English Listening: The Worst Bus Ride Ever | Episode 02
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Listen to a story about the world bus ride I have ever had!
You’ll also learn when to drop the h sound at the beginning of the pronouns “him,” “his,” and “he.”
Welcome to the English Teacher Melanie Podcast, a podcast for intermediate to advanced English learners who want to improve their English listening and speaking skills!
Each episode includes a story and a pronunciation tip. In the story, I use core vocabulary, the most common words in English, to tell a real world story. The pronunciation tip will help you understand natural spoken English.
You’ll hear the story twice. The first time, the story is a little slower than normal. It sounds funny because I used editing software to change the speed of the story and make it slower. After the pronunciation tip, you’ll hear the story again, but at a regular speed.
THE STORY
On a recent Friday night, I went downtown Toronto for a night out with friends. I really don’t like driving downtown. There’s so much traffic crowded into a very small space, and parking is so expensive! I decided to take the bus instead. There’s an express bus from my suburb that will take me straight downtown without stopping. The buses are really nice and the seats are really comfortable. I thought it would be more relaxing and less stressful than driving, but I was wrong!
Listen: A Trip Downtown | Episode 20
On that Friday night there were tons of people heading downtown, so the bus was packed. My friend and I couldn’t get 2 seats together, so we had to sit on opposite sides of the aisle. I had the great misfortune to sit next to a complete stranger who insisted on telling me his entire life story … for 45 minutes! I didn’t want to be rude to him, but I really didn’t feel like talking to him. I just wanted to rest & relax. I tried to ignore him and look uninterested, but that didn’t work. He just kept talking. It sounded like he had a really sad life. At the end of the bus trip, he asked me to go out with him and then he tried to give me his phone number. What was he thinking? I don’t think he was all that bright.
To make things worse, the bus was so packed that people were standing in the aisle and sitting on the aisle floor. There was a guy sitting on the floor next to me who had not showered for days. Not only did he smell of B.O., but he started eating the smelliest crackers ever. He ate the entire package. It was disgusting.
You know, I think I would have been better off driving downtown instead of taking the bus!
PRONUNCIATION TIP
WHEN TO DROP THE H SOUND AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRONOUNS HIM, HIS, and HE.
This transcript uses IPA symbols to represent sounds and teach pronunciation. Learn more about the IPA here.
In the story, I used the pronouns he, him, and his frequently. Did you notice that I didn’t fully pronounce them?
Listen carefully:
I tried to ignore him…
I don’t think he was all that bright.
What was he thinking?
Pronouns are functions words. They’re grammar words. They need to be there for the sentence to be grammatically correct, but they’re not important words. Function words are not fully pronounced in a sentence.
When any pronoun with h is in the middle of the sentence (and NOT at the beginning), you don’t need to pronounce the h. You can drop the h, and then link the pronoun to the previous consonant sound.
Then he becomes /ðɛni/
was he becomes /wəzi/
ignore him becomes /ɪgˈnoɚɪm/
Listen to the story again. Can you hear more examples of pronouns without the h sound?
Comments
hi melanie, this is very useful for support material to immprove listening. thanks melanie..I’m really grateful
Hi Melanie
I have a question, when you say ‘In addition parking downtown “costs” an arm and a leg’ I heard “cost” instead of “costs” am I right? I heard the audio several times and I still continue hearing “cost”. I hope you answer me.
Hi, Samantha!
I listened to the podcast again, and I did say ‘costs.’ ‘Costs’ ends with the -sts consonant cluster. In the listening lesson ‘Baby Gifts’ and I explain how to pronounce this cluster. This might help you to hear the cluster better in ‘costs’!
I hope that helps!
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Hi Melanie,
When I listened this podcast, I had a question to a sentence “I find it difficult to drive on roads with streetcar tracks. “. Would it be also right if I say ” I find it is difficult to…”? Thanks. Vanessa
Hi, Vanessa!
Yes, your sentence is correct, too! Both are acceptable in English conversation.
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Hi, Melanie,
I have an experience studying German when I was an university student. In the Pronunciation section above reminded me of some special way of pronouncing of “h” in German.
The words like
Ihnen, sahen, gehen,
these “h”s are not pronounced. Instead, they are signs that indicate the vowels placed just before them are long vowels. I felt some interesting analogy in pronouncing “h” .
To say the truth, I didn’t know this omission of h in pronounciation in English till today. Thank you!
Hello Masanori,
It’s nice to hear from you! I did not know that the ‘h’ in many German words was silent, and an indication of long vowels. It would be great if we had something similar in English!
I am happy to hear that this pronunciation lesson helped you!
All the best,
Melanie
There are a lot of similarities between English and German. Much of English comes from Germanic languages – the German family of languages.
Can I tell you about MY worst bus ride ever? Here it is. I took a mini-bus (actually a van) from Nan, Thailand to Chiang Mai, Thailand. During the bus trip, the driver sped around blind corners WHILE passing other cars. That means we were on the wrong side of the road and he couldn’t see more than 50 meters. My hands were white from holding the safety strap. Now I know the reason Thailand is the 4th most dangerous place in the world to take a bus.
I’m scared. That is MUCH WORSE than my bus trip! Thanks for letting me know never to take a bus in Thailand.
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Good morning teacher
I’m thai, I am trying to learn more in english then met you and telling everyone that I know to join this excellence webside together. I intend to listen in every lesson, for “The worst bus ride ever!” it is very funny for me, it just lovely experience of you. ^^!
Thanks for your kindness.
Hello Taweesak,
Thank you so much for your kind words & for telling more people about this website! You are great!
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Hi Dear Melanie
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Dehghn
Thank you so much for your kind words, Dehghan! I am so delighted that my lessons are useful to your students!
Hi dear Teacher;
Thank you for your advices and for this excellent web site to improve the English. I’m practicing a lot each lesson because one of my goals is to watching T.V. Shows without subtitle.
You make it fun to study English
Oswaldo
Hello Teacher,
I dont want to be rude to you, but you so beautiful
I am trying my best to listen and repeat your lesson so many time everyday.
Hi Melanie
Hope you are doing well. Your podcasts are so entertaining that it is a pleasure to learn english with you.
Very interesting stories you are sharing with us. This bus ride ( at least for me ) is hilarious. I can see your face having to put up for two hours a next seat and complete stranger that never stopped talking and, a bonus from the bus company a filthy and smelly passenger sitting close to you munching crackers.
WOW, what it was to be a relaxed ride to downtown turned out to be a nightmare that Melanie wouldn´t wish to her worst enemy ( if any). hahahaha
Hi, Melanie! Your website is wonderful! I’m an English teacher and I find your podcasts and explanations really useful for my lessons. I just have a question related to this episode: What do you mean when you say ‘…did he smell of B.O.’?
Thanks a lot.
Rosa
Hi, Rosa! Thank you so much for your kind words! I am always happy to hear from another teacher!
You have a good question! “Not only did he smell of B.O., …” B.O. or BO is short for “body odor.” You know when a person hasn’t showered for a few days, or when a person doesn’t wear deodorant, or when a person has done an activity where he was really sweating, and then he really, really smells? That’s body odor. 🙂