What is jeece?
May 05th 2010 00:25
I teach English to high school students. Several years ago, one of my students told me about something interesting that had happened to him after he had studied English for a few months. This is what he said:
When I was in the seventh grade, I went to a cram school during summer vacation to study math and English. One day in an English lesson the teacher said "jeece," but I didn't know what he meant by that. So I asked him what it meant.
The teacher looked surprised and said, "You must be joking! You know what "jeece" means, don't you?"
"No, I don't, " I said.
The teacher took out a pen and wrote "this" on my notebook page, saying, "You know that word, right?"
"Yes, I do. I know "this," but I thought you said "jeece."
On my way home from the cram school, I kept thinking about "jeece." I asked myself why the teacher wasn't able to pronounce such a simple word as "this" correctly, but I couldn't figure it out.
My student had only studied English for a couple of months, but he had already learned how to pronounce the "th" sound and the short "i," while the instructor at the cram school, who must have studied English for years, could only say what sounded like "jeece" to the student's ear. My student told me that he was lucky to have been taught how to pronounce English correctly so that he could acquire good habits in pronunciation while he was still a beginner.
When I was in the seventh grade, I went to a cram school during summer vacation to study math and English. One day in an English lesson the teacher said "jeece," but I didn't know what he meant by that. So I asked him what it meant.
The teacher looked surprised and said, "You must be joking! You know what "jeece" means, don't you?"
"No, I don't, " I said.
The teacher took out a pen and wrote "this" on my notebook page, saying, "You know that word, right?"
"Yes, I do. I know "this," but I thought you said "jeece."
On my way home from the cram school, I kept thinking about "jeece." I asked myself why the teacher wasn't able to pronounce such a simple word as "this" correctly, but I couldn't figure it out.
My student had only studied English for a couple of months, but he had already learned how to pronounce the "th" sound and the short "i," while the instructor at the cram school, who must have studied English for years, could only say what sounded like "jeece" to the student's ear. My student told me that he was lucky to have been taught how to pronounce English correctly so that he could acquire good habits in pronunciation while he was still a beginner.
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P.S I remember I've read an article about the word, cram school. The article mentioned that native english speakers usually don't use cram school, instead,they use another word. But I can't find the article now (T__T) and I can't figure out what the word is. I'll try to ask my American friend to see if what the article said is correct.
"it's not a word we use to describe anything in america.
we use it to describe asian schools students go to after regular school to study for tests."
And he also mentioned that there's no "cram school" in america. They only have "test prep schools" or "test preparation schools" and they are usually short-term.
It seems that American students are luckier than asian's.
Several years ago, one of my students told me about something interesting that had happened to him after he had been studying English for a few months. [A fine distinction, but if you leave it as "had studied", it sounds like he might have only studied English for a few months. This makes it clear that his studies were ongoing. The same issue happens a few times below.]
You know what 'jeece' means, don't you?" [It's quite a finer point of punctuation, but quotations within quotations alternate between single and double quotes. Here you have double quotes on the outside so single quotes need to go on the inside.]
I know 'this,' but I thought you said 'jeece.'"
My student had only been studying English for a couple of months, but he had already learned how to pronounce the "th" sound and the short "i," while the instructor at the cram school, who must have studied English for years, could only say what sounded like "jeece" to the student's ear.
When I was an exchange student in high school in Japan, they would have me sit in on some English classes to help out from time to time (although usually I'd just study Japanese on my own in the back of the room). The teacher's accent was terrible, but I could usually understand what she was trying to say. One day, however, she said "suretto" and I had no idea what that was. It turned out it was "threat." I was able to correct her (and the class) enough so that they could be understood, but I wonder how many Japanese students end up learning it just like that. A lot, I'd imagine.
Many, if not most, Japanese students start studying English without proper pronunciation training. Because of this, they have to face many more difficulties than otherwise as their study of English progresses. Can you imagine trying to learn English with only one pronunciation at your disposal for rose / roads / roars / loads / laws / lows ./ lords / raws?
Yeah, these things should be taught when you are still a beginner because it is harder to "relearn" something, eek. :]