Teresa Almeida d'Eça introduces Pronunciation Made Easy, a system that bridges Portuguese and English pronunciation. She also introduces Radical English, a group of EFL/ESL teachers with innovative ideas. She created an e-dictionary of over 3,000 words with their pronunciation in Portuguese and English. The system uses Portuguese sounds to make English pronunciation easier for students. It was very successful with her students, helping them improve quickly. She hopes to revive the system by publishing the e-dictionary online and suggesting interactive activities to help other Portuguese-speaking students and teachers.

1. Teresa Almeida d’Eça
25 April 2013
27th APPI Conference
Lisbon, Portugal

2.  introducing Pronunciation Made Easy, a
simple pronunciation system that bridges the
L1 and L2, Portuguese and English
 introducing and publicly launching Radical
English, a recently formed group of EFL/ESL
teachers with different and innovative ideas

3. Creating an e-book in fact, an e-dictionary
(www.authorsandspeakersnetwork.com)
(ad)venture

4.  English word – sound in L1 – translation
 3,000+ words
 self-publish in .pdf, later maybe in other e-book
formats

5.  Samples of
 .pdf version
 sounds & audio files
 possible activities to carry out

6.  Mar. 2012: contacted by Judy Thompson
 Nov. 2012: f2f meeting in Lydbury, England
 individual presentations
 wings to fly
 Radical English is born
 my task: bring the system back to life

7. Bridging L1 & L2
 Portuguese sounds make English pronunciation
easier
 a simple, homemade system that worked!
 a new era for my students and me
http://www.digibridge.net/teresadeca/school/pronunciation-A-H.htm

8.  diphthongs first came to my mind due to “I”
and other simple, but problematic words
 other sounds followed
 most difficult sounds to reproduce: th, w, y

9.  sounds of 3-4 words between // on the board
 random repetition at random moments of
lesson
 3-4 times correct = successful recipe
 word(s) & pronunciation went into Web page

10.  /ai/
 /ei/
 /ou/
 /au/
 /a/ as in “agora”
 /aé/
 /á/
 /é/
 /ó/
 I, eye, my, tie
 letter “a”, ache, day
 ago, low, toe
 allow, amount, blouse
 an, adult, cup, double
 add, black, cab, exam
 alarm, car, father
 any, exit, head, red
 ball, board, daughter

11.  /th/
 /th/
 /u/ for “w”
 /i/ for “y”
 /ch/
 /k/
 anything, both, think
 brother, that, the, they
 everywhere, what,
when
 beyond, year, yes,
yesterday
 education, sugar
 cancel, cat, dock, exact

12.  student level: 5th-7th graders (= 1st-3rd year
EFLers)
 a different and fun activity
 a challenge taken seriously and filled with great
learning moments

13.  students got better at pronunciation very quickly
 everyone wanted a winning recipe for the Web!
 a note-taker in each class

14.  “awaken” my system from a 4-year sleep
 why?
 creative and useful bridge between the L1 and L2
 potential to help many Portuguese-speaking students
 potential for creative influences on other L1s vs. English
 how?
 creating an e-dictionary based on the system
 suggesting interactive activities to go with it

15.  self-publish the e-dictionary in .pdf
 have it available at
http://teresadeca-radicalenglish.iconosites.com/

16.  help Portuguese-speaking teachers make
pronunciation easier for their students
 give students a fun and challenging way to
think about pronunciation
 influence other native languages in finding &
using creative and effective ways to “make
English pronunciation easier”

17. My e-dictionary is my contribution to
“ELT: From Strategy to Action”
Strategy = my simple pronunciation system
Action = self-publishing Pronunciation Made Easy

18. http://radicalenglish.com/
 a new (ad)venture of EFL/ESL teachers
 change in approaches to learning English
 vocabulary, grammar, speaking,
pronunciation, learning processes

19.  Judy: speaking methodology (EPA)
 Judit: vocabulary building (word boards)
 Teresa: pronunciation (bridging L1 and L2)
 Peggy: accent reduction & pronunciation
 Rita: grammar solutions & Global Approach
 Jennifer: learning processes

20.  simple and effective ways of learning English
 solutions that are practical and logical

21. Contribute to “change”
in the world of EFL/ESL!

22.  continue developing our areas of expertise
 promote Radical English and personal work
 RE website
 conferences
 monthly newsletter
 colleagues, students, friends

23. http://radicalenglish.com/
visit our website
learn about us
take a look at our individual sites
subscribe to our newsletter

24. http://teresadeca-radicalenglish.iconosites.com/ (PronMadeEasy)
http://www.digibridge.net/teresadeca/ (more on me)
You’re welcome to e-mail me at
teresadeca@gmail.com
Skype: teresadeca