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: I had to get a new sticker for my car’s licence plate!
Pronunciation explanation: how to pronounce the word ‘convenience.’!

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

Listen to the podcast:

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Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. What do I have to do every year in my province with my licence plate?

2. How much does a new sticker cost?

3. What did I have to do before I could get a new sticker?

4. Where did I go to renew my licence plate and get a new sticker?

5. Why am I so angry about using the service kiosk?

Transcript:

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

*Note in this transcript I use the Canadian / British spelling of licence. The American spelling is license.

Every car in North America – and probably the world – needs a licence plate. It’s the rectangular piece of metal at the front and back of a car with numbers or letters on it that identifies a vehicle. In my province Ontario, every year you have to renew your licence plate and get a new sticker to put on it…for which you must also pay!

First, you need a driver’s licence to drive a car. When you own a car in my province, you’re required by law to buy a permit and a licence plate for your car. You must also buy car insurance. Then, every year, you must pay $74 for a new sticker to put on your licence plate.

I’m used to strange government rules and regulations, but this is just a money grab! Before I could get a new sticker for my licence plate, the government required that my car pass an emissions test to make sure it was not polluting the air – the same test my car had passed two years ago. I doubt my car had become a lean, mean polluting machine since the last test, but I had to spend $35 for the test anyway. My car passed. Again.

I drove down to the Driver and Vehicle Licence Issuing Office, only to find it was temporarily closed, and there was no indication as to when it would reopen. Fortunately, there was a service kiosk at the mall where I could get a new licence plate sticker. If you can believe this, they charged me an extra dollar for using the service kiosk and called it a ‘convenience fee.’ I have been completely inconvenienced by this entire situation, yet the government has the audacity to charge me a ‘convenience fee.’ Unbelievable.

Discussion Questions:

Do you own a car?

If you do, do you have to pay for anything, like permits, insurance, licence plates or licence plate stickers in your country?

Let me know in the comments below!

Pronunciation:

The word convenience has some tricky sounds for English learners.

Many English learners want to pronounce the first syllable /kan/. Remember, however, that this syllable is UNSTRESSED. In most unstressed syllables the vowel is reduced to the schwa / ə / sound. So, the first syllable is pronounced…
/ k ən / not / kan /

The second syllable is the stressed syllable. It’s said louder and longer than the other syllables.
/ vi:n /
/ kən.’vi:n. /

The third syllable is interesting. There are a couple sounds in it that are not represented by letters. Listen carefully:
/ jənts /

The syllable begins with the /j/ sound, like at the beginning of the word ‘you.’ Since this syllable is unstressed, the vowel sound is / ə /. There is a slight /ts/ sound as your tongue moves from the voiced /n/ to the unvoiced /s/:
/ jənts /

Let’s put all these syllables together:
/kən.ˈvi:n.jənts/

Vocabulary:

to renew
…every year you have to renew your licence plate…
= to make something new again, to cause (something) to continue to be effective or valid for an additional period of time (MW)

a money grab
…this is just a money grab!
= when a government, business or other organization unfairly or dishonestly acquires a large sum of money, without having to do a lot to take that money

an emissions test
…the government required that my car pass an emissions test to make sure it was not polluting the air…
= a test performed by a mechanic to make sure the emissions (gas and other substances coming out of my car) are not harmful to the environment

the Driver and Vehicle Licence Issuing Office
I drove down to the Driver and Vehicle Licence Issuing Office…
= the local government office that looks after issuing driver licences, vehicle permits and licence plates

to charge (someone $$$)
…they charged me an extra dollar for using the service kiosk…
= to ask for or demand a sum of money in exchange for goods or services

a kiosk
Here is a picture of the ServiceOntario kiosk:
http://www.ontario.ca/en/services_for_residents/STEL02_155921