Here I’ll be posting thoughts on teaching and improving listening skills, as well as audio clips for the “daily squeeze” feature: little examples to savor the blends and blurs of quick, natural speech. Be sure to click through the previews below to hear the examples.
Let’s face it, understanding native speakers can be hard. If you’ve ever felt lost listening to a conversation in English, or frustrated when you tried to watch a movie in English, you know what I mean. I’ve been in that situation, too. When I studied in Russia for the first time, I often didn’t …
I’ve been reading JJ Wilson’s How to Teach Listening and finding that much of what he writes mirrors my own experience teaching advanced students. It also touches on what we want to accomplish with American Voices. Wilson writes, “Although there is an abundance of authentic material on the Internet, most of it doesn’t come in a …
I make bread for our family about once a week, usually two or three loaves. That’s not much, but since I do it all by hand, I can adjust the ingredients as I like. Whole wheat or white flour? Honey or brown sugar – or just yeast, salt, flour, and water? No problem. If I …