Teach English in Dongzhao GezhuAng Zhen - Tianjin

Problems for students in KoreaEnglish as a foreign language can be a very hard language to learn. Its complexity and many exceptions make it difficult for students of other languages to grasp and reproduce. Pronunciation especially, is made even more difficult for students by the difference in the way a word is spelled and then how it is actually pronounced within the english language. For Korean students, the main differences between the two languages revolve around intonation and stress, vowels, consonants and phonetic differences. The purpose of this article will be to take a closer look at some of the more common pronunciation problems Korean students experience when learning english. One reason why Korean students have trouble speaking english is due to the fact that some of the sounds in the english language do not exist in their native tongue. Labiodental, Dental and Palatal sounds do not exist in Korean, making the pronunciation of phonemes such as /b, g, d, f, v/ very difficult. This further impedes their ability to distinguish between english sounds. For example, Korean students tend to confuse the following allophonic sounds together: ?f? with ?p,? ?b? with ?v,? ?l? with ?r? and ?j? with ?z.? Since so many words within the english language are very similar, students often mistakenly pronounce words such as ?feel? with peel? and ?berry? with ?very.? Vowels especially are difficult for Korean students to articulate, again due to the lack of certain phonemes within their own language. These confusions in pronunciation can result in misunderstandings between native speakers and students in conversations. Complications also occur with the stressed and unstressed syllables in english. In Korean for example, there are no stressed and unstressed vowels. This makes it difficult for them to understand when and how to pronounce unstressed syllables. In fact, when pronouncing a word, Koreans tend to stress all the syllables instead of just the ones that are supposed to be stressed. Stress in english involves duration, intensity and pitch. Since syllables within the Korean language are always stressed, it is hard for them to understand which syllable to stress when speaking english and how stress can change the meaning of a word. Because they stress all of their syllables, it creates a type of monotone within their own language and thus makes the understanding of the different degrees of stress in english difficult. Since they are pre-inclined to speak in a monotone, it can make it hard to understand what a student is trying to say in english. Their inability to understand how stress is used in english makes it very difficult for them to accurately reproduce english words in conversation. Within the Korean language, a syllable is usually formed in the following way as consonant, vowel, consonant. In the english language however, it is not uncommon for three consonants to succeed each other in a syllable. This can create problems for Korean students because in their native language, it is a rule to place a vowel between consonants. This changes the pronunciation of the word and can in fact change the entire meaning of the word when spoken. For example, take the word ?plight? in english. It is not uncommon for Korean students to change the word and add an ?o,? which changes the pronunciation of the word from ?plight? to ?polite,? causing confusion. When learning how to speak english, Korean students tend to have problems pronouncing and understanding the stress and intonation within the words. They also have difficulties pronouncing english consonants and vowels due to the fact that some are not present within their own language. These primary pronunciation difficulties branch from the major differences which exist between the two languages. Practice and continuous exposure to the spoken english language can help alleviate these problems.