This is an English lesson designed to help you practice and improve your English listening and pronunciation skills. The listening lesson is a short story about something that happened in my life in Canada. There is also a short pronunciation explanation about a word or sound I used in the story.

Story: A bathroom renovation that took forever!
Pronunciation explanation: the vowel r ‘er’ sound in an unstressed syllable!

If you have trouble with your listening skills, here’s something that may help:
How to practice listening

Listen to the podcast:
*Try to listen at least once without looking at the words!

Download the podcast in .mp3 from Podbean.com or itunes!

Listening Comprehension questions:

1. How big is the bathroom that was renovated?

2. Who did my parents hire to renovate the bathroom?

3. When did the workers start?

4. What has gone wrong so far?

5. What do I think of the bathroom?

Transcript:

(*Click on the links to learn more about the grammar, vocabulary and expressions used in the story!)

My parents decided to renovate one of the bathrooms in their house. It’s the smallest bathroom in the house, measuring only 5’ x 9’, but it was really worn-out and dated. Everything needed to be replaced. In most North American homes, the toilet, sink, bathtub and shower are all in the same room (and usually the shower is part of the bathtub).

They decided it would be easier to hire a contractor to do the renovations instead of doing it themselves. They found a local company that specialized in bathroom renovations, and they heard from a few neighbours that this company did good work.

Usually, companies want to do their best work in as little time as possible to minimize the disruption in the house. This company? Not so much! Three workers showed up on June 22nd to start taking everything out of the bathroom. It’s now August 31st and the bathroom still isn’t finished. You’ve never seen anyone work so slow in your life. There were at least 4 different people working on the bathroom … remember it’s only 5’ x 9’! Only one person can stand in the room at a time, so I don’t know what they were all doing.

The technician who put the tiles on the wall and floor seemed to take most of July. I got the feeling that he dragged out the work just so he could spend more time at the house. He seemed to really enjoy talking to my parents. He later admitted this was the first project he had done by himself. When he was done, more workers returned to install the vanity. Nobody was paying attention to where they put the vanity, so nobody noticed that it was too close to the window frame. Now, they cannot put the top drawer in. It took another two weeks to put the toilet in. The lights are still missing, so someone has to come back and install the light fixture.

If I were my parents, I would ask for a discount on the cost of the renovations!

Other than that, the bathroom looks great! It’s so bright in there now!

Discussion Questions:

Have you ever tried to renovate something in your house?

Did you do it by yourself or did you hire someone?

Let me know in the comments below!

Pronunciation – ‘er’ sound in an unstressed syllable

In last week’s listening lesson I told you about the vowel r sound ‘er.’ Now, let’s focus on the / ɚ/ sound in an unstressed syllable.

Listen to some words from the story:
measuring
contractor
neighbours

None of those words have the letters er at the end of the word, but all have the ‘er’ sound.

Whenever a vowel – any vowel – comes before an r in an unstressed syllable, particularly at the end of a word, it’s pronounced / ɚ /

Words that end in –ure:
future
culture
injure
failure
pressure

Words that end in –ar:
grammar
sugar
popular
backward

Words that end in –or
color
doctor
actor
major

Vocabulary:

5’ x 9’
It’s the smallest bathroom in the house, measuring only 5’ x 9’…
= the size of the bathroom
= five feet by nine feet (the ‘ is the symbol for feet)
In Canada we use the metric system, but we often measure things in feet and inches, like the Americans.

dated
…it was really worn-out and dated
= out-of-date, looking like it comes from a time in the past
(not to be confused with ‘dating someone’)

to drag (something) out
I got the feeling that he dragged out the work just so he could spend more time at the house
=purposely make something take longer than it should

technician
The technician who put the tiles on the wall and floor…
= a worker with special skills; usually it’s a worker in the fields of science and engineering, but in this case it’s specializes in house renovations

the vanity
…more workers returned to install the vanity.
= a small structure in a bathroom that includes the sink and cupboards

The listening lesson “The Laundromat” is about doing laundry. Let’s take a look at some expressions with ‘laundry’ and ‘wash.’

air your dirty laundry (in public)
= to talk about private problems in public
= the ‘dirty laundry’ is things that should otherwise be kept private, such as family secrets, scandals, or problems with your spouse/partner or children
= often if it doesn’t embarrass the person ‘airing their laundry,’ it embarrasses the people listening

There are different variations of this expression.

• The British say “wash your dirty linen in public”
• You could also say: “don’t wash your dirty laundry in public”

After the embarrassing airing in public of their dirty laundry by his wife, the politician was forced to resign.

Husband (in public): “My wife is furious at me for forgetting her birthday! We haven’t slept together in 2 weeks!”
Wife:“Let’s not air our dirty laundry in public!”

The company cancelled its press conference for this afternoon. They are trying to prevent their dirty laundry from being aired in the press.

wash your hands of (something)
= you refuse to have anything to with something that you were previously responsible for
= you intentionally disconnect yourself from a problem or situation (that you were once involved in)
= usually you wash your hands of something because you are upset, angry, disgusted, you lose interest in it or you don’t believe in it anymore

After Tiger Woods’ affairs became public, many sponsors washed their hands of him.

I have gone out of my way to help my son find a new place to live, but he is very hard to please, so I’ve washed my hands of the whole situation.

The new department manager has taken over the project so I’ve washed my hands of it!

wash your mouth out with soap
= a common expression that parents often tell their young children after the child has used a swear word or other bad language! Usually it is an empty threat as the parent does not intend to actually wash their child’s mouth with soap.

If I ever hear you say that again I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap!

Part 1 – meaning and example sentences
Part 2 – unreal meaning and ‘as if it were going out of style’
Part 3 – ‘As if!’ and ‘As if I care’

In the listening lesson “The Laundromat”, I said:

The dryer is broken. The repair service won’t be able to come until next week, so this tells me that dryer will not be fixed soon.

Meaning:
As if is a conjunction. It is used to say how something seems from the information known.

It is a more formal way of saying like, and is used in the same way as as though. In all of the following sentences and examples, as if can be replaced with as though and like (in informal conversation).

It doesn’t look as if the economy will improve anytime soon.
(All the economic signs, like unemployment, consumer spending, housing construction, suggest that the economy will not improve in the foreseeable future.)

You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!
(Your face has the same expression it would if you had seen a ghost.)

Example sentences
Is Andrea feeling well? I spoke to her today and it sounded as if she was getting a cold.

It’s getting colder outside. It feels as if fall has arrived.

My sister is acting so strange. When I talk to her, it’s as if she’s not even listening to me.

The airplanes were so close together it looked as if they were going to crash!

Wow! Look at those dark clouds. It looks as if it’s going to rain.

My goodness those children are loud! It’s sounds as if there’s a herd of animals running around upstairs.

It was great to see Luke again. It sounds as if he’s doing well in life.

Is something bothering you? You look as if you haven’t slept in days!

My friend is under a lot of pressure at the moment. She feels as if she has the weight of the world on her shoulders.

It’s not as if this was the first time she was late for school.

Let’s pretend as if this never happened.

You can see from the above sentences that as if is often used to describe someone’s behaviour, or the way someone is acting. Here are some more examples:

I can’t stand spending time with Ben. He always acts as if he’s smarter than everyone.

Why is Carol ignoring us? She’s acting as if she’s never met us before!

If you want to emphasize that something is unreal, it’s possible to use a past tense after as if. In American English it’s common to use were:

She’s behaving as if she were the Queen of England!
(She is not the Queen of England.)

They stared at me as if I were crazy.
(I’m not crazy. I don’t think I’m crazy!)

My older brother always treats me as if I were a child.
(I am not a child.)

As if is also used in a common English idiom:

If something is “out of style,” it is unpopular or unfashionable. If something is “going out of style,” it will soon be gone, unavailable or you won’t want it anymore because it will be unpopular. So, whatever is “going out of style,” you have to do it quickly before it goes out of style.

This idiom means that someone is doing something in a hurry, faster than people normally do and much more than necessary.

The U.S. is consuming oil as if it is going out of style.

She’s been eating chocolate as if it were going out of style.

He’s been working on his car as if it were going out of style.

As if!
American slang, made popular by the 1995 movie Clueless! It’s a spoken exclamation, and the shortened form of as if I would (do that) or as if (that would happen). It means that something is unlikely or impossible, or that you don’t really care.

A: “I heard that you’re going out with Alex!”
B: “As if!” (= As if I would go out with him, as if that would happen)

My boss expects everyone to work late in order to finish the project. As if!

Mary is obsessed with him. She thinks he’s going to marry her. As if!

as if I care
= I don’t care!

My parents are worried about the amount of time I spend playing computer games. As if I care (what they think)!

As if can also be used to exclaim how horrible or difficult a situation is:

My boss wants me to help my co-workers with their project. As if I don’t have enough work to do right now! (= I do have a lot of work right now, and this request from my boss is making it worse.)

My boyfriend wants to take a break from our relationship. As if I don’t have enough problems to deal with right now! (= I have a lot of problems right now, and this new problem is making my life worse!)

Someone called her fat today. As if her self-esteem isn’t low enough. (Her self-esteem is really low; calling her fat will lower her self-esteem even more)

This is a pronunciation lesson to practice the ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ sounds. English learners often confuse these two sounds.

Part I – minimal pairs
Part II – which word do you hear?
Part III – words and phrases with ‘sh’ /ʃ/ and ‘ch’ /tʃ/ sounds
Part IV – Linking ‘sh’ /ʃ/ and ‘ch’ /tʃ/ sounds

Enjoy!

Related videos:
50 English Words with ‘ch’ Pronounced ‘k’
25 English Words with ‘ch’ Pronounced ‘sh’

This is an English lesson designed to help you practice and improve your English listening and pronunciation skills. The listening lesson is a short story about something that happened in my life in Canada. There is also a short pronunciation explanation about a word or sound I used in the story.

Story: My trip to the laundromat!
Pronunciation explanation: The vowel r ‘er’ sound!

If you have trouble with your listening skills, here’s something that may help:
How to practice listening

Listen to the podcast:

Download the podcast in .mp3 from Podbean.com or itunes!

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. Why did I have to go to the laundromat?

2. Why didn’t I just hang everything outside to dry on a clothes line?

3. Where are the washer and dryer in a Canadian home?

4. How long did it take to dry all my laundry?

5. How much did it cost to dry all my laundry?

Transcript:

(*Click on the links to learn more about the grammar, vocabulary and expressions used in the story!)

The dryer is broken and I don’t know what’s wrong with it. Everything works when you turn it on – but it doesn’t dry anything! It just tosses all the wet clothes around for awhile without actually drying them! I tried to go without doing laundry for as long as possible, but it’s been 2 weeks and it doesn’t appear as if the dryer will be fixed anytime soon. For some reason the repair service is very busy right now and won’t be able to send someone to fix it until next week. So, I did 3 loads of laundry in the washing machine, put everything in the laundry basket and then drove to the local laundromat to dry everything!

I know you’re probably wondering: why didn’t I just hang everything outside to dry on a clothes line? I don’t know how to explain it … hanging your clothes outside to dry is just not something that people do here! I guess in the past, it was a sign that you didn’t earn or have enough money to afford a dryer. It’s considered tacky and an eyesore to your neighbours. Until recently it was against the law to hang your clothes outside! A lot of towns had bylaws restricting the use of clothes lines, even in your own backyard. Attitudes are changing now, though, due to the environmental movement and the recession.

It’s very common in Canadian homes to have both a washer and a dryer! It’s so convenient! In a typical house, the washer and dryer are usually in a small room called the laundry room, or they’re in the basement of the house.

The local laundromat is run by a lovely, friendly Cambodian couple. The laundromat has huge industrial machines that dry things a lot faster than the kind we use at home. I put my wet laundry in the dryer and then put quarters in the coin slot to start the machine. It only took about ½ an hour to dry everything and it only cost $3! It was nice to finally have clean clothes!

Discussion Questions:

How do you do laundry? Do you have a washer and dryer in your house? Do you hang your laundry outside to dry?

Are public laundromats common in your country?

Let me know in the comments below!

Pronunciation – the vowel r sound

The vowel r sound /ɝ/(stressed), /ɚ/(unstressed)

Listen to some words from the story:

dryer
turn
service
earn
neighbour

Can you hear the vowel r sound in all these words?

Listen to some more words:
first
work
nurse
learn

We actually have TWO different sounds for the letter r. There’s the consonant r sound you can hear at the beginning of words or syllables, for example:

real
right
camera
celebrity

…and then there is the vowel r sound that occurs when the r is at the end of a syllable or word, AND is preceded by a vowel. This sound is not always spelled ‘er.’ In stressed syllables, it’s sometimes spelled ‘ir,’ ‘or,’ or ‘ur.’

Now listen to other words with the same sound:

heard
bird
worse
burn
earth
girl
encourage
Thursday

Vocabulary:

a load of laundry
I did 3 loads of laundry …
= the amount [of clothes, towels, sheets, etc.] that can fit in the washing machine

a laundromat
…and then drove to the local laundromat to dry everything!
= a store that has washing machines and dryers for the public to use. You can do your own laundry. Usually you put quarters into the coin slot to start the machines

tacky
It’s considered tacky and an eyesore…
= ugly, cheap, low quality, in bad taste and style

eyesore
It’s considered tacky and an eyesore…
= something that is ugly and unpleasant to look at

a bylaw
A lot of towns had bylaws restricting the use of clothes lines…
= laws made by local governments that only apply to the town, city or region

a coin slot
…then put quarters in the coin slot to start the machine
= a long, thin, opening in a machine to collect coins

Are you learning English on your own? Are you taking a class right now but looking for things you can do to improve your English outside of class? Here are some ideas:

Learn a new word everyday

How to practice listening

Listening usually is the slowest skill to improve. For most language learners, listening is their weakest skill. You may have a good vocabulary and you may understand English grammar, but you have trouble understanding what people are saying, and it’s impossible for you to watch English movies or TV shows without subtitles.

I’ve discovered that often people have trouble listening because they have trouble with pronunciation. You may be pronouncing a word incorrectly, and therefore you can’t understand the word when it’s pronounced correctly.

Listening to spoken English is particularly difficult because there are many different elements to English pronunciation, for example: word stress, stressed and unstressed words within a sentence, linking sounds, intonation and rhythm.

For beginners and intermediate students, your listening skills will slowly improve as your vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation improves.

There is no quick way to improve your listening! It requires consistent practice.

Here’s an activity that you can do to improve your listening skills. I learned this activity from Carl Kwan, and I’ve expanded on his method.

1. Choose a short podcast (or part of a podcast) or other clip of someone speaking English (a song, a clip from a TV show or movie). If you are a beginner or low intermediate, choose something that is about 1-2 minutes; more advanced learners should choose longer clips that are about 3-5 minutes.

Important! Make sure you also have access to the words to the audio clip. You need to be able to check your work!

2. Listen to the whole audio clip once without looking at the words. Relax. Take a deep breath. Don’t panic.

3. Listen to the entire clip again. It’s easier to hear and understand what you’re listening to when you’re relaxed and not panicking.

4. Listen to the clip, but pause the clip every 5 seconds.

• After you pause the audio, write down a word, phrase or anything you can remember from the clip.
• When you have finished and listened to the entire clip, read through your notes completely.
• It’s OK if you don’t understand every word, but can you understand the general theme of what the speaker is saying?

5. Repeat step 4. Check your work. Correct your work. Add any new words you heard. When you have finished, read through your notes completely again. Can you understand the general theme of what the speaker is saying?

6. Hide your notes from step 4 and 5. Listen to the clip again, but this time stop after 10 seconds. Again, write down the main points you heard. Check your work compared to what you wrote down in steps 4 and 5.

7. Listen to the clip completely one last time while reading your notes.

8. Compare your notes to the actual words.

• What words did you get right?
• Did you have trouble hearing certain words?
• Are there any words that you should have heard [words that you already know] but did not? Why? Is your pronunciation wrong? Was the word unstressed in the sentence? Was it linked to a word before or after it?
• Look up any new words that you don’t know.

9. Listen to the clip while reading the words.

• Check your pronunciation of words you know but didn’t hear or understand when you were listening.

10. Listen again with the words.

11. Hide all your notes and the words. Listen one final time to the clip. It should be easier now to understand what the speaker is saying.

12. After about a week, come back and listen to the clip again to refresh your memory.

NOTE: Your listening skills will not improve overnight. Like anything in life, it takes a lot of practice! If you practice consistently 3-4 times a week, soon you will start to see an improvement in your listening skills.

In the listening lesson “The Chair!”, I talked about how I wanted a chair to sit in on the back deck, which is in my backyard and connected to my house. The backyard of a house also usually has a garden. Let’s look at some expressions with the words ‘garden’ and ‘backyard.’

to lead someone up / down the garden path
= to intentionally mislead or deceive someone; to intentionally cause someone to believe something that is untrue; to give someone false information or to promise something that never materializes. The result of this false information is that you’ve wasted your time waiting for something that is never going to happen.

The politicians have been leading us all down the garden path with their talk about creating jobs.

The hotel we stayed in was terrible. Our travel agent lead us down the garden path. We were expecting a luxury hotel!

He was promised a generous raise by his boss, but he was really being lead down the garden path.

garden-variety (adjective)
= common, ordinary, unremarkable, nothing special, unexceptional

My daughter is sick today. It’s nothing serious – just a garden-variety cold.

I didn’t think the band’s new album was anything special. It sounds like a garden-variety rock album.

Have you seen Leonardo DiCaprio’s new movie? Is it interesting or is it just a garden-variety thriller?

in your backyard
= in addition to the area directly your house, in your backyard could also mean the general area around or close to your home or neighbourhood.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive vacation, look no farther than your own backyard. There are some great places to visit within a 30-minute drive from here.

You don’t have to go very far for a good education. There are some great colleges and universities in our backyard!

I want to try a new restaurant for dinner tonight. I’m looking for something in my backyard!

“not in my backyard”

A neighbourhood or community may be opposed to something being built or developed in their area, but are not opposed to the idea in general (and will support it being built / developed somewhere else)

For example, wind farms are a very controversial issue in my province. People are generally supportive of wind energy, they just don’t want the actual wind turbines erected in their community for a variety of reasons.

We support the building of wind turbines, just not in our backyard!

Another example:

Local residents say, “not in my backyard” to the construction of a nuclear reactor.

In the listening lesson “The Chair!” I talked about how I wanted a comfortable chair to sit in on the back deck.

In this vocabulary lesson, I show you some pictures of a typical backyard and tell you some vocabulary to use when talking about your backyard!

A backyard (the area of land behind a house) usually has a lawn and a garden.


A lawn mower is used to mow the lawn / cut the grass (these two collocations mean the same thing).


A lawn is an area of short grass in front of or behind a house.


Flowers and bushes (or other plants) are planted (verb: to plant) in the garden bed.


A sprinkler is used to water the garden and the lawn.


You can also use a hose / a garden hose to water the garden.


You can also water flowers with a watering can.


The backyard is surrounded (verb: to surround) by a fence. You can get in and out of the backyard through a gate.


Some gardening tools a gardener might use: gardening gloves, a shovel, and a spade. Gardening tools and equipment are stored (verb: to store) in the shed.


A patio, a porch, a balcony, a deck – what’s the difference?
– a patio is flat on the ground and usually made of stone, cement or brick.
– a porch (sometimes called a veranda) is covered and enclosed; it’s usually at the front of the house.
– a balcony is a smaller version of a deck.
– a deck is at the back of a house; it is raised off the ground and connected to the house.

In the listening lesson “The Chair!”, I talked about how I attempted to assemble an outdoor chair.

I said:

This is an example of the 3rd conditional sentence structure. It is also called the past unreal conditional or past hypothetical conditional.

It is used to imagine a different past than the one that happened. The if clause is unreal – it did not happen. The result is what would have happened if the if clause were real:

Was I overly confident? Yes, I was. I am imagining what would have happened if I had not been so confident.

Did I pay attention to the instructions? No, I didn’t. I am imagining what would have happened if I had paid attention to the instructions.

What would have happened if I had done those things? The result:

The 3rd conditional form:

NOTES:

*the past perfect tense = had + past participle

*in spoken English, subject + would AND subject + had are usuallycontracted:

*Because you are imagining the past, you can ONLY use if. In this sentence structure, you cannot use when, after, or any other time conjunction

Common uses of this sentence structure:

1. What would you have done if … ?

What would you have done if you hadn’t been accepted at any university?

What would you have done if we hadn’t been there to help?

What would you have done differently if you had known you would never speak to him again?

2. If I had known…

If I had known that you needed help, I would have come!

If we had known you were sick, we would have gone to visit you in the hospital.

We wouldn’t have driven all this way if we had known the museum was closed.

If I had known that you needed a ride to school, I would have driven you.

I really wanted to see that movie! If I had known you were going, I would have gone with you!

3. You can use this sentence structure to express regret about something in the past, and to wish the past had happened differently.

If we had known the movie was so awful, we wouldn’t have wasted our money on it.

If I had finished high school and gone to university, I would have gotten a better job.

4. You can use this structure to criticize someone/something or point out mistakes:

If you hadn’t stayed out so late last night, you wouldn’t have slept in and been late for work!

It would have been quicker if we had taken a taxi to the park instead of walking.

More example sentences:

If I hadn’t gone to the party, I would have never met my husband.

We would have gone out last night if we hadn’t been so tired.

If his brother hadn’t reminded him, Dan would have forgotten his wife’s birthday.

If she had seen the ice on the road, she would have slowed down and she wouldn’t have gotten in an accident.

Other modal verbs can be used in the result clause:

might have + past participle = maybe

If I had known you would be at the party, I might have gone.

If I had known about his police record, I might not have dated him.

If he had finished high school, he might have had a better life.

If she had been wearing her seatbelt, she might have survived the car accident.

could have + past participle = possibility or ability

I could have been a world-class swimmer if I had practiced more when I was younger.

If I had known you didn’t have a car, I could have driven you to the meeting.

If my parents hadn’t lent me money, I could never have afforded university.

If you had told me the TV was broken, I could have fixed it for you!

It is possible to use the past perfect continuous in the if clause…

If you had been watching where you were going, you wouldn’t have hit your head!

If she had been paying attention in class yesterday, she would have heard that we have a quiz a today.

…OR  would + present perfect continuous in the result clause…

If you had been at the party, you would have been laughing at his outrageous outfit too!

If you had told me that you weren’t coming, I wouldn’t have been standing there like a fool waiting for you!

…but NOT both at the same time!

If you have trouble with conditional sentences, please read Conditional Sentences: An Introduction

Practice

Quiz #1 – English Page

Quiz #2 – University of Victoria

(clicking on the links will take you to another website)

This is an English lesson designed to help you practice and improve your English listening and pronunciation skills. The listening lesson is a short story about something that happened in my life in Canada. There is also a short pronunciation explanation about a word or sound I used in the story.

Story: How I attempted to assemble a chair!
Pronunciation explanation: How to pronounce ‘comfortable’!

If you have trouble with your listening skills, here’s something that may help:
How to practice listening

Listen to the podcast:
*Try to listen at least once without looking at the words!

Download the podcast in .mp3 from Podbean.com or itunes!

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. Why did I want a chair?

2. Why did I think I could assemble the chair easily?

3. What did I do wrong?

4. Who finally put the chair together properly for me?

Transcript

(*Click on the links to learn more about the grammar, vocabulary and expressions used in the story!)

How hard can it be to assemble a chair?

This summer, I really wanted a nice, comfortable chair to sit in on the back deck – the kind of chair you can fall asleep in. I wanted to enjoy the fresh summer air and beautiful view from the deck. After much searching, I finally found 2 perfect chairs at the home improvement store Lowe’s.

The two chairs (plus cushions) came unassembled in a huge box. A sales associate kindly lifted the box onto a cart for me, so I could wheel it to the cash desk and then out to my car, because there was no way I could carry it. There was also no way that box was going to fit in my little car, so at the cash desk I asked the cashier to cut the box open for me. I took all the pieces out of the box and loaded everything into the trunk and backseat of my car, piece by piece.

I took a look at the instructions to assemble the chair, and they seemed straightforward. I was very confident in my ability to put the chair together. Do you have any furniture from IKEA? Most of the furniture in my bedroom is from IKEA. Their furniture is so easy to assemble and I consider myself a pro at assembling stuff from IKEA.

If I hadn’t been so overly confident and if I had paid more attention to the instructions, I would have realized that I was doing it all wrong. Somehow I managed to put the back of the chair on backwards. I thought it was odd that all the holes were not lining up properly and that some of the screws were very difficult to get in, but I’m quite stubborn and I never once doubted that I could do this properly.

As soon as I sat in the chair, I knew something was wrong because it was so uncomfortable. I had to unscrew the back, turn it around and then try to put it on properly, but I didn’t want to take apart the entire chair. I finally gave up and called my dad. My hands were sore and had scratches all over them because the chair was mostly wicker. My father patiently read the instructions, examined my work, and then proceeded to put the chair together properly.

Now, I have the most comfortable outdoor chairs ever!

Discussion Questions

Do you like to assemble things – like furniture – yourself?

How do you like to relax in the summer?

Let me know in the comments below!

Pronunciation – How to pronounce ‘comfortable’

There are actually 2 different ways to pronounce this word.
You can say … /ˈkʌmpf.tɚ.bəl/ … or …. /ˈkʌmp.fɚ.tə.bəl/

I’ll go through each way syllable by syllable.

The first syllable is stressed in this word. The ‘o’ is pronounced / / /, so the first syllable is pronounced /kʌm/, like in the words …
come
comfort
company
compass

Then you have to move from the voiced /m/ in ‘com’ to the unvoiced /f/ sound, so it almost sounds like there is a /p/ between the sounds. Listen carefully:
/kʌmpf/

Some people, like me, skip the ‘or’ altogether and replace the ‘orta’ with the sound ‘tɚ’
/’ kʌmpf.tɚ/

In this pronunciation, the final syllable ‘ble’ is pronounced /bəl/. It’s an unstressed syllable.

Now put all the syllables together:
/’kʌmpf.tɚ.bəl/

Other people pronounce the second syllable ‘for’ NOT ‘four,’ but with the vowel r sound ‘er’, like in the words …
fur
forget
forbid
forgive
comfort

Although the last syllable looks like the word ‘table,’ both syllables are unstressed, and the two syllables are pronounced:
/təbəl/

This is true for most words that end in –table, for example:
vegetable
acceptable
collectable*
portable
suitable

*’collectable’ is also spelled ‘collectible.’

Now put all the syllables together:
/ˈkʌmp.fɚ.tə.bəl /

So the two different ways to pronounce this word are:
/ˈkʌmpftɚbəl/ … or …. /ˈkʌmp.fɚ.tə.bl/

Vocabulary

to assemble
How hard can it be to assemble a chair?
= to put something together by connect separate pieces

a home improvement store
I finally found 2 perfect chairs at the home improvement store Lowe’s.
= a store that sells everything you need to make repairs to or build something new in or around your house; it sells things like paint, tools, appliances, wood, plants, and outdoor furniture

a sales associate
A sales associate kindly lifted the box onto a cart for me…
= someone who works in a store and whose job it is to sell the store’s products

wicker
…the chair was mostly wicker
= thin strips of wood woven together (to make furniture or baskets)

English is such a confusing language! Often there is more than one way to pronounce a single letter or group of letters.

In this video, I show you 25 words where the letters ‘ch’ together are pronounced ‘sh’. (Most of these words were actually borrowed from French!)

brochure
cache
cachet
chagrin
champagne
chandelier
chaperone
charade
charlatan
chauffeur
chauvinist
chef
chic
chiffon
chivalry
chute
cliché
crochet
fuchsia
machete
machine
mustache
parachute
quiche
ricochet

*I use the American spelling of ‘mustache.’ The British spell it ‘moustache.’

Other words that I didn’t use in the video:
chemise
chivalrous
chateau (a large castle in France)
chalet (a type of house in the Alps)
chinook (a warm dry wind in winter that blows down from the Rocky Mountains)
niche
ruched
douche

Names:
Charlotte
Cheryl
Michelle
Chevrolet (a car brand)

Places:
Chicago
Michigan
Appalachia (a region in the eastern U.S.)

Related videos:
50 English Words with ‘ch’ Pronounced /k/
Practice the ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ Sounds

English is such a confusing language! Often there is more than one way to pronounce a single letter or group of letters.

ache
backache
earache
headache
toothache
anchor
archeology
architect
archive
bronchitis
chameleon
chaos
character
charisma
charismatic
chasm
chemical
chemistry
chemotherapy
chlorine
choir
chord
choreography
chorus
Christ
Christian
Christmas
chrome
chronic
chronological
echo
mechanic
monarchy
orchestra
orchid
psychiatrist
psychiatry
psycho
psychologist
psychology
schedule
scheme
scholar
school
stomach
synchronize
technician
technique
technology
zucchini

Other words with the ‘ch’ pronounced /k/ that I didn’t use in the video:

archaic
archipelago
choral
chrysanthemum
epoch
matriarch
patriarch
psychedelic
schizophrenic

names:
Christoper
Christina
Michael

Related videos:
25 English Words with ‘ch’ Pronounced ‘sh’
Practice the ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ Sounds

This is an English lesson designed to help you practice and improve your English listening and pronunciation skills. The listening lesson is a short story about something that happened in my life in Canada. There is also a short pronunciation explanation about a word or sound I used in the story.

Story: My little cousin’s soccer game!
Pronunciation explanation: linking consonant sounds

If you have trouble with your listening skills, here’s something that may help:
How to practice listening

Listen to the Podcast:
*Try to listen at least once without looking at the words!

Download the podcast in .mp3 from Podbean.com or itunes!

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. Who’s soccer game did I watch?

2. What position does he play?

3. Why did we tell him we were coming?

4. What is strange about this sports league?

5. Where did we go after the game?

Transcript:

(*Click on the links to learn more about the grammar, vocabulary and expressions used in the story!)

Last Thursday, my parents and I went to watch my little cousin’s soccer game. Actually he’s my cousin’s son, but it’s too confusing to say ‘my 1st-cousin-once-removed, so I just say ‘my little cousin.’ He’s only 6 years old, but he loves soccer and he’s already a skilled player!

He gets really nervous when someone other than his parents or grandmother comes to watch his games, so my parents and I didn’t tell him we were coming. We arrived after the game had started so he wouldn’t notice us. My older cousin – my little cousin’s father – is the coach of the team. His voice was so loud that we could hear him yelling instructions to the players before we had even reached the park! We knew we were in the right place.

My mom and I hid behind a huge evergreen tree while my dad went to find out where my little cousin was, because there was more than one game in the park. My little cousin was the goalie for his team and he was on the opposite side of the field. For the first half of the game, we stayed near the other team’s goal, so he didn’t see us at all! In the second half, I snuck a bit closer so I could get some pictures of him in goal. He finally saw me, and gave me a big smile and a thumbs up!

It was so much fun watching all the mini-soccer players! Some of them were a bit lost and didn’’t really know what to do, while other kids were really good! A couple kids would slide across the field on their knees whenever they scored a goal, just like the pro soccer players do! It was so cute. My little cousin is a superstar goalie! He stopped every goal except one and his team won 5-1!

This league has some strange rules, though. If a team is up by more than 3 goals, they have to take a player off the field. If they score another 3 goals, the other team puts an additional player on the field. That’s the only reason they keep score! At the end of the game, there is no official winner or loser (although the kids are silently keeping score themselves). Have you ever heard anything so dumb in your life? What’s the point of teaching the kids that they’re playing to not win the game? What’s the point of even scoring a goal then?

When the game was over, we all went to a nearby McDonald’s for an after-game treat! We had caramel and hot fudge sundaes. All in all, it was a fun summer night! If I lived closer to him, I’d go to his games every week!

Discussion Questions:

What sports do children like to play in your country?

Are there organized sports leagues for kids in your country?

Do they have dumb rules?

Pronunciation – Linking Consonants:

Listen carefully to some groups of words from the story:

It was so cute
my dad went to find out
he loves soccer

When the final consonant sound of a word is the same as the first consonant sound of the next word, the sound is pronounced only once. It’s becomes one long consonant sound.

Listen again:
I didn’t say ‘He loves soccer’. I said ‘He loves soccer.‘

I didn’t say ‘…my dad went to find out…’ I said ‘…my dad went to find out.‘

This is called linking and it’s a very common element of spoken English. Listen to some more examples of linking consonants and repeat after me:

a black cat
a bad day
stop pushing
some money
a tough fight

Listen to the story again. Can you hear more examples of linked consonant sounds?

Vocabulary:

…it’s too confusiong to say ‘my 1st cousin once removed,’
= my cousin’s son; my cousin is my ‘1st cousin’ – our moms are sisters.

an evergreen tree
My mom and I hid behind a huge evergreen tree…
=trees that have leaves all year round, even in winter! [Think of a Christmas tree!]

a thumbs up
[He] gave me a big smile and a thumbs up!
=a sign of approval; curl your fingers into a fist, but stick your thumb straight up.

a [sports] league
This league has some strange rules…
=a group of sports teams that play games against each other; my little cousin plays in a ‘minor sports league.’

to be up (by a number)
If a team is up more than 3 goals
= if a team has scored 3 goals, 3 more goals than the opposing team