Once again it's time to test the 2,000 students on their grasp of basic stumbling block sounds. I have 40 minutes of class time to test 55 kids at a time, and all of my years of practicing micro efficiency come into play.
This semester I covered V, SH, TH, L at the end of a word, and the chronic Guangdong habit of dropping the last consonant of a word. If you were an English challenged kid your pronunciation of this test would go something like this:
Wery.
Mudder.
Fank you.
Suntine.
Maso.
Airy.
Anudder.
Seasow.
Dey cane fron fie skoo.
Fortunately no one has tested like that so far, and many have gotten perfect scores, but the testing is far from over. What I have found is the need for more work on V next year. It isn't difficult to pronounce, but it hasn't been taught well through their educations, and too many are in the habit of talking like Chekov on Star Trek.
Once the testing is done on June 30 I am through with my first year at this school. I'll be teaching the kindergarten kids for another 3 weeks then it's vacation time, and a trip to the US.
Yow, American English!!!!
