Professional Development for English Teaching Success

If you identify with one or more of the following roles, then YES!

ESL/EFL teachers, content-area teachers, Speech therapists, reading specialists, literacy tutors, pronunciation/accent trainers, dialect coaches, and even choral directors use the Color Vowel® Chart. 

The Chart is used across the U.S. and around the world by English language teachers and learners of all ages and across a range of programs including K-12 schools, adult literacy, community colleges, Intensive English Programs, and international graduate support programs, as well as in MA TESOL, TEFL certificate, and teacher education programs.

The Color Vowel® Chart helps learners of all ages and proficiencies grow in their use of spoken and written English.

Advanced adult learners gain powerful strategies for speaking confidently in academic and workplace settings, while low-literacy adults and young language learners benefit from the meaningful use of color and the absence of additional terminology (such as the misleading reference to ‘long’ and ‘short’ vowels) as they learn to recognize relationships between how words sound and how words are spelled.

Learn more about alternative ways to talk about vowels in Color Vowel® Basics.

This question is best answered by our favorite mantra:

Don't teach it. Just use it. 

The Color Vowel® Chart is not something you 'show' or 'teach' – it's something you and your learners use and do to make sense of spoken English and how it relates to the written word.

The Chart itself is a visual and tactile touchstone for our multi-modal, brain-based approach to teaching English. Implemented effectively, the Color Vowel® Approach creates opportunities for learners to speak more while their teachers talk less. The best way to get started with the Chart and this powerful Approach is to purchase one of our starter kits and take our Color Vowel® Basics online training course.

The Color Vowel® Basics course is not a heavy lift in terms of time or energy, and you can implement the Approach in your classroom immediately. Our methodology is simple yet deep which means you don’t need to know it all in order to start using it. You’ll find that you’re actually saving time and getting better results as you integrate Color Vowel principles into every lesson.

School districts, colleges, universities, and community education programs all over the United States and in countries around the world are investing in their teachers and learners by infusing their curriculum with the Color Vowel® Approach.

Administrators and program directors can contact us at customersupport@colorvowel.com to request a quote for classroom materials or to learn more about our wide range of professional development services.

Our licensing and accreditation options enable English language programs to deliver cutting-edge instruction that attracts and retains motivated students and first-class faculty.

That’s an easy one!  Phonetic symbols are great for linguists and teachers, but are confusing for many students, adding a layer of complexity to the already challenging English vowel system that students need to learn.  Moreover, phonetic symbols have to be written in order to be used. (Think about it– apart from schwa, how many IPA symbols can you name?)

Turning to the board to write a symbol requires visual decoding and essentially disrupts the instructional focus on speech.  Color Vowels are a simple yet powerful mnemonic that can be referred to both orally and in writing. Learn more about how Color Vowel gives you and your learners an easy way to talk about spoken English in our Color Vowel® Basics asynchronous course.