Help! Common Student Errors

[merymo]

Hi,

I am currently doing the TEFL course, after getting bored with my financial job. This is a new career path for me and I'm stuck on one of the tasks. I am to correct common student mistakes. I know what the mistakes are, but I just don't know how to explain them.

The task is as follows:

These are some common student errors. Correct the error and decide why the student made the error (usually it's because of a problem with meaning or form or pronunciation..)
Example:
"I hit the milk for 2 minutes"
Pronunciation - Heat not hit. Student needs long i sound /i:/ to make word correct. /hi:t/

I have to work with the following:

a) I am like pasta.

I know that the student is trying to say that they like pasta. The form is incorrect, hence, the meaning of the sentence has changed.

b) He burgled the bank.

I'm not too sure, is it, ''he robbed a bank".

c) He have gone to the concert.

Wrong tense has been used here, it should have been "has" not ''have".

d) He bot a new suet.

Spelling errors, "he brought a new suit"

e) You musted to register yesterday.

You 'had' to register yesterday.

f) She came back from India and she looks very tin.

''thin'' not ''tin''.

The main problem, I'm having is, how do i answer these questions, as i don't fully understand the /i:/ concept. Can you also recommend any further readings, where I can fully understand the concepts of using IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

A new teacher in the making :-)

[tdchris]

You can read about IPA on wikipedia.

Also, most online dictionaries will both show the IPA and pronounce it for you. Try a few different ones until you get the hang of it.

As for explaining _why_ something is correct/incorrect, you need to get ahold of a good grammar book.

You can look through some pages here:
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Grammar ... 0521559286

The same goes for vocab, there are books that have lessons/explanations for the differences between: robbed/mugged/burgled/etc... I can't think of any books off the top of my head, but a simple google search has some answers:

I just searched for: "difference between robbed/mugged/burgled"

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=c ... ed/burgled

Good luck

[richardj]

Thats really a good source, and seems will contribute something useful.