University level, but I've also taught younger students in tutorials. Chinese students have the same problems as Japanese -- very few chances to practice speaking English. Their school lessons are all about reading, writing and grammar.
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Yeah, one difference I'm aware of is that Japanese tend to be more shy, which isn't very helpful for learning to speak.
But it's the same here in the schools. Focus is on reading and writing, and the obvious problem with that is that written English is usually very different from conversational. So the goal here is to write about spoken English in the style of spoken English, as much as that is possible. Kinda hard to ritespokeninglishlikeitsrillyspokenyano?
Exactly. That's what I tell my students again and again. Spoken English has only the slightest connection to how it's written down. I teach them both listening and speaking, and I try to bring their attention to common speech patterns, y'know?
BTW, American Accent Training by Ann Cook is a helpful book. Have you ever used it?
Thanks
Yep, I know.
No, I haven't used that book but I have seen it online. I have gotten away from using books and gone to teaching strictly with audio. Of course reading is important too, but I find most students don't do enough listening so I try to get them into the habit. Saves me on printing costs too.
Nice