Wadjasay? American English Pronunciation Practice

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! In all the examples of the past tense in this podcast, “ed” is pronounced with a /t/ sound. I’ll start by reading the first ten verbs as a warmup. I'll repeat each verb three times. Listen for the /t/ sound at the end. Licked, nicked, popped, laughed, wrecked, packed, picked, jacked, mocked, perished. Now...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! A famous tongue twister! Remember that "tt" between vowels is pronounced with a "D" sound, not "T". Listen to these examples pronounced slowly: Botter Butter Bitter Betty Botter bought some butter But she said the butter’s bitter If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bit...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Let's practice questions and answers about pets using the helper verb "do". 1. Do you have any pets? Yes, I have a dog. 2. Do you have a pet? Yes, I have a cat. Her name is Rosie. 3. Do you have any pets? No, I don't. 4. Do you have any pets? Yes, two. I have a dog and a cat. 5. Do you have...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! If you can, watch and practice with one or more of these youtube lessons before you do my podcast. It will help you a lot! Practicing the American r Make the American r sound How to make the r consonant R in English =========================================== Practice with the “r” sound. A - At the beginning of...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! A wise old owl lived in an oak The more he saw the less he spoke The less he spoke the more he heard. Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird? Georgie Porgie, Puddin’ and Pie, Kissed the girls and made them cry, When the boys came out to play Georgie Porgie ran away. Miss Polly had a dolly who was sick, sic...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! (Remember DeepL for translations...) My apologies for the long delay since the last podcast. The time between our Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November, and the Christmas holiday in December is always very busy. Choosing presents for the grandchildren, preparing for winter, and lots more. But I’m back! Wh...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Let's continue with our story about Goldilocks and the three bears. You will recall that the bears went for a walk and while they were away, Goldilocks came into their house, ate the baby bear's breakfast, and broke his rocking chair. Now she is upstairs in the bears' bedroom, trying out the beds...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Here's part 3 of my version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Again I'll read the text two times and then break it into sentences or groups of sentences so you can practice repeating.  When Goldilocks had eaten all she could hold, she burped happily and walked into the parlor. There she found three c...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! The text of this podcast is from the Wikipedia article on malaria, a well-known and terrible tropical disease. For listeners to this podcast who are studying science, this will give you practice pronouncing typical scientific vocabulary. I’ll repeat the paragraph three times, and then break it into sentences or...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Here's part 2 of my version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Again I'll read the text two times and then break it into sentences or groups of sentences so you can practice repeating. Meanwhile the bear family was sitting down to breakfast. Baby Bear tasted his porridge. “Too hot!” he exclaimed. Mama...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! You're probably familiar with the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Here's part one of my version. I'll read the beginning two times and then break it into sentences or groups of sentences so you can practice repeating. Have fun! If you need a translation, here's the link to DeepL. On...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! I took Ollie for a walk in the dark earlier this evening. Some of our neighbors have Halloween displays in their yards. I learned that Ollie does NOT like zombies in the dark. Several times seeing human-like figures he started to growl and once I thought he was going to attack one of the zombies. It's good...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! I've been very busy with grandkids, with work (even though I'm 90% retired from our family business), and with getting ready for winter which will arrive soon enough. Our house is in a wooded area and the leaves are changing color and falling like rain every time the wind blows. But it's time for...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! When you say you "used to" do something (or "used to" be something), it means you did it (or "were" it) for a while in the past. For example: "In the past, Mary was a nurse, but now she's a doctor." Another way to say this is: "Mary used to be a nurse, but now s...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! In the past progressive tense, we talk about doing something when something else occurs. For example: "I was eating dinner when the President called me."  The President's call interrupts the first action. 1. I was watching TV when the power failed. 2.  I was watching TV when the lights went out....

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Here’s part three, and the last part, of phrasal verbs based on the verb to come. 51. Come in = arrive Look, there’s Susan! Her train must have come in early. 52. Come in = enter Please come in and make yourselves comfortable. 53. Come from = Have as one’s birth place Peter comes from Russia and Anna comes from...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! More practice with phrasal forms of the verb to come. 21. Come round = visit She told her mother she’d come round and visit after work. 22. Come round = recover consciousness After the boxer was knocked out, it took a while for him to come round . 23. Come round = change one’s opinion to the generally accepted...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! In this podcast you'll get to practice with phrasal forms of the verb to come . There are a lot of them so let's get started. 1.  Come with = come along John and I are going to see a movie tonight. Do you want to come with us? 2.  Come upon = find While exploring the woods near our house, we came upon...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! This podcast has two parts. In the first part there are ten sentences. Each sentence has an error in it, a mistake. See if you can find the error. In the second part of the podcast the errors are corrected and you will have a chance to listen and repeat the corrected sentences. Here’s an example: Mr. Johnson dr...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! It's been a while since my last podcast. I've been busy! Today, for example, I was cutting some weeds in our back yard and I got stung twice by some sort of stinging insects. Yellow jackets, I think, although I'm not sure. That's the sort of adventure I could live without! I repaired the gea...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! The most common vowel sound in English is called "schwa". It is the sound we commonly use in unaccented syllables. In the international phonetic alphabet (IPA), the schwa sound is written with an upside down letter 'e' like this: /ə/ I think of it as being an 'uh' sound. By coincid...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! In this podcast you'll get more practice with the verb "to do". Grammar note : In English you cannot ask "Speak you French?" or "Have you a dog?" This form is possible in Spanish and French and German, to name three examples, but it is NOT correct in English. In English we use...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! For fun: Here's a reading of a picture book that is perfect for beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeJxXeG-bLI In this podcast we'll introduce the days of the week, a few more verbs, and some numbers. 1. Monday is the first day of the work week. 2. Tuesday comes after Monday. 3. Wednesday come...

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! The verb "to do" is very important and very useful. In this podcast we will ask the question: What are you doing? What is he doing? etc. and use the answers to introduce some common verbs. 1. What are you doing? I'm talking to my girlfriend. 2. What are you doing? I'm finishing my homework....

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks! Part One: phrasal verbs with leave 1.  Please put the leftovers in the frig when you finish eating. If you leave them out , they’ll go bad. [to leave out = not put away] [frig = refrigerator. “To go bad” = to spoil.”] 2. The pirates left me behind on a desert island with no food or water. Fortunately I was spot...