Conversation Hour (8/7)

Hi all,

Yesterday was the first class of "Pronunciation Week," where all conversation hours will focus on some aspect of pronunciation. If you want to work on pronunciation, this is your week to attend conversation hours!

Today we looked at minimal pairs, which are words that only differ by one syllable and are very confusing for many people. Here are some examples of minimal pairs:

-badge & bad
-sit & seat
-thin & thing
-thing & tin
-very & berry
-but & bat
-page & pays
-sew & saw
-first & fast
-am & an
-with & whizz

After going over some common minimal pairs, we played a game where students were divided into two teams and asked to line up in front of a table with their hands behind their backs. I put down two cards with names of minimal pairs, and said one of them out loud. Students had to listen carefully and try to slap the card with the correct minimal pair before their colleague did. The first one to slap the right card and use the word in a sentence gained a point for their team.

We have many other activities planned for pronunciation week - hope to see you there!