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.

This week’s story is about and my favourite place to be in the summer! The pronunciation explanation is when the letter ‘u’ is pronounced ‘you’ in a word!

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. What’s special about June 21st?

2. What is the name of the amusement park?

3. What did my aunt tell me was good luck?

4. What was my job at the park?

Transcript

It’s summer! Today is June 21st. In the northern hemisphere, it’s officially the first day of summer! It’s the longest day and the shortest night. This is my favourite time of year! The weather is not too hot yet [it gets really hot and humid in July and August], but it’s not winter!

When I was young, my favourite thing to do in the summer was to spend the day at Canada’s Wonderland, an amusement park north of Toronto. When I got older, my friends and I would buy a season pass. This allowed us unlimited entry into the park, and we would go every week! The park has attractions for people of all ages – including 15 roller coasters – games and a huge water park. I couldn’t get enough of all the roller coasters – sometimes my friends and I would ride the same coaster 4 or 5 times in a row!

Once, on a family trip to Wonderland, my auntie Jenny told me that if you see a penny on the ground, you should pick it up and put it in your left shoe. If you do that, it will bring you good luck! By the end of the day, I had 7 pennies in my left shoe. It was very uncomfortable … and I don’t remember having a whole lot of good luck either! To this day, however, if I see a penny on the ground, I always pick it up and put it in my left pocket [which is another variation of the superstition].

I had my first job at Canada’s Wonderland. It was the best job I’ve ever had! I spent an entire summer walking around the children’s area in a character costume, entertaining children and having a great time. It only paid minimum wage, but it was still fun!

I haven’t been back to Canada’s Wonderland in years. That’s strange, since it’s so close and I have so many good memories of the park. I’d love to go this summer. I can’t handle the roller coasters anymore – they make me sick! I’d love to go on some of the tamer rides again, eat some of the delicious snacks they have – like funnel cake and tiny donuts – and then finish the day at the water park!

Discussion Questions:

What are your plans for the summer?

Do you like going to amusement parks?

Do you believe in superstitions?

Let me know if the comments below!

Pronunciation:

In the story I used the word ‘amusement.’ In some words, the letter ‘u’ is pronounced like the word ‘you’!

For example, at the beginning of the words…
use
usual
university
uniform
unite

…and in the middle of the words…
amusement
computer
cute
huge
future
music
perfume

Vocabulary

the northern hemisphere
In the northern hemisphere, it’s officially the first day of summer!
= the part of the planet north of the equator

attractions (at an amusement park)
The park has attractions for people of all ages …
= things that attract people to a location; in this context the attractions are rides, games, food, and a water park

a penny
…if you see a penny on the ground…
= a one cent coin; one hundred pennies equals one dollar.

in a row
…my friends and I would ride the same coaster 4 or 5 times in a row!
= 4 or 5 consecutive (one directly after another) times

minimum wage
It only paid minimum wage…
= the lowest amount of money an employer can pay an employee; in my case, the minimum wage was set by the provincial government. At that time, it was $6.85