Pronunciation teaching: doing your homework on the L1

Why the myth about ‘native speakers’ being better language teachers? If you want to learn a language, you’d be well advised to look for a qualified teacher who shares the same first language as yourself, or at least knows it well. I can testify from my own experience that teaching pronunciation to someone whose language I know nothing about is like wading across a river when you can’t see the bottom: you just don’t know where the slippery boulders are! I will call this situation, ‘teaching blind’.

2 Replies to “Pronunciation teaching: doing your homework on the L1”

  1. How true! I agree wholeheartedly with your description of the dangers of becoming “anaethsetised to error”. We’re not just wading blindly across the river, but might also be muddying the waters as we go.

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