Our catch phrase is on its way.

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

I am frequently asked how I came up with the notion of “The Jingles”. Here is how: Although my native language is English, my family moved to the Panama Canal Zone (now a part of Panama) when I was one year old. Since my mother was Honduran and a native speaker of Spanish, and my father American and a native speaker of English, I grew up hearing both “accents” in my home – and soon was aware that even when Mom spoke English, it sounded the same as when she talked Spanish. As for Dad, he never did pick up Spanish, so I realized that there was something “deep” inside a language that made it next to impossible for adults to pick that language up accurately -- particularly as regards pronunciation. I, on the other hand, as a small child, made rapid progress in both English and Spanish – and developed a feel for the phonological differences between them. Later, when I was in university, I learned that the hemispheres of the brain play an important role in listening comprehension and in speech. I then realized that since adults have brains in which the two hemispheres are connected only slightly, they needed a larger “bridge” to connect the two sides of the brain. I chose to develop a “TRAINING MODE”, a means by which a “large bridge” could be constructed for post-pubescent learners of English so that they could gain nativelike speech motor skills competency in English. I named the system in which this bridge was conceived “The Jingles”. This story will conclude in tomorrow’s installment.

Steve Walker

Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.