Spoken English to Non English Medium Students
I have been teaching Spoken English since 1976.My method of teaching differed from others.Of late I have prepared lessons in Power Point,Flash programmes.It needs just one week for the students to pick up the concept of basics.It is very simple and I have covered all topics in grammar.I take the students to nine Houses.
Yellow House 1 and 2 -- To tell about status not actions.
Blue Houses 1,2,3&4 -- To tell about simple,continuous,perfect and perfect continuous actions of persons/objects.
Pink Houses 1,2&3 -- To tell about simple,continuous and perfect actions on persons/objects.
Are you ready to visit all nine Houses?
Knowing such sentences are not enough. You need to master connecting words as well like because, so, so that, in contrast, etc Also, lots and lots of vocabulary words. No way will I be able to speak like a good speaker if I only have such basics at my disposal to begin with. It takes years and years of constant learning that will make me a fluent speaker in any form of the language. Nope. I am not ready to visit those nine houses instead I'd like to read something easier with an aid of dictionary. Don't take it personally, all of this grammar-based learning gives a false impression for students on the short term basis but in the long term they'll struggle to put string a decent sentence in a real-life situation (if this is what they have at their disposal.)
*Knowing such sentences IS not enough.
Dear Guest,
"Failure is only a bend on a road not an end of a journey" I take you by air where there is no bend but surely an end is there.
Look at the Yellow House 1 sentnces;
I am a doctor. 1
I am not a doctor. 2
Am I a doctor? 3
Am I not a doctor? 4
What Am I? 5
What Am I not? 6
Question 3 has answers in 1&2
"Am I a doctor?' 3
"Yes,You are a doctor." 1
"No, You are not a doctor." 2
Similarly Question 4 has answers in 2&1
"Am I not a doctor?' 4
"Yes,You are not a doctor." 2
"No, You are a doctor." 1
Similarly Question 5 has answer in 1 and Question 6 has answer in 2.
Another interesting thing to note;
Combine 1 and another 1 type sentence(I am a nurse).
You need 'and','not only but also','both.....and','as wll as'.
"I am not only a nurse but also a doctor."
Combine 1 and another 2 type sentence(I am not a nurse).
You need 'but','yet','though' etc;
"I am a nurse but not a doctor"
To your kind information, I challenge that I can make anyone to speak in English in just 15 days
My effort to convince my Guest continues..........
Combine 2(I am not a doctor) and another 2 type sentence(I am not a nurse).
Here only "Neither......Nor" will come.
"I am neither a doctor nor a nurse".
Similarly
"Am I a doctor as well as a nurse?" Combining 3 and 3.
"Am I neither a doctor nor a nurse?" Combining 4 and 4.
"I am a doctor, Am I not?" Combining 3 and 4.
"I am not a doctor, Aren't I?" Combining 4 and 3.
Yellow House 1:
subject.....present.....past.....future....who..what..where..when..how..why
I.............am........was.......will be......................here.........................
He
She.............is..........was......can be.........................................nice.......
It
That
You
We
They...........are........were......may be............................at eight.............
These
Those
Guide Lines;
1.Proceed from left to right.
2.Select subject.
3.Select tense.
4.Say what you wish to say.
Yellow House 1: Negative Sentences 'NOT'
subject.....present.....past........future......who.what.where.when.how.why
I..............am not....was not...will not be..................here.......................
He
She...........is not.....was not...cannot be...................................nice.......
It
That
You
We
They.........are not....were not..may not be.......................at eight...........
These
Those
Guide Lines;
1.Proceed from left to right.
2.Select subject.
3.Select tense.
4.Say what you wish to say.
<<It needs just one week for the students to pick up the concept of basics.>>
As you said, you are teaching the basics (the concept of basics?).
You may not even need a week, depending on the schedule, on the students and on the native language of the students...
<<I can make anyone to speak in English in just 15 days>>
Well, if it takes one week to get the basics, I guess it is fair enough to concede another week to master the language!
Keep up the good work!
Yellow House 1: Question Sentences.
present.....past........future......who..what.where.when.how.why..............
Am I........Was I.......Will I be...................here?.....................................
Is he........Was he....Will he be.................................nice?......................
Is she......Was she...Will she be...............................good?....................
Is it.........Was it.......Will it be.........................................to ignore?
Is that.....Was that...Will that be....a joke?
Are you....Were you...Will you be..............there?...................................
Are we......Were we.....Will we be...............there?..................................
Are they....Were they..Will they be.............there?..................................
Are these...Were these..Will these be..........there?.................................
Are those...Were those..Will those be........there?..................................
Guide Lines;
1.Proceed from left to right.
2.Select tense and subject.
3.Say what you wish to say.
Yellow House 1: Question Sentences with 'NOT'
present.............past..............future.......who/what.where.when.how.why
Am I not..........Was I not......Will I not be..............here?........................
Is he not........Was he not.....Will he not be.............................nice?.......
Is she not......Was she not...Will she not be............................good?......
Is it not.........Was it not.......Will it not be............at home?....................
Is that not.....Was that not...Will that not be....a joke?
Are you not....Were you not...Will you not be........there?.......................
Are we not.....Were we not....Will we not be..........there?........................
Are they not....Were they not..Will they not be..... there?.......................
Are these not...Were these not..Will these notbe...there?.................
Are those not...Were those not..Will those notbe...there?..................
Guide Lines;
1.Proceed from left to right.
2.Select tense and subject.
3.Say what you wish to say.
<<To your kind information, I challenge that I can make anyone to speak in English in just 15 days>>
I seem to recall Winston Churchill once remarking that English can be learned in just a few weeks of diligent study (presumably by western Europeans, where vocabulary problems are minimized).
All this just goes to show how simple English really is compared to other languages. Perhaps, native speakers of other languages, having mastered the enormous complexity of their own language, find English trivial in comparison, and hence easy to learn.
(One observation -- the sentence I quoted <<...>> above is a bit "strange" in its syntax, although the meaning is clear. I hope you're not just pulling our leg with these posts.)
Yellow House 1:QuestionSentences
with 'who,what,how,where,when,why'
present.....past........future......who..what.where.when.how.why
Why Am I........Was I.......Will I be...................here?........................
How Is he........Was he....Will he be.................................nice?.........
Why Is she......Was she...Will she be...............................good?.......
Why Is it.........Was it.......Will it be..................................nice?.......
How Is that.....Was that...Will that be....a joke?...............................
Why Are you....Were you...Will you be..............there?.......................
Why Are we......Were we.....Will we be...............there?......................
Why Are they....Were they..Will they be.............there?......................
Why Are these...Were these..Will these be.........there?......................
Why Are those...Were those..Will those be........there?......................
Guide Lines;
1.Proceed from left to right.
2.Select interogative term.
3.Select tense and subject.
4Say what you wish to say.
Dear Guest,
I am from India where English is given too much importance.My mother-tongue is Tamil.I find educated people feel shy of conversing in Tamil and they always prefer ENGLISH to show off.Only people well-off are afford to educate their children in good schools where if Tamil is spoken the students will be fined.This the pathetic situation almost throughut India.
My Dream project is to take English to poor children who are deprived of all these opportunities.
I have been observing that your derogatory remarks on my still exposed lessons have some readymade arguements for reasons known to you.
In those days students could not learn their second language English properly because of sarcastic comments by the other so called English Educated persons who pointed out each and every small mistakes magnifying to mega dimensions.It created a sort of complex among the students who gave up learning English.I hope you receive a message that you are deserved to.
<<I find educated people feel shy of conversing in Tamil and they always prefer ENGLISH to show off.>>
Some decades ago, I was under the impression that there was a movement to reduce the use of English and use more Hindi (at least in the Hindi-speaking areas). I seem to recall that they were trying to 'purify' hindi to get riod to too many words that had come in from English.
Has this pro-Hindi movement fizzled out, or is the situation entirely different in the Tamil areas?
Just a thought: "I have been teaching Spoken English since 1976."
Though your English is comprehensible but it is far from perfect and it surprizes me that you have been using the language since 1976. You should have been a far more perfect user of the language than you are right now. Please re-read your above posts again and see if you can spot any obvious mistakes by yourself.