Enhance the Learning Process with the Power of Music

Research has found that the ideal state for learning is when the brain is in a relaxed, but aware state.

So when we say relaxed, we do not mean asleep. We mean relaxed, focussed and aware.

At this point the brainwaves run at about 8 to 12 cycles per seconds or hertz.

This is called the alpha state.

This compares with the 'normal' state of 13-25 hertz which is called the beta state. The beta state is that of most of our waking moments as we go about our daily lives.

At the other end of the spectrum we find, just below the alpha level, the theta state which is even slower than alpha, and an even deeper sense of relaxation.

It is however more difficult to achieve, and really requires one to have the ability to meditate deeply. It is a highly creative state.

Slower still is the state of sleep which is the delta state.

So, How can the Alpha State be achieved?

Read On!!
It can be achieved in a number of ways and most of us achieve it at some during most days. A typical time may be just before one goes to sleep, or as one wakes.

At this time the mind is clear, receptive to information, and rapidly makes 'connections', realisations and joins up thoughts.One naturally enters the alpha state as one falls asleep, and when one slowly and naturally wakes up.

The blast of the alarm clock will shatter through theta-delta-alpha and to beta.

How does one harness this 'alpha state' on waking?

* As you awaken, just lie there and consciously direct your thoughts to the learning material you are covering, or the topics that you need to address.

This is particularly easy when you have no pressure to get out of bed, say on a weekend.

* Use a non-alarm type alarm clock. Use one of those that just wakes you up gently, for example like with quiet music that very slowly builds up.

Researchers have also found that certain music types ease the brainwaves into the relaxed 'alpha state' that is ideal for enhancing the learning process.

If you listen to music that contains rhythms at a frequency of 10 Hz,it will generate more brain waves at a frequency of 10 Hz, and enter a state of mental relaxation .


One form of this music is the largo movements of certain Baroque composers. The largo movements are around 40 to 60 beats per minute.

If you are a skeptic, why not try classical music while studying?

Suggested songs:

1. Aira, de la suite No.3
2. Adagio
3. Danza de los espíritus bienaventurados, de Orfeo y Eurídice
4. Largo de Xerxes
5. Canon en Re
6. andante, del concierto No.21 para piano
7. Adagio sostenuto
8. El cisne, del Carnaval de los animales
9. Muerte de Ase, de Peer Gynt
10. Meditación de Tahis
11. Intermezzo, de Cavalleria rusticana
12. Claro de luna
13. Fantasía sobre Greensleeves
14. Gnossienne No.1
15. Adagietto, de la sinfonía No.5

You can listen to the previous tracklist with just one click on the video below.


Bibliography

* " Música para el entrenamiento de las ondas cerebrales." Piano Red: sitio sobre pianos. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. http://www.pianored.com/musica/2007/10/28/ondas-cerebrales.
* "Alpha brainwaves are the optimum for Superlearning. 10 things you must know.." Language learning 200 words a day Spanish,French,German, Welsh-easy-effective.. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2010.http://www.200words-a-day.com/alpha.html.

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.

Read On!!


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

What are multi - word verbs?

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Copulative Verbs and Subjective Complements

7 Essential Student Motivation Techniques That You Must Use By: Honey Krumholz

As a teacher one of your top priorities is to be able to motivate your students. It's the key to drive them to reach their potential and achieve their future dreams and goals. Student motivation is a necessity so that the learning becomes a continuing, improving, interesting and hopefully enjoyable process.

Motivation to learn should be encouraged and developed from an early age. Young children have a natural curiosity to explore and learn about new things. As they grow older their motivation to learn may diminish (if not properly nourished), so you as a teacher, have a responsibility, to find ways to motivate your students.


Read On!!


There are so many ways for you to motivate your students but here are my top 7.

1. Develop a trusting relationship with your students. Show then that you care and you will create a genuine bond with them. Gain your students' respect and in most cases they will reciprocate. This is vital in establishing an atmosphere where learning is a positive, meaningful and valuable experience.

2. Everyone likes to make their own decisions, create their own personal choices, and have control of their lives. Students are no exception. So, as much as possible, give students more control. Allow students to choose their own ways of completing assignments, learning new or complex tasks, etc. Having control of your own rights, is a very resourceful motivational technique.

3. Relate assignments and class projects to real life situations. A common complaint of students is "What good is learning this, I'll never use this again?". So as they say "Keep it Real". In today's world, with all sorts of technology available, computers, the Internet, U Tube and other forms of video that can be brought into the classroom, it's easier and easier to put some excitement into your lessons and project assignments and keep your students interested and motivated.

4. Implement a reward system. Teaching strategies that offer praise and involve a reward system have proved to be extremely beneficial in motivating students. Teaching in primary grades is quite different than in junior grades and the reward system and prizes will differ, but for example, points can be awarded for achieving different tasks and awards such as free time, parties, educational books or other simple prizes are great motivational tools. Just make sure that your students realize that the reward system is a reward for finishing a task not for just participating!

5. Classroom games and class meetings to discuss personal topics like hobbies are fabulous for motivating students and team building. It's amazing how it does wonders for students' self esteem and camaraderie. Games and team building activities may also attract the unmotivated students you have in your class.

6. Having students help with some of the many jobs that need to be done in the classroom, will not only make your life as a teacher easier but classroom jobs are also a great student motivational tool.

7. Classroom displays help to make your classroom a stimulating and motivating environment in which to learn! Displaying their work for others to see, motivates students to learn, work and produce good quality results. Remember too, that it is important that students play a important part in decorating the classroom. When students feel ownership of their classroom, it motivates them and creates a positive learning environment.

Two important thoughts to keep in mind as you finish reading this article. Always display care, concern and encouragement for your students, and never give up on any unmotivated students or they will give up on themselves.



Honey Krumholz has taught elementary school for 33 years. She is presently a college supervisor and mentor to student teachers. She presents seminars on teaching strategies at York University in Toronto. Visit her website and get her effective teaching strategies on a wide variety of topics, for example, different games for classroom motivation http://www.priceless-teaching-strategies.com/classroom_games.html

The sounds of spoken Language

This site contains animated libraries of the phonetics sounds of English, German and Spanish. Available for each consonant and vowel is an animated articulatory diagram, a step-by-step decription, and video-audio of the sound spoken in context. It is intended for students of phonetics, linguistics and foreign language.


Click on the image to have a description of the different parts of the articulatory diagram.
Do you want to enlarge the interactive diagram of the articulatory anatomy?
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Why don't you choose a language?
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