Wednesday, October 15, 2008

English Rhythm

What a wonderful phonetics class! I will share some valuable tips Shirley Thompson gave us to make pronunciation a rich experience.
  • English rhythm comes from stressing some syllables and not others.
  • English Melody comes from pitch changes.
  • Stress new information, the Last context word in a thought group, to show contrast, to focus the listener .

And what is a thought group?

According to Shirley Thompson a thought group:

  • has meaning and is a grammatical unit, usually has one primary stress, has its own intonation pattern, is follewed by a brief pause, has linked sounds, a pause has some power to draw your attention to what the speaker is trying to say.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Become an expert at being a beginner...

What does that phrase mean to you? I think we shouldn't give anything for granted.
How can we become an expert at being a beginner?
Interacting is important, Collaborative learning could be useful, Organization is practical, Enthusiasm is essential. Today at MEI, Katheleen D. Carroll M. Ed., shared with us her knowledge of Multiple Intelligences. According to Dr. Howard Gardner there are 8 types of intelligences: Verbal, Spatial, Bodily/knesthetic, Musical, Logical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Naturalist.
Katheleen taught us MIntelligence Strategies and we had a valuable learning experience at MEI.
Relevant information can be found at http://www.pz.harvard.edu/Default.htm.

Monday, October 13, 2008

"Culture hides much more than it reveals..."

"Culture hides much more than it reveals, an strangely enough what it hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants. Years of study have convinced me that the real job is not to understand foreign culture but to understand our own. " Edward T. Hall (1914- )
Reflecting upon this quote on E. Hall written in the book "American Ways".......

This week will be a success if.....

This week will be a success if I find my place in the world. I think this professor exchance experience will help me a lot.