Pas mal

Here is part of the letter I sent to Mr Allans several weeks ago for the application of the TA for freshman English course. I respond to his question of whether or not  playing a video clip with the Chinese subtitle and some suggestions for the English oral training in  a big class.  I did not get the TA position, but I think my opinion might be helpful for you who want to improve your English speaking and listening skills.



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Playing a video clip twice will not be so interesting, especially when the the students have seen all the punch line in Chinese. In addition, when translated into Chinese, the English content has been made some changes to conform to the Chinese context.  However, the biggest problem is that if there is Chinese subtitle, it's distracting and not easy for students to focus on the English. Most of the students will try to rely on the Chinese subtitle if they can't understand the spoken English in the video.

I think it's better to only play the film only once with English subtitle. Even though the students might not be able to understand everything spoken in English, they can still benefit from watching the subtitle, because all they expose to is English, no matter in spoken form or in written form.

This method works for me to improving my listening and speaking skill. English subtitle can help me understand the plot and get absorbed in the English environment. I will also take notes on the vocabulary and phrases taht I don't know, and I can always look them up afterwhile. This learning method can help students to know how to pronounce a word or phrase as a native speaker, which involves intonaiton, liaison, and so on. If they can adopt this method and keep on practicing, they will gradually get used to English, and acquired correct pronunciation. 

In the aural-oral training class of my freshman year, the teacher asked us to pick a short video clip, and perform the video clip with a partner in class each semester. We would do some rehearsal several times before the presention. When doing the practice, we have to listen carefully to the characters's pronunciation, intonation, emotion, and try to imitate them. This practice makes me focus on the way how people speak English, and usually I can find some subtle pronunciation error that I often make when speaking.

I think learning through imitation is very important, especially for listening and the speaking skill. Knowing what others says is the first step, and then students should try to imitate the way how an English native speaker use English. To acquire correct English pronunciation, repeating or shadowing with the English spoken audio or video material is good for Taiwanese students.