Draw Me a PictureTools for Visual Learners

Judy ThompsonTESL Ontario 2015

AgendaWhy learners don’t speak English no matter how long

they study? 2 minutesSpoken English is different from Written English Venn

Language Diagrams 15 minutesThe missing bridge between writing and speaking.

Thompson Vowel Chart 15 minutesThe Six-Point Model for Speaking English 10 minutesGrammar Goodies - Rita Baker 3 minutesConclusion 2

minutes

Why Don’t Learners Speak English Now?We have no idea how to teach Speaking

http://bit.ly/Xtgyw9Manuel Story – Heartbreaker Alert - my CLB 3

super student from Paraguay was a doctor in his country, 50 yrs old, wanted to practice medicine in CanadaHe completed CLB 8 passing all his tests with flying colors but didn’t speak English any differently than the day he arrived in this country Manuel would never be a doctor in Canada because I didn’t teach him to speak English

It changed my life – I vowed never to let students down this way again

William Caxton Split English in Two

Writing vs. SpeakingWe Only Teach Writing Because it is All We Learned to Do

In case I forget to mention:Only say things that are true – all the time – no

exceptionsUse the information students already know –

ABC, colors, numbers – true is true at every level

It’s empowering to start every lesson with, “You know this already” – I’ll show you how to do that

Vowel sounds are the main problem but there is an easy fix. Each vowel sound is found in the name of a different color

Every Word in English is a ColorThis is the Bridge to Pronunciation

Regardless of spelling:Gray words: day, rain, great, eight, ate..Black words: cat, half, laugh, plaid...Pink words: sister, pretty, women, busy...

JUdy is BlueWhat color is your name? Do this with an elastic band to help your

students find the stressed syllable/name colorBlank Color Vowel Chart class exercise

The Vast Majority of Learners are Beginner/Intermediate

The Vowel Chart is their Golden Key to Speaking Success

RecapWriting and Speaking are different and we

know most about writingColors are a perfect bridge from Writing to

Speaking (and back but we aren’t doing that)Every word in English is a color The color holds the pronunciation and the all-

important WORD STRESSThe pattern is the same for Sentence StressThe Linking consonants ‘y’ & ‘w’ are also in

the chart

More Fun VennsVocabulary Doesn’t Belong in the Intersection

Writing and Speaking Vocabulary are too Different

Students are Not MuteAny two languages are more the same than

differentLearners already make most of the sounds they

need to speak English effectivelyStart with what learners already know

What is the difference between accent and intelligibility?

You have to ask me back for that.

English and Spanish

English and French

English and Arabic

Rita Baker – The Global ApproachAll Possible Grammar Structures on One Page

SummaryIt’s possible we make learning English more

difficult than it has to beEnglish is simple – not easy, but simpleIt take 30 hours to teach the PATTERNS of

English that are always trueIf you don’t know them – find them on the

internet

Do you see the arrow in the FedEx logo? You can’t un-know things you see now that you never noticed before.

Please Sign UpRegister for the 2016 Teacher Training

workshop Coaching vs. Teaching coming to a city near you

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