SILC – Saying It Loud & Clear Instructional DVDs
Was For Bilingual-Speakers who wanted to be better understood as they spoke English.
SILC – Saying It Loud & Clear Instructional DVD, gave them 20 hours of instruction, practice, activities & tips – all to increase their English-speaking clearness.
It was developed by Joanne Galliher, who had a 30+ years’ career as a speech pathologist, teacher and vocational trainer. Before making it available in DVD form, she taught SILC in Australian classroom settings (at Bond University and at TAFE – Technical And Further Education) on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
SILC went further than what was offered by most English pronunciation improvement programs. Most English pronunciation improvement programs (CDs, DVDs, etc.) simply focused only on English sound pronunciation. As part of SILC, the student had a total of 2 hours of live tutoring with Joanne via Skype or Facebook Messenger Live audio-video chatting.
This edition of SILC consisted of 20 hours of instruction, practice, tips and many suggested out-of-lesson activities -- all to increase students' English-speaking pronunciation... all to make sure others understood them as they spoke English. Unlike previous SILC editions, this one did not include nor did it need an accompanying textbook.
SILC comprehensively includes --
8 Vowel Lessons – a, e, i, o & u plus the 22 special English vowels (examples – ow, ay and more)
8 Consonant Lessons – b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, qu, r, s, t, v, w, x & y plus blends (examples - br-, cl-, etc.) and special English consonants (examples - sh, ch, -tion, -sion, th-, wh- etc.)
1 Alphabet Lesson – helped students to verbally spell the English alphabet clearly. * How many times are we asked to spell? Our names… our street… etc.
10 Intonation Lessons – Correct intonation increases our overall English-speaking clearness by about 75%. SILC taught students to correctly lift and lower their pitch.
4 Word-stressing Lessons – SILC taught students a wide variety of word-stressing. Word-stressing can change the meaning of what you’re saying. For instance, note the change in emphasis in the following 2 sentences just by stressing the bolded & underlined word – Bill will cook dinner. Bill will cook dinner.
Many activities were given so the students would transfer their skills from the SILC lessons to daily English-speaking – One activity example is “make sure your speak English at least 3 times over lunch, correctly saying your ‘r’ words.” Another example activity is “use your audio recorder or the audio recording device on your mobile phone, practicing saying the directions to get from your house to your job – making sure you SPLL – speak Slowly, Pause between each word, speak Loud enough & always say each of your word’s Last sound.”
Many activities were given for ‘self-hearing’ –To speak your clearest English you must hear yourself; so you then can correct yourself. An example activity is “audio-record yourself saying the following information – your first & last name, your home address, your birth country, and the names of your family members… Play the recording back and check if every word was clearly said… OR, if you correctly said just the vowels…
*There are only a handful of SILC DVD kits left... They each CONSISTS OF five (5) individual DVDs that give 20 hours of instruction/practice/tips/activities for AUD$125.00. Delivery is free. Use this website's Contact Page if you are interested in purchasing.
SILC is currently only available in NTSC viewing format. *See ‘NTSC Chart’ for which countries use NTSC viewing format.
SILC's 'Before' and 'After' Test -
Before and then after doing SILC do audio-recordings – as a way to hear if you have improved you need to make 2 separate audio-recordings. Most mobile or cell phones have a means to audio record. BEFORE BEGINNING SILC, audio-record yourself saying the following information – “My full name is ____________. I’m ____ old and I was born in ________________. My family members’ names are _________________________________. Here are some of the things I love doing for fun _________________________________________. If I could live in any English-speaking country I would choose _______________ because ______________________________________________________.” Save that recording so you can listen to it after you finish the last day of SILC. AFTER YOU FINISH the last day of SILC, make a 2nd audio recording saying the same as you did in your audio-recording you made BEFORE STARTING SILC. Listen to the first audio-recording. Then, listen to the second audio-recording. Hopefully, you will hear considerable improvement in your English-speaking clarity.
SILC DVD Program Instructions:
It will take 20 days to complete SILC, which consists of 20 hours of instruction/practice. *For optimum benefit you should do SILC in 20 consecutive days. Leaving too many days in between lessons breaks the continuity and reduces the success of the SILC. *Refer to the sample SILC RECORD SHEET below. Write the date you do each step. You only do ONE DVD per day. Lessons will range between about 47 minutes to 74 minutes. YOU WILL NEED TO HAVE A SHEET OF PAPER AND PEN HANDY which you will use to quickly write-down any activities the Instructor gives you to do (example: “During lunch every day, make sure you say your r’s correctly…”). You can shorten that when you write it to for instance, “every lunch see if I say r’s correctly.” KEEP DVD on ‘PAUSE’ for ONLY 3 or so seconds as you write-down the activity you will do…any longer and you may lose your place in the DVD lesson playing.
Your SILC PLAN or SILC RECORD SHEET
Day 1 use DVD 1 (Date_________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 50 minutes.
Day 2 use DVD 1 (Date_________) sit with your back to the Instructor – so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 50 minutes.
Day 3 use DVD 1 (Date________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 50 minutes.
Day 4 use DVD 1 (Date________) sit with your back to the Instructor – so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 50 minutes.
Day 5 use DVD 2 (Date_________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 70 minutes.
Day 6 use DVD 2 (Date_________) sit with your back to the Instructor -- so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 70 minutes.
Day 7 use DVD 2 (Date_________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 70 minutes.
Day 8 use DVD 2 (Date_________) sit with your back to the Instructor – so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length about 70 minutes.
Day 9 use DVD 3 (Date___________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 74 minutes.
Day 10 use DVD 3 (Date__________) sit with your back to the Instructor – so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 74 minutes.
Day 11 use DVD 3 (Date_________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 74 minutes.
Day 12 use DVD 3 (Date________) sit with your back to the Instructor – so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 74 minutes.
Day13 use DVD 4 (Date________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 47 minutes.
Day 14 use DVD 4 (Date__________) sit with your back to the Instructor – so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 47 minutes.
Day 15 use DVD 4 (Date_________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 47 minutes.
Day 16 use DVD 4 (Date__________) sit with your back to the Instructor – so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 47 minutes.
Day 17 use DVD 5 (Date________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 51 minutes.
Day 18 use DVD 5 (Date________) sit with your back to the Instructor –so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 51 minutes.
Day 19 use DVD 5 (Date__________) sit facing the Instructor – so you see & hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 51 minutes.
Day 20 use DVD 5 (Date__________) sit with your back to the Instructor – so all you can do is hear the Instructor. Lesson length is about 51 minutes.
Find Out If You Can Play SILC in your Country-- i.e. if it is NTSC
National Television System Committee (NTSC) Countries:
Antigua, El Salvador, Philippines, Bahamas,Ecuador,Puerto Rico,Barbados, Guam, Saipan,Barbuda, Guatemala, Samoa, Belize,Haiti,
South Korea, Bermuda, Honduras, Saint Kitts, Bolivia,
Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Burma, Japan, Saint Vincent, Cambodia, Mexico,
Surinam, Canada, Midway Islands, Taiwan, Cayman Islands,
Netherland Antilles, Tobago, Chile, Nicaragua, Trinidad, Colombia,
North Mariana Island, United States, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela,
Cuba, Peru and Virgin Islands
Scroll back up to the Menu to find out more about Joanne Galliher