Rhythm is something we experience from the very first moment of our existence: when we hear our mother’s heartbeat. It is a completely natural phenomenon for us. For children, whispering mantras, repeating counting rhymes, clapping to the pattern of syllables or playing the drum becomes as addictive as watching a TV series is for adults.
It turns out that rhythmical repetition of words and phrases provides great results when learning English and facilitates memorising target language in a natural and automatic manner.
Using rhythm in teaching introduces great variety to exercises in class. Clapping to the pronounced words or using rhythm markers while uttering whole sentences stimulates several senses at the same time (hearing, touch, sight). Because of this pronunciation classes are never boring. Students can talk rhythmically in a group, or individually while following the teacher, sometimes as quiet as mice, and at other times as loudly as bees in a busy hive; sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, more or less as they prefer. The variations are endless.
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