma after a lunch date do you give her a quick one shoulder hug with a pat on the back or do you give her a warm bear hug? This is all forms of nonverbal communication

Finally, your tone of voice tells stories that your words may lack. People read into how you say things not just what you say. With your tone you can indicate sarcasm, anger, excitement, affection, or confidence.

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/eq6_nonverbal_communication.htm