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6/24/2010

b と d が区別できない生徒と、th と z の区別ができない教師

よく「bとdの区別もできない生徒がいて...」ということを言う教師がいる。しかし、dog を bog という生徒も、bus を dus という生徒もいない。音が言語の本質だということが分からず、たんに文字を書かせようとするから、そういうトンチンカンな発言がでる。英語教師として向いている方向が違うんだよ。その反面、中学1年で出てきたはずの the を、英語教師になってまで、za と発音している人間のなんと多いことか。恥を知れ。そのほうがよっぽどひどい。

A lot of English teachers complain that some of their students confuse "b" with "d." There is, however, not a single student in this world who pronounces "dog" as "bog," or "bus" as "dus." What that means is that they all can tell a "b" from a "d" all right. What the my-students-cannot-tell-b-from-d remark reveals is that the teacher does not understand what is fundamentally important about a language: language is sounds. They need to get their priorities straight. On the other hand, it is truly mind-boggling to realize that Japanese EFL teachers who still have not acquired the proper pronunciation of the little word "the," which they pronounce as "za," are not exceptional at all. Shame on you, DO-KA-TA-KA-NA teachers! That is worse than the b/d letter confusion. I feel sorry for your students to be taught by you.