Save the Voice for Last

What did I do wrong? It worked so well with the second graders last year! The second graders had figured out what made [z] different from [s] in pretty short order. Remember the kid who said,“Your tongue vibrates more for the Z”? And the one who said, “Your teeth vibrate more, too”? They nailed that distinction in voicing, and from there we were able to sort all the other consonant sounds into ones that were voiced like [z], and ones that were voiceless like [s]. But now, here I was with Adam’s first grade class, and the same technique was crashing. Maybe I should explain…

Even More Elementary School Linguistics

“Okay, ready?” I asked. All Doug’s classmates put a hand on their throat, and we began: “Aaaaaalaaaaaa.” I couldn’t resist adding, “Peanut butter sandwiches!” One girl said, “Huh?” Other kids just looked puzzled. What had I been thinking? Had I really expected them to catch a 1970s Sesame Street reference? That’s OK; I had no idea what the kids in the back were doing when my “peanut butter sandwiches” line inspired them to start chanting, “It’s peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly time!”

Now for my Lost/Alias-style transition: 20 MINUTES EARLIER

“I Saw a Ogre!”: More Elementary-School Linguistics

Last Friday I delivered my second linguistics presentation at Doug and Adam’s elementary school. I’d mentioned to Doug’s first-grade teacher from last year that I’d done a presentation in Mrs. K’s room, and could do one for her if she wanted. She said sure, and asked if I could do something about when to use a vs. an. Let’s see, should I tell about the way I did the presentation, or the way I should have done the presentation? We’ll go with the way I did do it.

LSA 2007: Elementary School Linguistics

“Before we start,” I said, “I need to make sure I know what language you guys speak.”

“English!” they said.

“Ah, good! That’s what I speak, too. So Mrs. K,” I said, turning to Adam’s teacher, “Do they speak English pretty well?” She said they did. “OK,” I said. “Let me try a little test.