How should my English sound? Lesson 3

How should my English sound? Lesson 3

Pardon me? Could you say that again? - Understanding conversation

Let's check this conversation:

A: I've just got this one bag.

B: Wow! Do you always travel so light?

A: Yeah. I can't stand the wait, you know at the airport...

B: Yeah. I know. My bag's really heavy. But it's got wheels, so I don't have to carry it.

A: No, I mean the waiting, you know, waiting for your cases to come out on the belt.

It seems we have a little misunderstanding here. What is the cause of it?

Though the speaker may pronounce the words clearly when they speak there can be a misunderstanding if in the context there are words with the same pronunciation.

Another good example is when you ask a Londoner the time and he answers: It's 'free' forty-four. In this case we can understand that 'free' actually is 'three' from the context.

Look at this video: Can you get all the misunderstandings in the video? Sometimes it's difficult to understand what people say due to their accent.

Exercise:

In each of the sentences below there is one word misspelt because it reproduces a different kind of accent. Guess from the context which word is wrong.

1. She is a very famous rider of romantic novels.
2. I read about it in the noos paper.
3. She went to the casualty because she suffered a art attack.
4. We watched the film and den we went to bed.
5. We want to tank you.
6. With a bit of look we can win the game.

Bibliography: HANKOK, Mark. English Pronunciation in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

he answers to the questions may be sent to:
e-mail: eng.4.today@gmail.com
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All the answers will commented by the teacher and sent back by email.
Please comment and give suggestion about the lessons and the prgramme.
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How should my English sound? Lesson 2

How my English should sound? Lesson 2

Eye, my, mine – Introducing syllables.

We can divide a word in one or more syllables. For example 'mum' has only one syllable, 'mother' has two syllables and 'grandmother' has three. A syllable is a group of one or more sounds. The essential part of a syllable is the vowel (V). Some syllables are just one vowel sounds as in eye /aɪ/ and owe /əʊ/.

Syllables can have consonant sounds (C) before the V (CV), after the V (VC) and before and after the V (CVC). Here are some examples. All the words has only one syllable.

CV – go /gəʊ/; my /maɪ/; know /nəʊ/; weigh /weɪ/.

VC – if /ɪf/; egg /eg/; ice /aɪs/; eight /eɪt/.

CVC – ten /ten/; nose/nəʊz/; mouse /maʊs/; knife /naɪf/.

Remember! Letters are not the same as sounds. For example the consonant letters 'w' and 'y' are not consonant sounds if the come after the vowel in words like 'law' /lɔː/ and 'pay' /peɪ/. They are part of the vowel sound, that is, 'aw' = /ɔː/ and 'ay' = /eɪ/. It can also happen in some southern English accents with the letter 'r', for example: car /kɑː/, hair /heə/ and poor /pɔː/.

It is common to call syllable the number of parts in a written word. In phonetics, syllable is the number of times we need to emit a sound to pronounce a word. For example we can divide the word chocolate as cho-co-late, but when we say it, we only pronounce two syllables /ˈtʃɒk.lət/. The dot shows the syllabic division. Here are some other examples. Some words may be pronounced with fewer syllables than in writing: different /dɪf.ər.ənt ; comfortable /kʌm .fə.tə.bl/; interesting /ɪn.trəs.tɪŋ/; *secretary /ˈsek.rə.tri/. (* In American English this word is pronounced /ˈsek.rə.ter.i/).

The first syllable in these words has the same sounds, but in the opposite order: chicken /ˈtʃɪk.ɪn/; kitchen /ˈkɪtʃ.ən/. When we build a sentence with similar words like these, it may be difficult to say. It is called 'tongue-twisters' like in: Richard checked the chicken in the kitchen.

Now it's time to exercise:

1. Organise the words according to the groups below:
   
   aunt, cook, dad, doctor, grandfather, officer, passenger, sister, teacher, uncle
   
   1 syllable:
   2 syllables:
   3 syllables:
   
   
2. The spelling changes if you change the order of sounds in these one-syllable words from CV to VC.
   a) /lɔː/ /ɔːl/
   b) /deɪ/ /eɪd/
   c) /nəʊ/ /əʊn/
   d) /peɪ/ /eɪp/
   e) /tiː/ /iːt/
   f) /meɪ/ /eɪm/

Bibliography: HANKOK, Mark. English Pronunciation in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

The answers to the questions may be sent to:
e-mail: eng.4.today@gmail.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/eng4today
Facebook: www.facebook.com/eng4today
All the answers will commented by the teacher and sent back by email.
Please comment and give suggestion about the lessons and the prgramme.
This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.

English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

English Clockworking - Demystifying English Grammar

Study Block 1: The verb and its characteristics
Part 1: Nice to meet you, I am a verb.

In this first block we will discover the verb is a mate full of special powers and weaknesses. We will see they have conjugation characteristics, duration, meaning, voice, mood, etc.

1. Duration of a verb: Stative verbs vs dynamic verbs:
   
   The verbs according to its duration, that is the meaning period of time described by the verb, can be stative or dynamic.
   
   Stative verbs are those ones who have no duration and no distinguished endpoint because they describe states, characteristics about something or someone and states and characteristics can't be considered over time Let's see some examples:
   
   Jeff has red hair. ('has' shows a characteristic about Jeff).
   Nimlot likes his students very much. ('likes' shows Nimlot's feelings).
   Julia wants a computer. ('wants' shows Julia's desire about a computer).
   
   One important thing about the stative verb is the fact they can't be used in the continuous tenses because of their indefinite duration. So we can never say 'Jeff is having red hair' because his hair is always red.
   
   Here are some important verbs that deserve our attention once they are stative: Like, know, belong, love, realise, fit, hate, suppose, contain, want, mean, consist, need, understand, seem, prefer, believe, depend, agree, remember, matter, mind, recognise, see, own, appear, look (=seem), sound, taste, smell, hear, astonish, deny, disagree, please, impress, satisfy, promise, surprise, doubt, think (=have an opinion), feel (=have an opinion), wish, imagine, concern, dislike, be, have, deserve, involve, include, lack, measure (=have length etc), possess, owe, weigh (=have weight). These verbs CAN'T be used in continuous tenses.
   
   Dynamic verbs ave duration, that is, they occur over time. This time may or may not have a defined endpoit and may or may not have ocurred. Let's see some examples:
   
   Jeff teaches French with CEM. ('teaches' show an action Jeff performs as a routine).
   Linda travels to her parents' house every year. ('travels' shows an action linda performs every year). Dynamic verbs can either be simple or continuous once they express actions over time. So, we can also say 'Jeff is teaching French with CEM at the moment' and 'Linda is travelling to her mother house'.
   *** Observation***
   
   Some verbs can be either stative or dynamic depending on the meaning.
   The main verbs in this category are: be, have, see, taste, think. Let's some examples with more details.
   
   You are stupid! (stative – 'are' shows a personality trace).
   You are being stupid” (dynamic – 'are being' in this case means behaving or acting)
   
   I have a car. (stative – 'have' shows something which is mine).
   I'm having lunch. (dynamic – 'have lunch is an expression which has the meaning of eating).
   
   I see two red birds there. (stative – 'see' is an ability you have).
   I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow. (dynamic – 'seeing' has the meaning of meeting).
2. Exercise: Decide if the verb is stative or dynamic.
   a) I have lunch with my family most evenings.
   b) I own two cats.
   c)I think orange juice is healthy.
   d) I'm thinking about moving to a new place.
   e)The new dish you prepared tastes great!
   f)I'm tasting the soup to see if it is too salty.

The answers to the questions may be sent to:
e-mail: eng.4.today@gmail.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/eng4today
Facebook: www.facebook.com/eng4today
All the answers will commented by the teacher and sent back by email.
Please comment and give suggestion about the lessons and the prgramme.
This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.

English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Reading in the garden - Activity 1

Reading in the garden – Activity 1

Alliteration

Even notice how many cartoon characters have alliterated monikers. Woody Woodpecker. KO KO the Klown. Betty Boop. Duffy Duck. Tom Terrific. Pepe Le Pew. Mickey Mouse. Clyde Crashcup. TinTin Dudley Do-Right Count Chocolate, Tony the Tiger, Captain Crunch (boy I loved that stuff, three bowl in the morning a good time was to be had by all) Superman’s girlfriends were all alliteraty. Lana Lang from Smallville, Lois Lane reporter for the Daily Planet, Lori Lemaris, a mermaid from the sunken city of Atlantis Lyla Llerol, an actress from the bottle-city of Kandor, and Lena Luthor, Lex Luthor's sib. Sufferin' succotash.

Drip

Drip.
Drip.
Drip.

The faucet on the bathroom sink is leaking.

I get out of bed, walk to the bathroom, and tighten the knob.

And then go back to bed.

The water company will probably charge us more this month.

Not because of the wasted water, mind you. They have plenty of water.

Too much water, and it's gone to their heads.

Now, instead of charging people for the water they use, they hold everybody ransom with the threat of opening the valves at night and drowning you in your sleep.

It starts with a drip, I hear.

Drip.
Drip.

Glass beads

When you're done working a glass bead in the torch, you can't just drop it in a cooling blanket.

You need to cool it slowly so it doesn't cool too quickly.

If the bead cools too quickly, it'll break as it cools or weaken it so it will eventually break from stress fractures.

You need to cool it gradually to relieve those stresses.

That is why we must anneal it in the kiln.

It's kinda like life, really. Taking time to cool down properly.

Now put down that knife and get off the ledge slowly, please. You're making a scene.

Source: 100 world stories http://podcasting.isfullofcrap.com/

This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.


English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

How should my English sound? Lesson 1

How my English should sound? Lesson 1

Part 1: Introduction to letters and sounds.

In writing words are made of letters. In speaking words are made of sounds. But letters are not always the same as sounds. For example the words 'car' and 'key' begin with the same sound /k/, but they are spelt different. If we see them in using phonemic symbols, that are a kind of special alphabet for writing sounds, they would be /kɑː/ and /kiː/.

The following group of words have use different letters (spelling) but they have the same sound.

Buy – Bye
Week – Weak
Two – To – Too
Sun – Son
Weigh – Way
Write – Write

The modern English alphabet consists of 26 letters. In this alphabet we can find vowels (a,e,i,o and u) and consonants (b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,y and z) and we use all of them to write any word in English. If we consider speaking, we also have vowel sounds and consonant sounds. The number of spelling consonants and vowels are not always the same number of phonetic consonants and vowels. A good example is the word 'calf': It is composed of 4 consonant and 1 vowel in spelling, but it has only 3 sounds – a consonant, a vowel and a consonant (CVC). If we compare the spelling with the sound we'll have: calf – /kɑːf/.

Let's practise a little bit:
1 – How many sounds are there in each word? Remember that in English the number of letter is not always the number of sounds.
1. dog
2. rabbit
3. frog
4. gorilla
5. snake
6. bee

2 – Now let's analyse the sounds according to the rhymes. Do they have the same first sounds? Do they rhyme? A rhyme happens when we group two or more words together and they have similar sounds. It is widely used to create, for example, cartoon names.

1. Phil the fox
2. Mary the canary
3. Ida the spider
4. Claire the bear
5. Polly the parrot
6. Deborah the zebra
7. Myrtle the turtle
8. Kitty the cat

Bibliography: HANKOK, Mark. English Pronunciation in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.


English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

English for Today News

Dear English for Today Friends.

After some time without any new activities on both blog and Facebook, I glady announce that English for Today is back to activity with news.

1. The webpage www.sites.google.com/site/eng4today is officially cancelled. All written stuff will be posted on English for Today blog - www.eng4today.blogspot.com, and the links for the activities can be found on English for Today Facebook page - www.facebook.com/eng4today,  and on English for Today twitter - www.twitter.com/eng4today (Feel more than invited to follow it :D) and also by English for Today Friends group message on Second Life.

2. Now English for Today also has a profile on Youtube - www.youtube.com/eng4today. The videos are still being prepared. The links for the videos will also be shared on Facebook, Twitter and SL English for Today Friends group.

3. Finally, we now also have a space on Skype. It is the English for Today Conference Centre - www.skype.com/eng.4.today . There we can have chats whose subjects can be chosen by the participants, English grammar doubt solutions, pronunciation tips and English lessons. But to make it possible I need your help. I would ask to all English for Today Friends who are interested in this model of acticity and already have a Skype profile to send me an e-mail on eng.4.today@gmail.com with your Skype profile name and the best time for the activities according to your time zone and free time. After analysing an suitable time to all participants a schedule will be made and shared will you. If you don't have a Skype account you can create a profile on www.skype.com .

Feel free to ask about the activities or give suggestions to improve them. Send a e-mail to eng.4.today@gmail.com or if you are a Second Life member send a notecard titled 'Doubt about English for Today' or 'Suggestion for English for Today'.

Thank you very much for being an English for Today Friend

Nimlot Logan

This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.

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Writing: Description

Today we'll see our first text modality, description. Through description we can share with people what we see and feel about the world. When we use description we make them imagine what we saw and experienced. To make it possible we use a very special kind of word: the adjective. So, let's learn how to use the adjective in our descriptions?

Order of the adjectives

When using more than one adjective to describe a noun we must pay attention to some rules:

a) Adjectives expressing opinion come first than adjectives meaning fact in word order
Ex: What a beautiful (opinion, that is, it is what you think about the rose) red (fact, the rose is red) rose.
b) Adjectives which describe general qualities come before those ones describing particular qualities.
Ex: John has a fast (general quality, that is, other cars can be fast) grey (more particular quality, that is, among all the cars we are talking about a grey one) car.

Exercise: Now we will practise a little our description skills. It'll be presented to you a painting named 'casinha nas montanhas' (little house by the mountains) by the Brazilian painter Antonia B.S. Faria.
Try to extract the most details you can from this painting using the tips above.

 Casinha nas montanhas. © 2011 Antonia B.S. Faria. This painting was used in this page with the prior consent of the author.

The answers to the questions may be sent to:
e-mail: eng.4.today@gmail.com
Orkut: http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Profile?uid=13978883568364259345
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/English-for-Today/177566135615065?
All the answers will commented by the teacher and sent back by email.
Please comment and give suggestion about the lessons and the blog.
This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.

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