I have been learning English all my life and living in an English speaking country for about ten years now. I always thought I knew and spoke English well enough until recently when I was forced to study phonics. I have been homeschooling my son, Sam, since he was 5 years old. (Homeschool is another form of education wherein the child is taught at home by parents or tutors instead of attending regular school.) For Sam's reading class, I use the book called The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington, designed for ordinary parents like me to effectively teach our little children how to read. The method used in this book is explicit phonics as I have explained above. After three months of using this book with my son, he started picking up basic phonetic sounds and was able to read short words. Now, Sam can read confidently on his own although we are only halfway through the book. I can just imagine how much more he'll improve as we go over the rest of the book.
You may argue that who else here in this club does not know how to read and therefore, what's the point of using the phonics book as a reference. That may be true; however, not everyone that can read can read or pronounce properly. Many learners are confronted with that dilemma. For many, speaking may not be as easy as writing but it can be done...and it can be done right. All you need to do is learn how to sound it out.
There is no successful substitute for explicit phonics. If you want to read or say the word right, then you must learn the basic phonetic sounds. I never intended to learn phonics for myself but in the process of teaching it to my son, I have learned so many things I never realized before. I have corrected myself so many times and felt that I have improved my reading and speaking skills all because I learned phonics. My English is still far from perfection and I intend to keep learning. So, if you are the kind of learner who is eager and desperate to read and speak in English with great confidence, I suggest you approach phonics.
Instructions: To begin with the lessons, please CLICK HERE. You may move from one lesson to the next one when you feel that you are ready to do so. Lessons must be followed in the order given here for more effective learning. Lessons will be uploaded regularly. I encourage you to record your own voice when practicing for each lesson and upload it under that specific lesson if you want me to keep track of your progress. I prefer you use AUDIOBOO or VOCAROO when recording and embed it here for easier access. But of course, any other recording format will work as well. Please send me a message if you have any questions regarding this group. Thank you and happy learning!
-OHNIE-
Comments
happy new year all:D
i have to improve my speaking. Add me please. skype: peace.bold
Last Thursday, millions of Americans ate turkey as part of a traditional meal on Thanksgiving, a national holiday. Turkey is also popular on Christmas.
In the past, half of all turkeys sold in the United States were eaten during the holidays. Now that share is thirty percent, as more turkey products appear on the market. Over the years Americans have been eating less red meat and more chicken and turkey. Turkey is now the fourth most popular meat.
The National Turkey Federation in New York represents the industry. The group says Americans eat two times more turkey than they did twenty-five years ago. Last year the average amount per person was eight kilograms. Americans are second only to Israelis in the amount of turkey eaten. The French are third.
Six percent of turkeys raised in the United States are exported. Mexico is the top importer. Next come Hong Kong, Russia and Taiwan.
Over the years, growers have developed birds that are better for industrial meat production. A turkey hen lays eighty to one-hundred eggs in a season. To fertilize the eggs, reproduction is left not to nature but to the process of artificial insemination.
Farmed turkeys grow very quickly. In fourteen weeks, a hen weighs seven kilograms and is ready for market. Male turkeys, called toms, are grown longer. In eighteen weeks, a male turkey weighs more than fourteen kilograms. Hens are usually sold as whole birds. The toms are processed into meat products.
Two-thirds of the cost to raise a turkey is in the food they eat. Farmed turkeys eat a mixture of corn and soybean with vitamins and minerals added. To raise a fourteen-kilogram bird requires about thirty-six kilograms of food.
Most turkeys are raised inside barns. But higher-priced turkeys may be permitted to go outside in the open air. Farm turkeys cannot fly, and even wild turkeys cannot fly very far.
The Department of Agriculture says turkeys are not fed hormones to increase growth. It says turkeys may receive antibiotic drugs to prevent disease and increase feed efficiency. There are turkeys raised without antibiotics or feed grown with chemicals. But people who want to feed their families an organic turkey for the holidays, or any time, pay a higher price at the store.
I like this group because phonics is very helpful. When I was a boy we learned phonics in school and my parents had me reading at a very young age. Phonics just made it easier to guess the sound of new words.
Then for some reason schools quit using phonics for many years. The children that didn't have phonics were not always strong readers like I was. I think it is great that Ohnie started this and is sharing information about phonics.
Good job meine freund
Well, We all are lazy in writing and reading. I recommend to transfer this group to Skype.
And you know in speaking everyone is so quick, they overtake each other :D
Thank you everyone for joining this group. Some of you may not even need this group but I appreciate your support and I hope that I could be of help in your English learning one way or another.
Dim, I appreciate you doing this record and for sharing this here. No doubt that learning the basic sounds will help you with your pronunciation. I challenge and encourage you to persistently follow the phonics lessons one by one. When you do, you will notice the big improvement in the end. When that time comes, listen again to your recording below and you'll be surprised that this guy was you.
(^,^)
An amazing group .. I am really impressed you are doing a challenging task teaching your son at home alone.. just WOW
Keep it up
Ohnie, thats really admirable how your son is able to read at the age of six!!! Your hard work was worth it!!! hats off!
Ohnie, thats really admirable how your son is able to read at the age of six!!! Your hard work was worth it!!! hats off!