Music is part of the English language, even if we don't realise.
(Chanting) Concentration. Concentration. Concentration, are you ready? Concentration, now beginning. Rachael.
Concentration. Are you ready? Concentration now beginning.
And so they've had the same words twice, first time they've stressed every syllable and then the second time they've
condensed it already to two beats.
So when they're putting a name, they have to decide which syllable they're going to
stress and how they're going to fit it into the rhyme and this is of course what we
do with stress timing naturally as English speakers.
Concentration. Concentration. Concentration, now beginning. Concentration, are you ready? Rachael. Stacy.
(Laughing)
So they have a safe structure which they produce the rhyme in, but then they have this tiny
bit that they have to change and they can explore stress timing within that constraint.
Do you agree?
Black socks never get dirty. The longer you wear them the cleaner they get. Sometimes
I think I should wash them but then a voice says to me don't do it...
(Student) Yet. Sometimes I think I should wash them
(Students) Sometimes I think I should wash them
but then a voice says to me don't do it yet. (Students) but then a voice says to me
don't do it yet.
'Black socks' is two syllables and they have two beats. 'Never get dirty' so those two
words that you've got, 'never get dirty' that you have to condense into two beats.
'The longer you wear them'
again,
'the cleaner they get'. So they have these...
they're constantly squashing words into beats.
Three words, any three words. One. Two...
Black socks never get dirty. The longer you wear them the.. (Students) I, the I! I.
(Teacher) Three. Sometimes I think I should wash them but then a voice says to me don't do it yet.
Okay right, now we're going to do it
in four separate rounds.
So you guys go. 'Black socks never get dirty. The longer you wear them the cleaner they get'.
'Black socks' but you keep singing!
(All together)...the cleaner they get.
Sometimes I think I should wash them but then a voice says to me don't do it yet.
There are four different things being said in the classroom at that time. Everybody still
has the same beat and so what is really important is that beat that keeps everybody together.
(Rounds) Sometimes I think I should wash them but then a voice says to me don't do it yet.
And it can be quite powerful and exciting, the way it sounds can be really amazing and
yet, at the same time, you're giving them this practice that's fundamental especially
for Chinese speakers who don't have that stress timing. It's, like it's really important practice
to try and get them to understand and recognise and use these patterns.