PLACE NAMES BY RHYTHM AND STRESS

A useful way to teach phonics to children is to use the names in the country which they know already. 

They do not need phonic symbols as the words have been in patterns that have been chanted many times by the students. They know many of the names from their family lives.

They are seeing in writing the names they already know. The stressed syllables are in yellow

a-lo-tau, bu-ka-vu, mi-si-ma, yan-go-ru, e-ri-ku,  kam-ku-mung

Now the place names can be a routine part of chanting patterns.

I will go to A-lo-tau

He was born in Bu-ka-vu

My father works in Mi-si-ma

Let us go to Yan-go-ru.

I go to school in E-ri-ku.

My family lives at Kam-ku-mung.

I might get a job working for Michael Learns to Rock. They came out to PNG recently and were amazed that whole audiences knew the words of all their songs. Rock groups like the rhythm and rhyming of simple words.

Names of places in the world have been found in songs because of the music and rhythm of the words:

Think of the rhythm of West Vir-gi-nia, She-nan-do- ah Val-ley and So-we-to.
I am going back to Min-ne-so-ta
I goin to leave old Dur-ham town.

There is only one song I know of that has no weak stresses. That is the British national anthem. 

God save our gracious Queen
Long live our noble Queen
God save our Queen

One day an African writer will compose a song with the line:

I'm goin back to Tan-gan-yi-ka.

Or a Russian will write about the spring coming to Vla-di-vos-tok.

No not Vla-di-vos-tok. Barbarian.

I would not dare write a song about love in C-zech-o-slo-va-ki-a.