Wadjasay? American English Pronunciation Practice

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! In this podcast we’ll practice two vowel sounds: the “uh” sound in “cup” and the “ah” sound in “cop”. A cop is a policeman. The cop is holding a cup. 1. I climbed into a hot truck. 2. My father bothers me about dumb stuff. 3. I have a bug in a cup. 4. The cop stopped and dropped his mop. 5. The mobster was a th...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! 1. By this time tomorrow I’ll be in London. 2. I’ll meet you at the library this evening.    3. Mary ate a large breakfast this morning. 4. At the beginning of this month, Alex moved to New York. 5. I’m coming back to this beach next summer. 6. This is the way to the director’s office. 7. Where shall I put thes...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! The Magician A magician was working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. The audience would be different each week, so the magician allowed himself to do the same tricks over and over again. There was only one problem: The captain's parrot saw the shows every week and began to understand what the magician di...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! 1. Thank you for telling me. [Thanks for telling me.] 2. Thank you for letting me know. [Thanks for letting me know.] 3. Thank you for coming over. [Thanks for coming over.] 4. Thank you for stopping by. [Thanks for stopping by.] 5. Thank you for visiting me. [Thanks for visiting me.] 6. Thank you for explainin...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! 1. Our company created three new products this year. 2. Susan played a key role in settling the nurses’ strike. 3. I attended our annual meeting in London. 4. I visited the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 5. We called an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors. 6. She grabbed my arm and said, “Let’s get o...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! 1) My favorite radio show host had a heart attack and now he’s off the air. 2) I don’t like off road vehicles. They’re bad for the environment. 3) What do baseball players do in the off season? 4) It’s better to wash your laundry during off peak hours. 5) I don’t see roast duck. Did they take it off the menu? 6...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! 1) He passed himself off as a doctor. 2) She’s off her rocker. [She’s crazy.] 3) If you don’t like that old table, I’ll take it off your hands. 4) The king lost his temper and shouted, “Off with his head! 5) I’m not sure, but off the top of my head I don’t think that’s a good idea. 6) Our new face cream is flyi...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Let’s practice with short sentences using “would+like”. Note in normal speech, “I would” is shortened to “I’d”, "she would" becomes "she'd", etc. 1) I’d like to visit New York some day. 2) I’d like to eat lunch soon. 3) I’d like to learn French. 4) I’d like something to drink. 5) I’d li...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! 1) She’s always making trouble. 2) The kids are making too much noise! 3) If the baby feeds herself spaghetti, of course she’ll make a mess! 4) You made some good points, but I still don’t agree with your conclusion. 5) My right knee is bothering me again, so I’m going to call my doctor to make an appointment....

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! When I want to be sure I am hearing the sounds of a new language, I listen repeatedly to something short, often a single sentence. In this podcast you'll only hear a few sentences but they are repeated many times. Then you will have a chance to listen and repeat. Test yourself and see how well you can imit...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Follow on Telegram for more info and my Tandem class and discussion schedule. In this podcast you’ll continue practicing sentences with some of the most common irregular verbs in the present, simple past, and present perfect tenses. 1.  think thought thought —She thinks she will start learning German next year....

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Follow on Telegram for more info and my Tandem class and discussion schedule. Irregular verbs are a fact of life in English and many other languages. In this and the next few podcasts you’ll practice sentences with some of the most common irregular verbs in the present, simple past, and present perfect tenses....

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Follow on Telegram for more info and my Tandem class and discussion schedule. The word ‘stick’, as a noun, means a thin piece of wood that comes from a tree. So we can say, for example: 1) Find some sticks and we’ll make a fire to keep ourselves warm tonight. A stick can help someone walk. 2) Mr. Johnson is ver...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Who’s can be a contraction of “who is” 1) Who’s your friend? [Who is your friend?] — This is Sally. 2) Who’s ready for dinner? — Everybody! We’re all hungry. 3) Who’s interested in watching a movie tonight? —I would be, but I have a lot of homework to do. 4) Kids, who’s arriving tomorrow? — Grandma and grandpa!...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! A common and useful construction in English combines the past continuous and the simple past tenses. Here’s an example: I was washing the dishes when my grandmother arrived. The first part of the sentence describes an action that is happening in the past and is continuing. We don’t know how long the speaker was...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Updated May 2024: This is a long podcast and there is now a transcript . Click the "transcript" link to read along. I tried to share my thoughts and feelings about how children learn language and what we adults can learn from them. Hope you find it interesting. Follow on Telegram for more info and my...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! One of the most common questions that new students of English will hear is: How long have you been studying English? Or: When did you start studying English? Or: When did you start learning English? So let's practice with those, because I often hear people struggle to answer those questions. Here's th...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottis] Follow on Telegram for more info and my Tandem class and discussion schedule.  If you close your vocal cords, you stop the flow of air. In linguistics, this is called a glottal stop. Listen: Uh, oh. Uh, oh. Uh, oh. Hear the break in the sound after “Uh”? That’s a glottal...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Past tense of regular verbs: possibility no. 1. There are three “rules” or sound patterns which determine how we pronounce the past tense of regular English verbs. In this podcast, we’ll practice with the first situation, where the final SOUND of the infinitive is /t/ or /d/. For example, “accept” ends with a /...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Use this podcast to improve your listening and pronunciation. There is no transcript.  You won't need one. Listen as many times as you like, and then practice saying: She counted her money. Before you can pronounce correctly, you have to train your ears to hear the sounds as accurately as possible. Listen,...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! The verb "to listen" is almost always followed by "to". See (and listen to) the examples below: 1) Listen to me! 2) Please listen to your father. 3) What are you listening to? 4) I’m listening to a podcast. 5) What is Sally doing? She’s listening to the news. 6) You’re a famous person so peo...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Before vs. Until vs. While Examples: 1) Let’s go for a walk before lunch. [What should we do today?] 2) We walked until noon and then we ate lunch.  3) I cleaned the apartment before my mother arrived. 4) I cleaned the house until my mother came. 5) Call me before 11pm. 6) I waited for his call until 11pm.  7)...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! To play something by ear has two meanings. One is the musical meaning: when you play a song by ear, it means you play the song without any sheet music, so you’re not looking at the notes. You know the song, it’s in your head, so you can play it without needing to look at written music. The second meaning of “pl...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Martha:  Charles, I need some advice. C:  Sure, what about? M: Yesterday I told my history professor he was an idiot. C: You’re kidding! In private, or in front of the class? M: In front of the whole class. C: I assume you’re not majoring in diplomacy or international relations? M: It’s not a joke! What should...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Read and look up.  Part One: “Read and look up” is a technique for improving your foreign language speaking and reading. It is easy to do. Here is how. 1) First, choose a text. It’s okay if the text contains a few new vocabulary words, but not so many that you can’t understand the overall meaning. 2) If possibl...