Poems for Pronunciation

Reading short poems is a really good way to develop your vocabulary and reading skills and even your pronunciation. Poems are also good because many are quite short so you can read them quite quickly.

Today's activity will show you how to get a new poem each day from Every Day Poets and how you can get help with the pronunciation of the words and then record yourself saying the poems.

Task:

  • The first thing you will need to do is to go to: http://www.everydaypoets.com/ This site publishes a new poem everyday. If you add your email address to the subscribe box you will then receive a new poem everyday in your email.
  • When you receive your poem, or using the one on the website, try to read it out aloud. You can check the pronunciation of any new words by using http://www.howjsay.com/ just type in any word you are unsure of and you will hear someone saying the word.
  • Once you are sure that you can read the poem and pronounce all the words, then go to: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Here you can download a small piece of software that you can use on your computer to record and listen to yourself.
  • Once you have downloaded the software, simply open it, make sure you have microphone ready and then click the red 'Record ' button and read your poem. As you read you will see a sound wave being created.
  • Once you have recorded the poem press 'Stop' and then listen to yourself by pressing the greeen 'Play'. If you are happy with the poem save it, if you want to try to record it again and make it better, click on the X to delete the file and record again.
  • Be sure to save your recordings and come back and listen to them again a week or two later. As your pronunciation improves you might want to record them again. You can save the recordings by going to the File menu then clicking on 'Export As WAV'.


I hope you enjoy this activity and record a new poem everyday. Here you can find more Pronunciation Activities

Related links for teachers:
Best

Nik Peachey

11 comments:

Alicia Barbitta - Wonderalica in SL said...

Nik , you know you're great...I wonder each day the amount of inspiration you have, the well developed and ordered activities you suggest...it's really magic!

I do appreciate your sharing and inspiring other teachers how to make students improve their english.

Keep on!
alicia

Nik Peachey said...

Thanks Alicia
I'm afraid it's an addiction. I can't help myself.

Best

Nik

Nina Lyulkun said...

Dear Nik, It's a very good addiction!
I am suscribed to your blogs, the activities you have been offering are fantastic! Thanks a million for sharing. Your blogs are inexhaustible sources for students and teachers to learn and teach, and improve Engllish. I really bow down before you.

God bless you!
Nina

Nik Peachey said...

@Nagora
Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you find something useful here, though the bowing isn't necessary. It's nice for me to start the day with such a kind comment and it will help me to work harder.
Thanks and best wishes.
Nik

Henry Lawson Poems said...

What a wonderful idea, thank you for sharing Nik.

Teacher Dave said...

From another Nik fan:
Here's an idea for Audacity. You can listen and record at the same time if you check the appropriate box in Preferences. Thus a student could READ ALONG with a poem, song, whatever, then play back what he has recorded for comparison -- Audacity has a 'solo' and a 'mute' button so the student can listen to himself either solo or in conjunction with the original native-speaker audio.

KALINAGO ENGLISH said...

Brilliant tip! I can't wait to share it with my students.

(Thanks to Anne H for sending me here)

K

Esther said...

I think it's wonderful to integrate technology to classes. I'm studying to be an ESL teacher and I'm taking a class on how to use technology in the classroom. I think these ideas are a great way for students to learn at the same time they are having fun. I actually did the "Poems for Pronunciation" and I liked it very much. By listening to the recording I could identify better the words I'm not saying correctly. Thank very much for taking the time to post your ideas in this blog; they are very helpful for all of us.

Nik Peachey said...

Thanks Esther
I'm glad this worked for you. Thanks for letting me know.
Best
Nik

Beatriz said...

Thanks so much Nik! It's a fabulous idea. I have shared it with my students hoping they find it useful and put it into practice.

Carissa Peck said...

Thank you again for agreeing to let us use this point in the 34th ELT Blog Carnival! http://eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2013/09/elt-blog-carnival-pronunciation.html It was a much loved addition.

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