The IPA-SAM phonetic fonts - Now freely downloadable!

The IPA-SAM phonetic fonts are TrueType® fonts for use on IBM-compatible PCs running Windows. (They also work on Mac OSX.) With them installed, you can display phonetic symbols on the screen and print them out in any size. The IPA-SAM character set includes all the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet as currently recognized by the IPA. There are three typefaces: Doulos (similar to Times), Sophia (san serif) and Manuscript (similar to Courier, monospaced). All are available in regular, bold, italic, and bold italic.
The most useful phonetic symbols are mapped onto the keys of the ordinary keyboard. For example, if you type shift-D you get ð, while shift-C gives you ç; instead of the figure 2 you get ø and instead of the @ symbol you get a schwa. In this way you can immediately access all the symbols you need for the phonemic or broad-phonetic transcription of English, French, German, Spanish and many other languages. All the cardinal vowel symbols, primary and secondary, are here, together with a range of allophonic or general-phonetic symbols and stress marks (glottal stop, tapped r, dark l, r-coloured schwa, voiceless alveolar lateral fricative, palatalization diacritic, syllabicity mark, hacek, right arrow...). These key assignments are based on the SAM-PA recommendations.

The remaining IPA symbols -- numbering more than a hundred -- have been assigned to ANSI numbers in a logical order. They can be accessed by using the computer's numeric keypad while holding down the Alt key. All diacritics are 'floating', i.e. can be attached to any letter. There are also a number of phonetic symbols here that are seen in use from time to time although not (or no longer) recognized by the IPA.

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BBC Learning English - Pronunciation tips

The sounds of English
There is a system of symbols for writing the sounds of English. We have a guide to these symbols and also videos to show how to pronounce each of the sounds.

There are also activities to practise identifiying the difference between certain sounds which may sound similar.

Features of English
Information about different elements of English pronunciation.

There are also interactive and downloadable exercises to help you build your understanding of these areas.

Quizzes
Interactive quizzes to test your knowledge of and help you learn about English pronunciation.

Programmes
Three radio programmes from 2005 on the topic of pronunciation. You can download the full programmes along with the script and audio examples.


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Mind Your Language

Mind Your Language is a British comedy television series, that premiered on ITV in late 1977. Produced by LWT and directed by Stuart Allen, it is set in a school for adult students in London, focusing on the English as a Foreign Language class taught by Mr. Jeremy Brown, portrayed by Barry Evans, who had to deal with a motley crew of foreigners. Three series were made by LWT between 1977-79, and the show was briefly revived in 1986 with some of the original cast.
The series focuses on the adult students of the English as a Foreign Language class in a London school. The classes take place in the early evening, and are taught by Mr. Brown, though on occasion other individuals take over the class if he is not available. The class consists of foreigners with varying degrees of English proficiency. The humour of the show is derived from the students misunderstanding English words or terms, and plays up to the cultural stereotype of their individual nation of origin.

Season One takes place over a full school year, starting with Mr. Brown being hired by the Headmistress Miss Courtney, and ends with the students sitting for their Lower Cambridge Certificate. Season Two begins at the start of the next school year, with all ten previous students returning after having failed their exam, and two new students joining them, for a total of twelve. Season One and Two primarily took place within the classroom, but the later seasons explored settings outside of the school.

More recently the show has been criticised as being politically incorrect and even racist, but in its day the show was popular because of its light-hearted take on multiculturalism and because it gave some otherwise unrepresented minorities a television presence, albeit represented as caricatures.

Why don't you have a look at the first episode?



Bibliography

• "Mind Your Language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 7 Feb. 2009

Learn English Physically

Allen J Hoge looks into learning English through total physical response.

One student struggles to learn English. His speaking is slow and hesitant. His pronunciation is garbled and heavily accented. He is painful to listen to.
Another student speaks easily. English flows from her, seemingly without effort. Her pronunciation is clear; her voice is strong.
We all know both types of students. The question is, what creates the difference between them. Why do some students forever struggle to speak English fluently, while others seem to do so naturally, with a minimum of effort?
Some teachers believe that genes or ingrained talent determine a students success. But there is no research to support this opinion and it is, in fact, totally false. Students do not fail or succeed because of talent or genetics.

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Success or failure are ultimately determined by one simple thing: how the student learns. Students who use inferior learning methods get inferior results. Students who employ the very best learning strategies get superior results. It is that simple.
The trick, of course, is knowing which methods to use. There are, of course, a wealth of highly effective English learning methods. Unfortunately, most are not taught in traditional schools.
One of the most effective methods for learning English is to learn the language physically. Research by Dr. James Asher shows that combining physical movement with language learning produces powerful results. Dr. Asher developed a method called Total Physical Response as a way to teach language through physical movement.
What we find is that combining physical movement with intellectual learning creates stronger neurological connections in our nervous system. In other words, we more quickly wire our brains.. thus learning faster, remembering more, and remembering longer.
Studies at San Jose State University show that students who moved their bodies while learning English learned more vocabulary and grammar in a shorter time, compared with students who learned the same material while sitting still. More remarkably, when tested one year later, the students who learned with movement still remembered 80% or more of what they had learned, while the non-moving students had forgotten over 80%.
So how can you put this to use? One simple suggestion is to always be moving while learning English. Go for a walk or run as you listen to a lesson- do not sit still as you learn.
For even better results, try this: as you listen to a story or article, physically mime the action. For example, if you hear the word go, move your feet as if walking. Pretend you are an actor who is physically acting out the action of the story.
By doing this, you wire the language deeply into your nervous system and subconscious. As a result, you will learn more English, remember it longer, and be able to use it more easily.

Bibliography

Learn English Physically. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2009, from http://www.eslbase.com/articles/physical.asp