Directions for the Teacher

General Use

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Pronunciation takes time. Adults will have to engage muscles they have not used and have a body awareness to produce new sounds. For this reason, we recommend the following:

Select one set of pairs (two sounds) for ten minutes each lesson - leave them wanting more rather than being frustrated.

Consider sounds related to the vocabulary, or select sounds that simply need to be practiced.

With consonant sounds, introduce the first sound in isolation and have students repeat.
- - - - EXAMPLE: Page 1 - say the "p" sound so that your students can feel the air flow (puh). Have students repeat several times before introducing "b."

Watch the Pronunciation videos on our website for more examples.
- - - - Intercambio.org/teachers
      - Intercambio.org/students

Step-by-Step Instructions

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Step-by-Step instructions for all minimal pairs

If you are working on consonant sounds practice the sound. If you are working on vowel sounds say the Color Vowel anchor phrase and then the sound in isolation: "GREEN TEA ee". This has proven itself effective if teachers and students, conveying that it's the foundational phrase that keeps you 'moored' to the vowel sound.

Introduce the second sound the same way.

Repeat the first sound and then say the first column of words. Student(s) can repeat.

Repeat steps one and two for the second round.

Say the first word pair for student(s), making sure they can see what your mouth is doing. Point to the picture if you are working one-on-one, or write the words on the board and point to the word you are saying if you are in a class. Point to and say each word at least 3 times. (It's okay for student(s) to repeat the word, but the focus is on hearing it.)

Say the word pairs while displaying the word pairs so students can point to or indicate the picture/word they hear.

Once student(s) have mastered step 6, make it harder by covering your mouth or turning your back to them. See if they can still pick out the right word.

Now student(s) are ready to produce the sound. Have them repeat the sound in isolation again.

Then say the word and have them repeat it. It can be helpful for them to use their phones or a mirror to see what their mouth is doing. Do this several times.

Useful Tools in Pronunciation

Stretch a rubber band sideways to show the GREEN TEA sound or stretch vertically to simulate the long jaw when saying the BLACK CAT sound.

Use a mirror or the "selfie" mode on a smart phone to see what your mouth is doing while making sounds. Record your teacher, practice the sounds, and then record yourself.

Touch your throat to feel the vibration when making sounds such as V and Z.

Use a piece of paper in front of your mouth to see the difference in air flow with sounds such as P vs B.

Why use the COLOR VOWEL Chart?

The English alphabet has only five vowel letters to represent 16 different vowel sounds. Spelling is therefore not a reliable guide for knowing how to pronounce a word. We use The COLOR VOWEL Chart in this book because it enables teachers and learners to talk about pronunciation without using letter names or phonetic symbols.

Where once a teacher may have said "Let's practice the 'e' sound," she can now say, "Let's practice GREEN TEA words," avoiding altogether the confusion of using letter names to describe sounds. The chart helps learners consider how a word sounds.

Click the "Color Vowel Chart" image to read more about this system.

Click Here to see the color vowel chart official teacher's guide (PDF)(not associated with the usage in this book and website, but is helpful to understand how these words/representations are intended to be used.

The Color Vowel Chart

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