Pronunciation is one of the most important aspects when we try to learn a new language. You can use high level vocabulary or grammar, but if you are not capable to transmit a clear message, in other words to be easy to understand, probably you have a problem of pronunciation. Additionally, to have a good pronunciation will help you to listen well. In this Guide, I will try to give the best things that work with me when I was a learner, but I still use now that I am an English teacher (if you are an English teacher you probably would like to read my post  PRONUNCIATION: WHAT, WHY AND HOW IN THE VIRTUAL ENGLISH CLASSROOM ) . On the other side, if you try to find the ultimate key to improve your pronunciation, let me tell you that this key does not exist, but do not get discouraged you can still get better. Also, in this guide you will find some theory, yeah I know that this does not sound attractive, but I have a point, so please continue reading. In fact, in this and the future arti...

Despite the value that pronunciation has when learning a language, when it comes to teaching English -and probably other languages- it is one of the skills, according to some studies not my opinion, with less attention. Picture 1. Pronunciation: using phonetic symbols. Back to the topic of this post, as Jenkin pointed out (as cited in Wong, 2016) "even when learners use a variant grammatical form or an inappropriate expression, they can still be understood. It is usually the wrong pronunciation that leads to communication breakdown" (p. 243). Due to this, being able to speak with good pronunciation is of paramount importance, on the grounds that it allows real communication. Therefore, there are some important questions we must answer in order to teach pronunciation, such as: What is 'teaching pronunciation'? Why is important? How can we use technology to do in distance or virtual learning? Kelly (2000) stated that we can breakdown the main features of pronunciation a...

In this article: 1. Reading and listening at the same time (For students aged 6-13) 2. Digital manipulative objects (All ages) 3. Take a “pause” to virtual activities (All ages) One of the challenges of virtual education is to create meaningful activities that appeal to the different learning styles of our students. How can you do this? Picture Credit Marsha McGuire Before we address this question, let's briefly analyse the importance of integrating a multisensory approach into your teaching. It's so great to see that students now have the freedom to adapt to our teaching style. Obaid (2012) stated, “teaching methods must relate to each child’s own learning preference style” (p. 76). It's not just a nice idea, it's totally possible to reach all the different learning styles if we use multisensorial activities (Volpe & Gori, 2019). The real challenge is how you can achieve this in virtual learning. I've put together a list of three activities that can be used in ...