A semi-regular feature in which I answer student questions.

I normally open these posts with something sarcastic—first, because I’m insecure and second, SPOILER ALERT these posts aren’t always based on actual student questions.

But not today. Don’t worry, I’m still charmingly (I hope) insecure, but now there’s an actual, student-submitted question. …

I always screw up [insert two similar sounding words here]. Is there any way to fix that?

Sure! I suggest drilling minimal pairs. To keep it short, minimal pairs are words with a single sound difference. Drilling similar words helps train your mouth in ears to make and differentiate these sounds.

To wit:

Pick two words, say, “cost” and “coast.”

Assign them numbers: 1. cost, 2. coast

Now say them in this order 1-2-1 (i.e. “cost, coast, cost”).

Next, 2-2-1 (i.e. “coast, coast, cost”).

Last, 1-2-2-1 (i.e. “cost, coast, coast, cost”).

It may be hard to differentiate them at first, in which case both words sound the same whatever the order. Concentrate on the difference in mouth shape(s) and tongue position(s). Try it in the mirror. If you’re brave, film yourself. If you’re even braver, review the tape, even though no one ever really does that.

Someone’s probably studied this—if you know who, toss a link below—but you don’t need to understand how it works to reap the benefits. I’ve seen it work for students and experienced myself as a student studying other languages.

Though I most often use it to drill differences in vowel sounds, it also works for consonant clusters, tones, and syllable stresses, as well.

Heck, I even use it when more than one phoneme is different.

To wit, here’s a progression the student in question went through …

cost vs. coast

coast vs. close

close vs. clothes

clothes vs. cloths

cloths vs. claws

claws vs. clues

clues vs. clews

Okay, that last one was trolling. Both spellings sound the same and—unless you’re a classics major, a sailor, or enjoy the works of Patrick O’Brian—you’re unlikely to encounter the word “clew,” even as a native speaker.

Good luck trying out some new pairings.

The post Ask a Teacher: Is there any way to fix that? appeared first on Mostly English.

A semi-regular feature in which I answer student questions.

Today’s question comes from, well, every student I’ve ever taught. Pretty much without exception. “Teacher,” so it goes — unless they call me by my first name, which is perfectly acceptable and, usually, preferable — “I feel like I’m not making progress. How can I improve?”

This is commonly called “plateauing.” By way of background and proof I paid attention in geography class, a plateau is a kind of geographical feature. Which kind? It’s like a tall plain. (Think of what would be left if you chopped off the top of a mountain with some sort of large mountain-chopping off tool.) To hit a plateau or be plateauing means you’re working hard but you feel stagnant and unmoving, like a car spinning its wheels and not getting traction.

Before delving deeper, I’d like to point out something. Given the frequency with which I encounter said question, there are two scenarios:

1. I attract the only students in the entire world who question their abilities and progress despite their efforts. While possible, my general lack of self-confidence and self-assuredness should’ve kept such self-flagellators well away from me, unless their self-directed misanthropy eclipses my own — in which case they should seek professional help, even though I know they won’t because I haven’t and apparently they’re even more neurotic than me.

2. Everybody feels this way.

The latter seems more likely.

In truth, I ask myself the same question all the time. The only reason I don’t pose it to my teachers is because I lack the chutzpah and usually use my lesson time to describe obscure music videos from the 1980s.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: There’s no easy answer. There’s no silver bullet. You’ve gotta stay the course. The way out is through. It’s down to blood, sweat, and tears. [Insert another platitude here.] Keep doing the work. It’ll change with time. Weather the storm. All that jazz.

No one wants to hear that, though, and I’m sorry for making you read all of those. Let’s pretend something else will work.

I recommend setting clear, measurable goals. Feel free to add “reasonable” and “realistic” if you’re inclined that way.

One approach is to record yourself speaking and periodically review the tapes to track your progress. This won’t happen because it’s too much work and excruciatingly painful to watch yourself fumble. (Trust me, I’ve tried.) Still, the notion of doing it will give you something to put off and avoid. Schedule several recording sessions a week and watch how much spare time piles up as you do something—anything—to avoid recording these videos.

Another widespread idea advocated by well-meaning people you’ll come to hate is dedicating a daily block of time to studying every morning before you start your day. Just get up early. Ha, ha, ha! You’ve just discovered a new way to add some “snooze button” time into your life. This will open a whole new world of sleep.

Here’s another one: steal time! Five minutes here and there really add up. Spend a little extra time in the bathroom thumbing through a flashcard app. Make a significant other or child late for something by handwriting vocabulary in a journal. Text fun-at-first, creepy-at-last strangers on language sharing apps and question your life choices. These five-minute blocks really add up. Plus they make you look industrious.

When all else fails, try banging your head against the wall. Maybe getting rid of some of those native language brain cells will free up space for thinking in English. It couldn’t hurt, except that it would, which is just one of the reasons it’s a bad idea. The other is that the cost of plaster repair would cut into your budget for taking lessons with me, and I would hold that against you.

On second thought, maybe you’re better off just reading another language learning tricks listicle. There’s different strokes for different folks. You gotta roll with the punches.

In the words of someone pretending to be someone satirizing a different person:

Excuse me, I need a nap now.

The post Ask a Teacher: Plateaus & platitudes appeared first on Mostly English.

A semi-regular feature in which I answer student questions.

Hey Nick, how do I practice thinking in English?

Sheesh! How long have you been standing there?! I was just, uhh, checking my email. That’s it. Nothing else.

Oh, your question? Thinking in English? Sure.

Talk to yourself.

It’s pretty simple. Narrate things as you do them. Start with simple, routine tasks. Things you do every day.

For example:

I’m going to take a shower. I’m grabbing a towel. It’s soft and gray. I’m hanging it on the thing on the back of the door. What’s that thing called? I’m not sure. Oh well, right now it’s “the thing on the back of the door.” Maybe I’ll look that up later. Nah, I’ll probably forget and — ARRGGHHHH! Why do I take cold showers? This is a bad idea! A horrible idea! And awful idea! ARGHH! Oh, why-why-why do I do this?! The soap doesn’t even make bubbles right. And the shampoo won’t come out of my hair. ARGHH! Damn you science brahs! ARRGGHHH!

Or:

I’m washing the dishes. I don’t use a lot of soap because I’m not very good at washing it off. No one wants to eat food from a plate with soap on it, right? It’s better if the dishes are a little dirty with some hard, dried food on them. The glasses are kinda gross, though. I see lip marks on them. Why are my lips so greasy? Maybe I should buy a dishwasher. And stop eating fried chicken. Or at least use paper plates.

This approach will become boring and repetitive. This is only natural because you have a boring, repetitive life. Except now you talk to yourself. Great job.

Just make sure you’re well-versed in whatever the local language is so that you can explain yourself to your neighbors or the police or whoever.

The post Ask a Teacher: The thinker appeared first on Mostly English.

A semi-regular feature in which I answer student questions.

Hey Nick, should I be watching English-language media with the subtitles on?

Well, first off, get out of my house! Who let you in, anyway? Well, as long as you’re here, I’ll try and help.

The short story is that opinions on your question are split. Whether to use subtitles, i.e. closed captions or legends, is ultimately a matter of personal preference. Seriously, Google it. On second thought, don’t. I wasted about an hour reading conflicting opinions while writing this and decided to cut all the snippets of articles, studies, and links. (You’re welcome.) There are experts and armchair philosophers espousing both approaches. And both camps make convincing arguments, too. (Incidentally, there’s a small usage issue here. “Closed captions” are intended for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers and include text about the sound and soundtrack. Meanwhile “subtitles” and “legends” only transcribe the audible language. It’s a vanishingly small point, but I’m too pedantic to leave it unaddressed.)

As you already know, you’ve got two options:

1. Watch with subtitles. On the plus side, you’ll understand the content better and perhaps pick up additional vocabulary you might’ve otherwise glossed over.

2. Watch without subtitles. There’s a brutal, frontend-loaded learning curve, but you’ll develop better listening skills and natural phrase chunking that’ll serve you better in real-world situations.

Here’s my take: Do whatever you like best. Up those contact hours. Doing anything is better than doing nothing.

I want to tell you to do the hard thing — to watch without subtitles — but I’d be a hypocrite.

Basically, I’m lazy. At the end of the day, if I’m going to watch something in a foreign language, I’m not willing to strain my ears. I simply won’t watch as much unsubtitled media as I will subtitled media. I challenge myself with a little unsubtitled media everyday, but when it comes to passive, relaxing time, I take the path of least resistance.

Look, without subtitles, how else would you be able to understand the great speakers of our age? To wit:

I always liked reading better anyway.

Moreover, if you’ll indulge me a few moments of old man fist shaking, I’d like to suggest you do neither. Don’t watch English-language media. Listen to English-language podcasts or the radio instead.

Audio-only media forces you to listen and, unlike visual media, you can’t lean on body language or cinematography to cue you in to tone. As someone who’s lived more years with tinnitus than without it, I understand your hesitation. My ears need a break, too. Still, most days I’ve had more screen time than headphone time, so if I’m going to increase one of the two, I’d rather even the score than increase the gap.

To each their own, though. Just do whatever ensures you spend more time doing it. How you stomach those laugh tracks and overwrought soundtracks is beyond me, though.

Oh, and please close the door on your way out.

The post Ask a Teacher: A question of understanding appeared first on Mostly English.