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 afternoon at a fair in Toronto!
Pronunciation explanation: How to pronounce ‘th’ 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. What is the full name of the fair that I went to?

2. When was the first one held?

3. What can you do at the fair?

4. Who did I get to see practicing?

5. What did I think of my day at the Ex?

Transcript:

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

The city of Toronto is Canada‘s largest city. It has a population of 2.5 million, and it’s located on the western shore of Lake Ontario. Every year Toronto is home to the largest fair in Canada, and the 5th largest in North America – The Canadian National Exhibition (also known as the CNE, or The Ex)! This is a huge and fun tradition in Toronto. This past weekend I went downtown to spend the afternoon at The Ex!

It takes place every year for two weeks at the end of the summer. The very first CNE was held in 1879. According to its website, it was originally a way “to encourage the development of agriculture, manufacturing, industry and commerce, and the arts” in Toronto. The CNE has everything you could possibly imagine in one place: rides, games, food, parades, shopping, and a wide variety of entertainment – everything from cooking shows to concerts to an actual farm!

When I was a kid, I used to love to go on as many rides as possible, play as many games as possible (and win as many stuffed animals as possible!). I still enjoy the fun atmosphere, but I’m not so crazy about the rides anymore. You know what I am crazy about? The food! There is an entire building with all sorts of food from around the world. My favourite thing to eat at The Ex is these tiny donuts that are made right in front of your eyes! They are only available in Canada and only at the Ex!

We were also very lucky to see the death-defying aerial acrobatics of the Canadian Snowbirds while they were practicing [for the air show]. The Snowbirds are the amazing demonstration team from the Canadian Air Forces. They perform at the air show that takes place the last 3 days of The Ex.

It was such a fun day!

Discussion Questions:

Do you have a similar exhibition, fair or festival in your country? Please tell me more about it!

Pronunciation – the ‘th’ sounds

Did you know there are two ‘th’ sounds? The mouth position is the same, but one is unvoiced and one is voiced. We’ll talk about the difference in a moment.

These sounds exist in very few languages around the world, which is why English learners often have difficulty pronouncing these sounds.

It’s actually very easy to make these sounds: the tip your tongue sticks out between your teeth.

For the unvoiced ‘th’ sound /θ/, stick your tongue out between your teeth and blow air between your top teeth and tongue. It is just air coming out of your mouth.

thank
thin
three
birthday
mouth

For the voiced ‘th’ sound /ð/, the mouth position is the same, but this time your vocal chords vibrate. Put your fingers on your neck. You should be able to feel the vibration when you make this sound.

this
their/there/they’re
them
weather
smooth

For many English learners, this is a completely unnatural mouth position, and they feel like they are making a silly face.

Let me tell you something:

You DON’T look silly making these sounds. You look like you’re speaking English! You DO look silly if you don’t pronounce these sounds properly!

Practice saying words with ‘th’ in front of a mirror to make sure you are pronouncing them properly, and keep practicing until you can make these sounds naturally, without even thinking about it.

Here are some more words for you to practice:

First the unvoiced /θ/ sound:

thought
thousand
athlete
health
teeth

Next the voiced /ð/ sound:
these
them
northern
leather
bathe

More ‘th’ practice:
Do you say /s/ or /z/ instead of ‘th’?
Do you say /t/ or /d/ instead of ‘th’?

Vocabulary:

to take place
[The CNE] takes place every year for two weeks at the end of the summer.
= to occur, to happen

a stuffed animal
…win as many stuffed animals as possible!
= a soft toy in the shape of an animal but stuffed (filled) with a soft material, such as cotton

to be crazy about (something/someone)
You know what I am crazy about?
= to be interested in or like something/someone intensely

aerial
(adjective)
We were also very lucky to see the death-defying aerial acrobatics of the Canadian Snowbirds.
= something performed in the air or something from the air (usually having to do with an airplane)

a demonstration
…the amazing demonstration team from the Canadian Air Forces.
= an action where you show someone how to do something or how something works; in this case the Snowbirds demonstrate “the high level of professionalism, teamwork, excellence, discipline and dedication” [from their website]