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LINGUE IN PIAZZA Ref. 225857-CP-1-2005-1-IT-LIN
GUA-L1.

• Autonomy in language learning

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Autonomous learning means

• Control over the learning process
• Acquiring learning strategies
• Acquiring ways to use these strategies without
  the help of a teacher (Thomson -1996 we are
  born independent students but when we learn a
  language , autonomousn learning becomes difficult
  and we prefer the direction of a teacher)
• More control over objectives
• More control over the ways in which we learn

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Autonomous learning

• Offers learners the freedom to take decisions
  on- content
• - organization
• - pace of study

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An autonomous learner is

• Methodical and disciplined
• Logical and analytical
• reflective
• flexible
• Responsible and persistent
• Creative and willing to take risks
• confident
• Aware of the learning process
• Able to assess and criticise

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Before starting

• I must accept responsibilty for my studies
• I must understand the aims of my studies
• I must know my level of English
• I must identify my immediate aims
• I must plan my learning programme. The use of a
  diary is useful. When the student writes a
  learning plan, the level of involvement increases
  Martyn 1994
• I must identify learning problems
• I must be able to select
• I must understand the learning process
• I must measure my progress from time to time

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The autonomous student doesnt need to be alone!

• Autonomous learning does not mean isolated
  learning. Several studies have shown that many
  aspects of learning are best done with other
  students
• Study groups
• Tandem
• chat

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Why is English so difficult?

• There are so many words! There are more words in
  English than in any other language in the world.
  English is a Germanic language but with the
  Norman conquest, many new words entered the
  language from French and Latin. For example, the
  Anglo-Saxons had two words for cooking - cook
  and bake but the French who were perhaps better
  cooks introduced many more words fry, grill,
  roast.
• In the Renaissance, the English language was
  considered to be inferior so many words were
  introduced from French, Italian and Spanish. For
  this reason, we often have two or more words when
  one would be enough!
• Freedom (Anglo-Saxon) liberty
  (French)
• Graveyard (Anglo-Saxon) cemetery
  (French)
• Heaven (Anglo-Saxon) paradise
  (French)
• Read about the language www.lingueinpiazza.it

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Why is English so difficult?

• The spoken word often does not reflect the
  written version
• The English and Americans eat their words!
• The pronunciation is difficult
• It is not a logical language and there are many
  exceptions to the rules

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But there are some advantages!

• The structure of English is quite simple. There
  are no cases or declinations the relationship
  of words depends on word order. Nouns do not have
  a gender and the adjectives do not change
• Considering the ubiquity of the English language,
  it is quite easy to find ways to learn it
  autonomously 70 of Internet sites are in
  English for example and many world famous
  musicians are English or American

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Why dont you write English as you speak it?

• The main reasons date back to the Middle Ages
  when the written language was more or less fixed.
  There are various different dialects in Britain
  and in the 13 century, everyone wrote in his own
  dialect. Then the London dialect became the
  official written language. The dialect of London
  changed over the centuries but the written
  version remained the same. Therefore we still
  have the written language of seven centuries ago
  though the spoken language has changed. For
  example, the pronunciation of vowels has changed
  and many consonants are no longer pronounced in
  certain words
• (Wednesday, know, gnome, scientist)

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• Another problem goes back to the Norman conquest.
  The Norman scribes wrote English according to
  French writing conventions. For example, the word
  country was pronounced cuntri by the
  Anglo-Saxons but the French wrote ou for the
  u sound

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• In the eigthteenth century, scholars tried to
  improve the language by inserting consonants to
  indicate the Latin origin of the word. No English
  person has ever pronounced the s in the word
  island it was put in to indicate the Latin
  root as in castle, debt, doubt, receipt, tomb

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So how canI learn to pronounce English well?

• There arent any rules for English pronunciation!
  Some words that contain sounds that look similar
  are pronounced very differently (good, food,
  blood) and otheres that look completely different
  are pronounced in the same way (right, write)
• Dont despair. You need to learn the phonetics
  symbols that represent sounds and things will
  seem easier.

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Vowel sounds

• i see, sea, be
• I Italy, rich, sit
• U put, book, foot
• U food, rude, shoe, two, you, flew
• e ten, hen, pen, men
• ? cup, love, bus
• Æ hat, apple, fat
• a car, father, party
• ? girl, world, pearl, Thursday
• ? four, door, daughter, raw, more
• ? ago, America, colour, mother
• ? orange, Australia, honour

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• 1. i bead
• 2. I bid
• 3. U bud (N. English)
• 4. U booed
• 5. e bed
• 6. ? bud
• 7. Æ bad
• 8. a bard
• 9. ? bird
• 10. ? bored
• 11. ? cupboard
• 12. ? body
• Which vowel do these words contain? EARTH
  HARD LORD
• LOVE LEAVE WHO AUSTRIA SHIP
  RICH REACH APPLE THURSDAY BREAD CALL
  

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DIPTHONGS

• I ? here, near, fear
• eI late, hate, (the rain in Spain falls mainly
  on the plain)
• u? pure, sure
• ?I toy, boy
• ea hair, fair, air
• aI five, dive
• au how now brown cow
• ?u home, window, hello

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• You say yes, I say no You say stop and I say go,
  go, go Oh, no You say goodbye and I say hello
  Hello, hello I don't know why you say goodbye
  I say hello Hello, hello I don't know why you
  say goodbye I say hello I say high, you say low
  You say why, and I say I don't know Oh, no You
  say goodbye and I say hello Hello, hello I
  don't know why you say goodbye I say hello
  Hello, hello I don't know why you say goodbye
  I say hello Why, why, why, why, why, why Do
  you say good bye Goodbye, bye, bye, bye, bye
  Oh, no You say goodbye and I say hello Hello,
  hello I don't know why you say goodbye I say
  hello Hello, hello I don't know why you say
  goodbye I say hello hello, hello I don't know
  why you say goodbye I say hello Hello

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CONSONANTS

• p pen, pill
• b bar, bad
• t tea, take
• d do did
• tƒ cheese, choose
• dz June January
• k cat, cream
• g good
• f fall
• v voice
• ? thin, north
• ð those, these
• s so, see
• z rose shoes

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• she. Shoes
• (she sells sea shells on the sea shore and the
  shells she sells are sea-shells)
• ? pleasure, treasure
• m
• n
• ? thing, sing
• H
• l
• r
• w
• Europe, yes

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• Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far awayNow
  it looks as thought they're here to stayOh I
  believe in yesterday
• Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to
  beThere's a shadow hanging over meOh yesterday,
  came suddenly
• Why she, had to goI don't know she wouldn't
  sayI said, something wrongNow I long for
  yesterday
• Yesterday, love was such an easy game to playNow
  I need a place to hide awayOh I believe in
  yesterday.
• Why she, had to go I don't knowShe wouldn't
  sayI said, something wrongNow I long for
  yesterday
• Yesterday, love was such an easy game to playNow
  I need a place to hide awayOh I believe in
  yesterday.

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Go onto the site www.yourDictionary.comand find
the pronunciation for these words

• Reign colonel
• Sword appalling
• Malignant doubt
• Knight exhausting
• Amazing scientist
• Oregano birthday
• Arrangement cupboard
• Mountain further

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Test your English First you must find your level
of English do a test on a website

• www.learn4good.com (40 questions to establish
  your level quite easy)
• www.englishlearner.com (you already need to know
  your level)
• www.languagesystems.com (a bit difficult)
• www.learnenglish.org (very difficult)

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Study groups

• Find two or three people in the group of your
  level (go round the class asking whats your
  level of English?)
• Discuss why you want to learn English
• What are the difficulties in your opinion?
• How can you overcome these difficulties?
• Do you know your learning style? Do you have a
  good memory? Do you have to write down words to
  learn them?

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In your groups of two or three, try to write a
learning plan

• For example
• Understand better the pronuncation
• Buy a good dictionary
• Do exercises on verbs
• Learn irregular past verbs
• Learn some useful expressions