If you want to write any topic for the communication in the club, there can be some universal questions for that. If you don’t know what to talk about you can always ask any of those universal questions and the communication will become interesting. You can memorize those questions. It can become a kind of your integral algorithm for your communication and your thinking.
THAT THING
1) Why is THAT THING so important?
2) What power does THAT THING give you?
3) What joy can THAT THING bring into your life?
4) How does THAT THING influence your character and the way you live?
5) How do Good and Evil deal with THAT THING, use THAT THING?
6) How can you become a master at THAT THING?
7) What makes THAT THING powerful and impressive (its “interface”, “restaurant”)?
8) What makes THAT THING work effectively (“implementation”, “kitchen”)?
9) What are the layers of THAT THING?
10) What are the differences of male and female strategies in dealing with THAT THING?
11) THAT THING, do we really know what we are talking about?
12) If THAT THING is good, why is it so difficult to obtain it? If THAT THING is so bad, what can we cope with it?
13) Can you tell us about your personal encounter with THAT THING?
Some questions can be difficult to answer in some particular topic. Some questions are usually difficult to answer. Those clumsy questions are better to be removed from the question list. For example question number 13 is usually difficult to answer.
It is a Cambridge exam. It actually checks whether you have some knowledge about how to teach English. If you are successful in passing this test you will get a diploma like that: http://ipolyglot.net/tkt2.jpg
If you are a private teacher, this document will make it easier for you to find students on any of many Internet sites where students can be found.
Now it is also possible to pass this exam via computer. It was not so two years ago.
Having learned this stuff you will know basic principles and words that related to teaching English. You will have an opportunity to review your own approaches.
Actually they (Cambridge folks) are not aware of best methods of studying English. We can discuss them ourselves.
So, next Sunday we can see whether we have enough participants interested in that exam. If there are enough people who are interested in that exam we can organize it. But it is a serious work. And there is some work you have to do on your own.
) Computer programs for working on pronunciation
) Organizing the work (mocking, reading with recording, reading aloud)
) Materials for working
) Stretching the sounds
IPA
) International Phonetic Alphabet and tongue position.
) Restrictions of the IPA chart approach
) What is softness of Russian vowels. Main Russian vowels and allophones.
) Phonetic clock: lax and tense vowels, oppositions in General American.
Phonetics
) Acoustics, articulation, phonology
) What is phoneme? Different approaches. Diaphonemes.
) What are letters?
Changing Russian speech 1
) Throaty pronunciation and how to catch it. High and low throaty pronunciations. Phonetic smile (no roundness), openness of mouth and economy of breath. Throaty pressure.
) Relaxation. Lax speech. As a drunken man.
) Nasal speech.
) Ch-resonator. Tip of the tongue position: ch, t, d, l, n.
) Half soft speech
Changing Russian speech 2 – music of English
) Two types of stress organization: syllabic and tonic.
) Stress interval in English
) Syllabic stresses in English – reduction, contractions, pauses.
Features
) Four types of stresses in English and their difference from Russian stresses.
) Types of long vowels (doubled sounds, surrounding, logical stress).
) How to play with stresses (unstressed speech, only dynamic, only pitch, only length)
) Diphthongization: can, bad
) All kind of stops
American vs British
) Pronunciation of R before consonants
) Words like ask, grasp, fast
) Ringing t in words like better, butter.
) Pronunciation of u: future, nude.
) man vs men
) Monophthongization in American: air, fire
) Phonetic smile in American
) American open, written
) Nasality ???
) Stops ???
) British cop to cup ???
) British cup to coop ???
) British cat to cut ???
) British take to tike ???
) British dog to dock ???
) British autumn
I would want to have at least four participants and Cliff (6 people including me). If you are ready to study English pronunciation you are welcome. It has to be serious work. You should plan to participate regularly. Everything can happen in the future but your intention for now should be to participate regularly. I don't know how many seminars it will take. Probably six or more.
In that group (if we have enough participants) we will discuss pronunciation secrets and tips. We are also going to discuss the basic phonological stuff. But the main work that has to be done you will do by yourself.
We will also talk about where to find materials to listen. We will discuss our current pronunciation. We can listen to each other, correct each other, share and discuss tips and suggestions.
You will get my programs for working on pronunciation (for free). And you are encouraged to try and find better programs and share information about them. Try to find really good programs and other resources!
Your everyday homework should be like that:
1. You repeat the material of the last seminar. It means you try to work on the tips given to you last time.
2. Using our programs you listen to samples of native speech and try to imitate it. You do it this way: listen to a native, record yourself, and listen to yourself. Over and over again.
3. You read text aloud. You try to read it like an actor, like a BBC or VOA announcer. You record yourself and listen to yourself from time to time.
4. You just read a text aloud (like an actor) without recording yourself.
It all will take about an hour a day or a little more.
Everyday work is essential (except weekends) . The group is not just about satisfying your curiosity; it is about serious work. You will improve your pronunciation. You will improve your ear for phonetics. How much? Nobody can say it now. Let us see.
Your reading aloud will definitely improve your fluency.
If you want to participate, let me know: add me to your contact list if you are not in it yet. I will add you to Real-Talk-Club group. All the details will be discussed in it.
1) Will of History. What moves the history? Who moves the history?
2) How can you become a part of elite?
3) First anti-economical social formation and how to live in it?
4) Religion of money
5) Class approach and psychohistorical approach
6) Smith, Darwin, Nietzsche, Fascism and supermen? Do you want to be a tough guy?
7) Feminism and war against men
8) Oedipus
9) Self-destruction of states
10) Competition and trolls
11) NLP
12) Religions
13) The West and Russia
14) Communism and Stalin. Should communism be condemned?
15) USA. Is it Empire of Good nowadays?
16) Conspiracies and world governments, and classes
17) Wars nowadays
18) Trolls
19) NLP
20) Kiosaki and two his Dads
21) Paranoia versus schizophrenia
22) Happiness, effectiveness
23) Being healthy
24) Developing facilities
25) Immortality of the soul
26) World of dreams
27) Yoga, Karma, Sansara, Sadhana
28) Do we deserve to be respected? Entrepreneurs attack - can you defend yourself?
29) The Ten Commandments
30) Truth and lies
31) Are insane people responsible?
32) Why did you come to this world?
33) Should all religions be tolerated?
34) Should we try to save this world?
35) Religion and sexuality
36) Moderalism
37) Russia and the West
38) Manipulations
39) Openness and Reticence
40) Psychoanalysis and Psychologists
41) Why do people lie?
42) Being clever is the stupidest choice in the world, isn’t it? Do you want to be clever?
43) Do you want to be charismatic?
44) Some very controversial principles of effective behavior
45) Keif-orientations
46) Bad habits. Are they really bad?
47) Is marriage obsolete?
48) Is everything allowed in sex? And why not?
Some topics for discussions in EFL Languages Group
1) Mind map of foreign language. Foreign language consist of... consist in...
2) Learning words. Mnemonics, flash cards, electronic flash cards, developing memory, etc...
3) "Magic" techniques of memory
4) What is magic?
5) Levels of understanding what studying foreign languages is
6) Approaches
7) Comprehensible input
8) Affective filter
9) Reading, speed reading, artistic reading
10) Working on voice
11) Polyglots and monoglots
12) Blind typing
13) Pronunciation
14) Phonology
15) Communication games
16) Levels of teaching
17) Rules of reading
18) Extreme reduction
19) Parallel texts
20) Interesting books and other resources
21) Computers, bookreaders, tablets and other gadgets
22) Movies and how to watch them
23) Tutorials, manuals, textbooks, exercises
24) Grammar books
25) Examinations
26) Hypnopedia
27) Translation, interpreting
28) English phonemes in Russian letters
29) Memory as vector graphics
30) Languages and sexuality
31) Languages and war
32) Motivation
33) Languages and children
34) Dictionaries
35) Physical health and brain
36) All channels of perception (modalities)
37) Bilingualism
