i found someone

I finally found someone,
that knocks me off my feet
I finally found the one,
that makes me feel complete
It's all because of you,
It's better than it's ever been
To take my breath away
Someone to share my life
My life has just begun
I finally found someone

how to teach speaking

The first thing to keep in mind is that when we are helping our language students learn to speak English, we are not actually teaching them to speak. Unless they are infants, they already know how to do that. What we are really helping them with falls into three categories.

1. improving fluency (speaking smoothly)

Fluency comes from practice - plain and simple. However it needs to be practice that involves extended use of the language and use of extended sentences. You can not build fluency by repeating single words or short phrases. Fluency at its heart relates to being able to speak for longer periods of time in a smooth way. Broadly speaking, here are a few things that can help build fluency:

• speeches or presentations
• group discussions
• role plays
• negotiations and debates
• interviews and meetings
• chatting in small groups
  

2 . improving pronunciation (saying words properly)

Pronunciation is the ability to say words properly with the correct sounds in the correct places. This is a skill that can take a VERY long to develop, but with consistent work and practice, it can be done. There are two keys to proper pronunciation 1) tons of native speaker input and 2) tons of speaking by the learner with native speakers. However, practice and lessons that target specific trouble areas can make a huge difference in a student's ability to deal with issues in pronunciation.

• working on specific vowels
• working on trouble consonants (e.g. th for French speakers)
• working on understanding movement and location of mouth and tongue when making sounds

3 . improving enunciation (Saying words/phrases clearly - I think this includes word and sentence intonation)

Enunciation is speaking clearly - perhaps better understood by its opposite which is mumbling or slurring words. Enunciation is a very important aspect of speaking in that poor enunciation can make someone almost impossible to understand. Again improvements in enunciation come from exposure to native speakers, and plenty of natural practice. Of course focused work targeting problem areas can help a great deal as well. Things that can be done to help with enunciation include:

• focused work on trouble word combinations
• working on reductions (want to –> wanna)
• working on sentence level stress points
• working on word level stress points (e.g. differences between noun/verb forms of same word record/record)
• working on sentence level intonation patterns

Some would say that vocabulary, grammar, and cultural usage also fall into how we teach speaking, but I'd say that while they are critical, they are not only in the domain of speaking. Speaking is about using our mouth and vocal cords to make sounds that people understand as language. It certainly involves other elements like grammar and vocabulary, but they aren't the core of it.

how to teach reading

Reading comprehension is one of the hot topics of the day,

1. Build Background Knowledge.This way, students will be able to visualize what they are reading, which is absolutely critical to true comprehension.
2. Establish a Purpose for Reading
3. Think Aloud as You Read.Also stop periodically to explicitly review with students what has happened up to that point in the reading. Students who have fallen behind need not be behind during the entire reading. When reviewing, ask students what they have been thinking so far about the text.

Ask students to use a graphic organizer in order to compare the similarities and differences of characters. You can also ask students to compare themselves to a particular character, using the same device.

Students can decide on alternate endings to the story, providing a rational as to why their ending would have been preferable. This helps students analyze the story, in addition to building an emotional connection to reading.

There are many, many other strategies that you can use to enhance your students’ reading comprehension. Try investing in a book, such as the Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists, which offers word frequency lists, evaluation techniques and a plethora of other resources. Teaching reading requires access to a wide variety of strategies, so that the instructor can meet the needs of each of his students. Continue to educate yourself on reading comprehension techniques, and you’ll soon see the results embodied in your students’ reading practices.