Grammar and Phonology toolkits

On this blog post I will talk about two of my classes, and teachers, at St John's. I will focus on the grammar and the phonology toolkits.Why these two? Because for me they present new ideas and new ways of looking at such important issues as Grammar and Phonology. Tamara is so passionate that is impossible not to vibe with her!I had never before heard of X-word Grammar and I love the idea of it. Deep down in my heart I have always dreamed of some kind of simplified way of teaching the basis of the English language.Being older than the rest of my fellow scholarship patterns I learned English through grammar and in my days grammar was not a bad word. Then methodology changed, improved, got reviewed and grammar became the cinderella of the English classroom. With Tamara's x-word grammar I find hope for the teaching of grammar in the classroom. As I wrote to her in my Dear Tamara letter I believe there is a new door opening for the implementation of grammar in a fun, attractive and communicative way in the classroom. The phonology toolkit is another great discovery and experience. Joyce is so musical, so rhytmical that it is impossible not to want to deal with phonology and suprasegmentals in my classes back home! I am totally convinced, as she is, that not getting the right rythm and the right stressing makes non native speakers hard, and sometimes, impossible, to understand by native English speakers. And it is very frustrating to be using the right words, the right sentence structure and yet not being understood! I have heard plenty of stories of that sort narrated by adult learners after a trip to the States! So why put all the effort and work on teaching words, structures, verb tenses without teaching the melody of the language, the chunking and the correct lengthening of the vowels????? I am going back home to Argentina with an important toolkit for my classes.Together with my rubber bands, my maracas and my kabooze I am carrying my 20 x words plus the 3 hidden ones and a lot of fresh air and new ideas to implement. What is more, I am carrying in my heart the warmth of two great teachers: Tamara and Joyce. This is my homage to both of them. Thank you!