Contents
=> About Sound Advice
=> “Super Simple Sound Dictation”
=> “What Sound Do they Make?” - an unfinished sentence dictation
=> “The Sound of _______ ______ing” - an advanced sound dictation
=> In the Next Issues

“Sound advice” means good or wise advice. But in this case we’re punning a little. We’re going to offer some cool activities based on sounds.

What are the advantages of using sound? Well, variety is the spice of life, and certainly the spice of the classroom. Also it might appeal to more sound-oriented (rather than verbal-oriented) learning styles. But most important, sounds really focus on verbs. Perhaps it is easier to remember the verbs when we associate them with sounds. And more: the verbs that we focus on are unlikely to be found very often in our textbooks: like “chewing” or “burping.”

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“Super Simple Sound Dictation”
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Here is a super simple sound dictation. You (or a prepared student) will make the following 10 sounds (use gestures too, if need be) and others will write the words down.

1. yawn
2. burp
3. sneeze
4. slurp
5. clear throat — ahem! (This is the sound you make when you want to clear your throat or subtlely get someone’s attention)
6. snore
7. mumble
8. hum
9. cough
10. sniffle

Afterwards–once students know all these words–do a sound chorale repetition. This time you say the WORDS. Change the order of them. And students will make the correct sound. You say, “mumble” and the whole group mumbles. Try doing it faster and faster; students will laugh.

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What Sound Do they Make?” - an unfinished sentence dictation
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Another sort of dictation. You read the following phrases and students will try to complete the sentence by supplying the right sound verb. It’s good collocation practice.

Example: A snake __________ (answer: hisses)

(Be openminded and encouraging. Sometimes there’re more than one answer).

1. A cat __________
2. A lion __________
3. A frog __________
4. A toilet __________
5. A dog __________
6. An alarm __________
7. A baby __________
8. A bird __________
9. A bee __________

Answers

1. A cat meows/cries/mews
2. A lion roars
3. A frog croaks, ribbits
4. A toilet flushes
5. A dog barks/growls/pants
6. An alarm goes off/sounds
7. A baby cries
8. A bird sings/chirps
9. A bee/insect buzzes

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“The sound of _______ ______ing ” - an advanced sound dictation
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Here’s another way to do the above activity in the classroom. You need a little technical know-how. But only a little. Don’t be scared.

It’s easy to find sound effects on the internet (in MP3 or WAV files.) You can download them onto your computer and then burn a CD if your computer (or a friend’s computer) has that capability. Even if it doesn’t, you can do this: put a regular tape recorder next to the computer speakers and record the sounds onto cassette. The quality isn’t bad, and it’s so easy.

Once you’ve done that, you have a collection of sounds for your sound dictations that you can use year after year.

There are tons of free sound effects the net, and they are free. All of the sounds from the last activity you can find at simply the best . These sounds are in the “public domain,” meaning it’s perfectly legal to use them.

Here’s the sound of a woman kissing. We just don’t know who she’s kissing.

In this activity students will supply two words. They use this pattern…

THE SOUND OF _______ ________ING

… and identify both the source of the sound and the sound. So, for example, if you play the cat sound, and they write down

That’s the sound of a cat meowing

You can find all of the above sounds on this website, and many more.

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In the Next Issues
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May 21st
A Brief History of Mayonaise and Tatar Sauce

May 31st
Idioms from Baseball, from Hamilton Beck