It all begins with an idea

The idea for the interactive phonemic chart began in 2015. There were a few great interactive charts but none that used video. I was developing a way of teaching pronunciation which focused on a mindful kinaesthetic approach. I was teaching at Morley College London and co-running a film cooperative, The Service, producing videos, animation and more. The mixture of these two seemingly contrasting careers led me to apply for an innovation fund, available from the college, to produce 44 films and audio for an interactive chart.

The application was successful but I was asked to produce the chart on the college’s intranet. Fine in theory, but in practice, doing this in a moodle-based system was not ideal. To cut a long story short, the first series, filmed with the aid of my colleague Louise at the cooperative, was useful in terms of working out how to present each film, but appearing personally made us feel just plain embarrassed. We decided to invest funds to film and design the phoneme symbols with the highest production values, and I worked with Add10 on the interactivity that can be seen today. Filming and editing with my colleague Juanan, and putting all together was a real labour of love, involving sweat, tears, as well as thousands and thousands of hours! Would I do it again? Not so sure, but the fact that it was shortlisted for the prestigious British Council ELTons award was a gift. It didn’t win, and the BBC’s ‘Tim’s Pronunciation Workshop deserved that prize, but nice to be shortlisted as a recognition of the chart’s usefulness.

For a couple of years, the chart appeared on The Learning Service website, as a subsidiary of the main cooperative website. This and the cooperative have now been dissolved, but I have gratitude for that experience. I set up JDtalks so that the chart can continue its existence and be used for free. May all who find it a useful tool enjoy!

I’m also interested in developing more ideas on mindful pronunciation teaching and communication. Let’s see where the path winds on that.