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Many countries around the world have a President as their head of state and a Prime Minister as the head of government. In some countries, the President is more powerful than the Prime Minister, while in other countries the Prime Minister is more powerful.

In Canada, we don’t have a President. Our head of state is the Queen of England! Her representative in Canada is called the Governor General, though this person is mainly a figurehead.

In the 18th century, thirteen colonies in British America fought a revolutionary war against the British and united to form their own country – the United States of America. The other colonies and territories in North America (including what is now Canada) remained part of the British Empire.

In 1867, the country of Canada was created by the British Parliament. The last British colony in North America joined Canada in 1949. Though still part of the British Empire, Canada was largely autonomous. It wasn’t until 1982 that all dependence on the British finally ended. We remain part of the British Commonwealth.

The royal family visits Canada often and is always warmly received! So, whenever William and Kate become King and Queen of England, they will be King and Queen of Canada, too!

Vocabulary

a figurehead
= a leader who has no real power; in Canada the Prime Minister is elected by the people and chooses the Governor General

autonomous
= independent, make decisions by yourself (person), govern yourself (country), though you are part of a larger organization or group

warmly received
= welcomed in a friendly and caring way

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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: The phenomenon of the ‘must-have’ toy at Christmas!
Pronunciation explanation: How to pronounce been – the past participle of the verb be!

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!

*music by Incompetech

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

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. What is Christmas supposed to be about?

2. What is a ‘must-have’ toy?

3. What was the ‘must-have’ toy in 1983?

4. What did parents do to get one?

5. Did Santa bring me a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas?

Transcript:

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

Now that all the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten and the Halloween costumes have been put away, everyone is getting ready for Christmas! It’s supposed to be a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but somehow it’s become a huge commercial holiday and the most important time of year for retailers. For children, this is the most important day of the year. Children wake up on Christmas morning and hurry to the Christmas tree to find their presents from Santa.

Every once in a while, there’s a must-have Christmas toy – a toy that is so in demand that it becomes almost impossible to find in the stores! Parents line up outside toy stores before they open just to make sure they can buy this must-have toy. When the shelves are bare, parents turn to eBay and pay whatever price necessary to get their hands on this toy! One year it was a ‘Tickle-Me-Elmo’ doll. Another year it was Beanie Babies. I know that this phenomenon must sound completely crazy, but people consider it part of the fun of Christmas!

For Christmas in 1983 – when I was a little girl – the must-have toy was a Cabbage Patch Kid. It was a doll that you could adopt. They were sold with unique names on their own birth certificates and adoption papers that you could send in to make the adoption official. There were massive line-ups outside of stores and riots inside the stores when parents realized there were limited dolls available. I’m not kidding: parents were fighting with each other over a doll!

As far as I was concerned, there was no point in having Christmas that year if Santa didn’t bring me a Cabbage Patch Kid! My mom was able to find one that looked just like me … and she didn’t have to fight anyone to get it! It was such an important gift that I still have that Cabbage Patch Kid today! It’s amazing the lengths that parents will go to in order to make their children happy!

News reports from 1983:

Pronunciation:

The present perfect tense combines have or has with the past participle of a verb. The pronunciation of past participles can be challenging for English learners.

The past participle of the verb be can be pronounced two ways. It’s spelled b-e-e-n.

The proper pronunciation is /bi:n/, for example: Have you been to Canada?

When people are speaking quickly, however, it sounds more like ‘bin’: /bIn/, for example: Have you been to Canada?

Listen to some more example sentences:

I’ve never been to Japan!

Have you heard about Jane? She’s been in a car accident.

There’s been a change in plans: we’re meeting at 7 p.m., not 6.

I’ve been thinking about you!
(*Present perfect continuous)

Listen to the story again. Can you hear where been is used in a sentence?

Vocabulary:

Cabbage Patch Kids
= a very popular doll in North America that was first available in 1983 and is still produced today.
Parents often tell their children that babies come from the ‘cabbage patch’ (an area of land where cabbages are grown) when they don’t want to tell them how babies are really made! This is where the idea for ‘Cabbage Patch Kids’ began!

leftovers
Now that all the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten…
= food that was not eaten at a previous meal. People celebrate Thanksgiving by having a big family dinner. There is always more food than every eats, and the food that is ‘leftover’ is eaten in the days after Thanksgiving.

commercial (adjective)
…somehow [Christmas] has become a huge commercial holiday…
= used to describe anything related to commerce (buying and selling things); many holidays in North America have turned into ‘commercial holidays,’ where the main way to celebrate the holiday is to buy things. At Christmas, people buy decorations for their home and Christmas trees, cards to send to family and friends, food for parties and Christmas day dinners, and gifts.

retailers
…[Christmas is] the most important time of year for retailers
= a person or business that sells things to the public; stores.

must-have (adjective)
…a must-have Christmas toy…
= something that many people want so much, they believe that they must have it; something that is necessary to have.

bare shelves
When the shelves are bare…
= in a toy store, the toys are usually displayed on shelves (plural form of ‘shelf’), a flat surface attached to a wall or frame on which things are placed. ‘Bare shelves’ means that there is nothing on the shelves – they are empty because all the toys have been bought.

to get your hands on (something)
…[parents] pay whatever price necessary to get their hands on this toy.
= to find, get or obtain something

to adopt
It was a doll that you could adopt.
= when you adopt a child, you become the legal guardians of a child who was born to other parents, and they become a member of your family

a riot
There were massive line-ups outside of stores and riots inside the stores when parents realized there were limited dolls available.
= when a group of people becomes violent and uncontrollable

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These are the most common questions I am asked! Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question.

The fastest way to learn English is to move to an English-speaking country and go to school or work with native speakers.

If you are serious about learning a language, take any opportunity you can to spend time in an English-speaking country (for a long period of time, not just one or two weeks).

For many people, however, this is not possible!

If you can’t go to an English-speaking country, you need to recreate an English-speaking environment as much as possible!

• When you get up in the morning, listen to an English radio station, watch an English TV channel, or read an English newspaper.

• On your way to work, listen to English music, English podcasts, or English radio stations (in your car or on your phone)

• Speak English to everyone and everything: your family, children, friends, co-workers (if possible), pets, plants…

• After work, watch English TV shows and movies (it’s OK to watch with English subtitles if you need to!)

• Write something in English! Even if you only write one sentence a day, this will help you focus and ‘think’ in English. Write it in a diary. Start your own blog. Use Twitter, Facebook or MyEC. Just start!

• Do you like to cook? Use English cookbooks.

• Do you like clothes and fashion? Read English fashion magazines.

• Do you like to know what’s going on in your country? Look for English newspapers and magazines that talk about local or national issues in your part of the world.

• Use an English day planner or calendar (or set your phone/email calendars to ‘English’)

The more you listen to and read English, the more comfortable you become with it and the easier it is to remember new words. You get used to the sounds of English and you can imitate them when you speak!

The listening lesson “Library Books” is about my bad habit of never returning my library books on time. Let’s take a look at some English expressions with ‘book’!

a bookworm
= someone who likes to read books and reads a lot!

My sister is a real bookworm – she always has her head in a book!

to hit the books
= to study/begin studying, usually intensely

My final exams start in 2 weeks – it’s time to hit the books!

(to do something) by the book
= to follow the rules carefully and exactly

The police were very cautious and carried out the investigation by the book.

We did everything by the book but the bank still would not give us a loan.

Don’t judge a book by its cover! / You can’t judge a book by its cover!
= don’t judge (form an opinion about) someone because of what they look like! Whether or not a book is good does not depend on its cover, so what we think about other people should not be based on what they look like

Just because she looks like a punk doesn’t mean she’s a bad person – don’t judge a book by its cover!

to throw the book at someone
= to punish someone (usually a criminal) as harshly and severely as possible (usually by the court system)

He’s already been arrested twice for driving without a licence. If he’s caught a third time, the judge will throw the book at him.

to take/to borrow a leaf/page out of someone’s book
*A ‘leaf’ in this context is a sheet of paper.
= to copy what someone else is doing because they’re successful at it

Lynn looks amazing! She’s lost so much weight. I should really take a page out of her book and start going to the gym more.

Every trick in the book
= try something every way possible, do everything you can

We tried every trick in the book but we just couldn’t get the baby to smile!

He tried every trick in the book to get her attention, but she would not agree to go on a date with him!

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In the listening lesson “Library Books!” I talked about a terrible habit I have:

I use many more adverbs of frequency throughout the story!

What is an adverb?
An adverb describes a verb. It gives more information about the verb.

What are adverbs of frequency?
An adverb of frequency answers the question: “How often (do you do something)?” It is used to describe how many times you do something.

1) Indefinite Adverbs of Frequency

Commonly used adverbs of frequency:

always
constantly
usually
normally
frequently
regularly
often
sometimes
occasionally
infrequently
seldom
rarely
hardly ever
never

(This is obviously not a complete list!)

*Indefinite adverbs usually go before the main verb…

She rarely drinks.

I usually skip breakfast.

He often has to work late.

I have never smoked a cigarette.

Even when there is an auxiliary or ‘helping’ verb in the sentence, the adverb of frequency always goes after the auxiliary verb and before the main verb:

I have never eaten so much food in my life!

You can’t always get what you want!

Exceptions:

a) Adverbs of frequency go after the verb be…

He is always late for class!

She is constantly nagging me to lose weight.

My friend is rarely on time for anything.

b) Sometimes, occasionally, normally, and usually, can also go at the beginning or end of a sentence:

Usually I exercise at night, not in the morning.

He likes to watch reality TV sometimes.

Occasionally she smokes a cigarette.

Normally I don’t do this, but I’ll make an exception for you!

c) Frequently, constantly, regularly and most other adverbs of frequency can also go at the end of a sentence. (Always, rarely, and seldom, cannot go at the end of a sentence.)

My mother calls me on the phone frequently.

I exercise regularly.

I drink water constantly.

X: She complains about the weather always.
She always complains about the weather.

d) ‘Negative’ adverbs of frequency (e.g. rarely, seldom, never) are not used in negative sentences or questions.

I rarely drink alcohol.
X: She doesn’t rarely drink alcohol.
X: Do you rarely drink alcohol?

2) Definite adverbs of frequency
Definite adverbs of frequency are more specific than indefinite adverbs of frequency.

daily
annually
every day / hour / month / year / etc.
all the time
most of the time
most mornings / afternoon / evenings
once in a while
once / twice / etc.
once a week

*Definite adverbs of frequency can go at the beginning or end of a sentence. They never go in the middle of the sentence.

The cleaning staff cleans the hotel rooms daily.
X: The cleaning staff daily cleans the hotel rooms.

I see her at the gym all the time.

Do you go to school every day?
~ No, I don’t go to school every day?

He takes his kids to school most mornings.

Once in a while my mother babysits the kids.

Practice!
(*clicking on the links below will take you to other websites)

Quiz #1 – EnglishClub.com

Quiz #2 – esl.about.com

Quiz #3 – Long Beach City College ESL website

Quiz #4 – English Club (Tajikistan)
(*The title of the quiz should be “Test Your English by Taking this Quiz.” Other than that, the English on this page is perfect.)

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: Borrowing books from the library!
The pronunciation explanation: The weak form of the preposition ‘to’!

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!

*music by Incompetech

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

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. For how long can I borrow books from the local public library?

2. Why does it make more sense to borrow books from the library than to buy them?

3. What do I do with books I don’t want anymore?

4. Does my local library have a lot of books?

Transcript:

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

I never remember to return my library books on time. It’s a terrible habit. I’m surprised my local public library even lets me take out more books. The library lets patrons take out books for three weeks at a time. I can go to its website and renew my borrowed books for another 3-week period, and another after that. Yet, I can never remember to renew or return any borrowed books on time, and I end up paying fines.

I like to read anything and everything: fiction, biographies, history books, books about politics…you name it! New books in Canada are expensive, and since I like to read a lot of books, it could become an expensive hobby. There’s nothing worse than spending $20-$30 on a new hardcover book, only to discover the book is awful and a waste of my money! It makes more sense to take out books from the library instead since it’s free! If I like the book and I think I’ll read it again, then I’ll buy it

I have two large bookcases full of books and there’s very little room for new ones. Every once in a while I clean out my bookcases and take the books I don’t want any more to the second–hand bookstore. If the person at the bookstore thinks they’ll be able to resell some of the books, they’ll pay me cash for them or give me credit to buy more books at their store. Usually I take the store credit. Any books unwanted at the second-hand store, I usually donate to Goodwill.

The local public library is amazingly well-stocked! I’m very impressed with its collection of books. It always seems to have whatever I’m looking for, no matter how obscure the book is! If the book I’m looking for is already checked out, I can request the next available copy and the library will notify me as soon as it becomes available.

Since the library offers so many services for free, the least I could do is return my books on time!

Pronunciation: the weak form of ‘to’

In a previous podcast, I told you about the reduced or weak form of the word and. When and is unstressed, it’s reduced to the sound /ən/, for example in the phrase up and down.

Something similar happens with the preposition to.

Listen carefully to some sentences from the story:

I never remember to return my library books on time.

I like to read anything and everything…

It makes more sense to take out books from the library.

Did you hear the word to in those sentences?

The preposition to is a function word: while the sentences would not make sense without to, it’s not an important word. Within a sentence, function words are often unstressed. The vowel sound changes to the unstressed vowel sound /ə/. When to is unstressed in a sentence, it’s pronounced /tə/.

Listen again:
I didn’t say: I like /tu:/ read… I said: I like /tə/ read
I didn’t say: /tu:/ take out books… I said: /tə/ take out books

Can you hear the difference?

Listen to some more examples of the unstressed to and repeat after me:
to tell the truth
I’d like to go
give it to me
Can I talk to you?
listen to music

Listen to the story again. Can you hear more examples of the reduced to?

Vocabulary:

public library
I’m surprised my local public library even lets me take out more books.
= a public library is a place where residents of a town or city can go to borrow books for free

a patron
The library lets patrons take out books…
= I used ‘patron’ in the story to refer to someone who takes out books from the library. Since people don’t pay for books, they are not really ‘customers’ or ‘clients’

a fine
…I end up paying fines
= a small amount of money paid in punishment for not returning library books on time

You name it!
I like to read anything and everything: fiction, biographies, history books, books about politics…you name it!
= there is a long list of things to choose from; any genre of books you can name, I probably like reading those kinds of books!

a hardcover book
There’s nothing worse than spending $20-$30 on a new hardcover book…
= when a book is first published, it is a book with a stiff, hard cover; the ‘cover’ of a book is the front and back of the book.

second-hand bookstore
[I] take the books I don’t want any more to the second–hand bookstore.
= a bookstore that sells used books (books that people have read)

store credit
Usually I take the store credit.
= the people at the second-hand bookstore determine the value of the books I want to sell to them, but instead of giving me cash they say ‘you can by $X worth of books at our store.’ I can then buy other books at their store without paying them any money.

Goodwill
Any books unwanted at the second-hand store, I usually donate to Goodwill.
= a thrift store in North America; people can donate (give for free) their unwanted items, and Goodwill sells them to other people for a very low price.

obscure
…no matter how obscure the book is!
= not well-known, unknown to most people

a copy
…I can request the next available copy…
= a single book; this can also be used to talk about magazines, movies on DVDs, etc.; when a book is published many copies of the book are made available to the public to buy.

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 love the Twilight Saga books and movies!
Pronunciation explanation: When the / ʃ / sound is spelled ‘ti’!

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!

*music by Incompetech

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

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. When did I start paying attention to Twilight?

2. Where did Stephenie Meyer get the idea to write Twilight?

3. How many books have been sold?

4. Why do these books appeal to women?

5. What did I think of the ending?

Transcript:

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

It’s hard to escape all the Twilight hysteria, but up until fall 2009, I wasn’t paying any attention to it! I knew the Twilight books were about a vampire, and lots of people liked the books, especially women – but that’s all I knew. Normally I’m not very interested in vampire stories. I mean, aren’t there enough books and movies about vampires already? Then, one day in late 2009, I saw part of the Twilight movie on TV and I was immediately hooked. I can’t explain why! I just can’t get enough of the books and movies.

In 2003, Stephenie Meyer had a dream about a human girl, Bella, who falls in love with a vampire, Edward. She turned her dream into a book, which then became a 4-book saga. All four Twilight books have sold over 100 million copies around the world. So far, 3 of the books have been made into very successful movies and filming has begun on the two movies based on the 4th book. In total, the movies have grossed over 1 billion dollars.

I’m inspired by the whole incredible story: before Twilight, Stephenie Meyer had never written anything in her life. Then, one morning she wakes up and creates a billion-dollar empire! She made a group of talented but relatively unknown actors into worldwide superstars, and saved a dying town. (Yes, Forks, Washington, the setting for the books, is a real town!) I think the books appeal to women because they’re written from the perspective of a teenage girl falling in love for the first time. Anyone who was ever a teenage girl can recognize the range of emotions Bella feels throughout the books.

Last week I finished reading Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in the Twilight Saga. It’s really intense and so much happens in the book. It was great, but I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. I won’t give it away, in case you haven’t read the books yet, but I thought it was kind of hokey. I’m not disappointed, as overall I thought it was an excellent book. Could it have ended any other way, though? I don’t think so. I don’t know how it could have been better. I do like the fact that there could possibly be more Twilight books in the future.

I’m Team Jacob, by the way. What about you?

Pronunciation: when ‘ti’ is pronounced / ʃ /

In a previous podcast, I told you how sometimes the / ʃ / sound can be spelled ‘ci.’

Did you know that the / ʃ / sound can also be spelled ‘ti’?

In the story, I used the word ‘attention.’ In most words that end in –tion, the ‘ti’ is pronounced / ʃ / (the syllable is unstressed, so the -on is pronounced ‘ən,’ not ‘on’):

nation
vacation
election
pronunciation
education
organization

*the ‘ti’ in question is pronounced / tʃ /

In words that end –tious, the ‘ti’ is also pronounced / ʃ /:

ambitious
nutritious
superstitious
cautious
pretentious

Other words where the ‘ti’ is pronounced include / ʃ /:

patient
negotiate
initial
partial
substantial

Vocabulary:

hysteria
It’s hard to escape all the Twilight hysteria…
= strong, uncontrollable excitment, (or any strong emotion that causes to act uncontrollably)

fall
…up until fall 2009…
= another word for ‘autumn’

“I just can’t get enough…”
= nothing can satisfy me, I just want more and more!

to fall in love
…a dream about a human girl, Bella, who falls in love with a vampire, Edward.
= to start experiencing love for someone

saga
The Twilight Saga / a 4-book saga
= a very long, complicated, detailed story with many different events

grossed
In total, the movies have grossed over 1 billion dollars.
= the amount of money made/earned before taxes and expenses are paid

relatively unknown
…a group of talented but relatively unknown actors…
= the actors had minor success, but were not as well-known as they are now

perspective
…they’re written from the perspective of a teenage girl…
= the story is told the way Bella (a teenage girl) sees things

hokey
…I thought it was kind of hokey.
= unrealistic, silly, not believable

A very big thank you to EnglishClub.com for choosing my website as their ESL Site of the Month Award for November 2010!

My name is Melanie! I am an English teacher. I am a native English speaker from Canada. [I sound like an American (pronunciation and grammar), but sometimes my spelling is British – that’s the Canadian way!]

I teach private English lessons online! This is a great way to improve your English! Click here for more information about private lessons with me and to book your FREE trial lesson! I announced a new product recently – a pronunciation assessment package of lessons!

Here on my blog I post information to help you improve your English! My blog posts are inspired by the questions that English learners ask me and common mistakes that I hear learners make.

My weekly listening-lesson podcast is available on itunes or Podbean.com You can find the transcripts for all of these lessons by clicking on the ‘listening’ tab above.

You can also find me on:
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
MyEC

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I am often asked:

1) Decide what kind of accent you would like – American or British?
These are the two major accents in English. There are others, like Australian, Irish, or South African, but American and British are the two dominant forms.

American pronunciation and British pronunciation are completely different. Most of the consonant sounds are the same, but the vowel sounds are wildly different.

2) Have your pronunciation professionally assessed
When your pronunciation is assessed by a teacher, he/she can tell you exactly what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. He/She can tell you exactly what sounds you need to work on to sound more like a native speaker.

Rachel at Rachel’s English can also evaluate your pronunciation.

3) Learn the IPA and the individual sounds of English
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a collection of symbols that represent the different sounds of a language.

British Pronunciation: BBC Learning English

American Pronunciation: Rachel’s English

When you know the IPA you can look up any word in a dictionary and know exactly how to pronounce it.

4) Watch YouTube pronunciation videos

Teacher Melanie (me!) – American English
JenniferESL – American English
Lisa Mojsin @ Accurage English – American English
Rachel’s English – American English
Pronuncian/Seattle Learning Academy – American English

5) Try to imitate spoken English
Rachel (from Rachel’s English) has an interesting idea:
Imitation Exercises

You can do this with anything: podcasts, English songs, English TV shows, English movies. Try to imitate the sounds that native speakers make!

6) Listening activity
Before you listen to an English podcast, song, etc. read the words first. Highlight /circle / underline the sound you want to work on. For example, if you have trouble with the /I/ sound, highlight all the words that you think have the /I/ sound. Read the passage out loud to yourself, focusing on the words with /I/. Listen to the podcast (or song, etc.) – can you hear the /I/ sound? Try to imitate what the speaker is saying.

7) Practice for at least 30 minutes a day
There is no way around it – the only way your pronunciation will improve is if you practice, practice, practice.

8) Record yourself
The first thing I do when I work with a new student is record them reading a short passage in English. It’s important to hear what you sound like speaking English so you know what you need to improve!

9) Pronunciation Books
On my Recommended Books page, I describe two books that I have used to understand American English pronunciation. You might find them useful, too!

Those are my suggestions! What techniques, methods, activities or resources have you used to improve your pronunciation? Let me know in the comments below!

Would you like to sound more like a native speaker?

Good pronunciation is essential for communicating well in English! Your pronunciation is the first thing people notice about your English.

Have your pronunciation assessed by a professional English teacher and native speaker!

This assessment includes:

• a recording of you speaking English
• an introduction to the IPA (the International Phonetic Alphabet – the symbols that represent the sounds of English)
• an accent analysis to see which sounds and elements of standard American English pronunciation you need to improve

By the end of this assessment, you will have a clear idea of what you sound like speaking English and what you need to work on to improve your standard American English pronunciation!

This thorough assessment takes 6 hours:

Sign up for your free 30-minute trial lesson (fill in the form on the ‘Private Lessons‘ page) so you can talk to me and find out more about this pronunciation assessment!

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October was an interesting month – there were some good things and some bad things that happened!

Good things:
My blog turned 1 year old! Thank you for continuing to visit my blog and I hope you continue to find my posts useful!

Bad things:

• I caught a cold! I have chronic fatigue syndrome, so when I catch a cold it is very different than when healthy people get sick! I tried to rest and not spend too much time on my computer, but it still took days to get better!
• I tripped over my laptop’s power cord and ripped it apart! It took a week for a new one to arrive, and I was able to borrow one from a friend in the meantime, but not in time to get last week’s podcast out in time.
• My uncle passed away. He was 79 years old. He was such a great man!

I apologize for not spending as much time on my blog this month as usual, and for any disruption in your studies that this caused. Here’s hoping November is a much better month!

Blog posts in October:

Listening Lesson #18 – Baby Gifts
Vocabulary – The Stages of Life
Expressions – Expressions with Baby

Listening Lesson #19 – Supermarkets Try to Save the Planet!
Grammar – Is it OK to Use ‘Fruits’ and ‘Foods’?

Listening Lesson #20 – A Dilemma on Thanksgiving

Listening Lesson #21 – My Jack-O’-Lantern! (video)

Vocabulary Spotlight on: The Chilean Mine Rescue

Grammar: Present Perfect Self-Study Resources
*links to other websites with explanations and quizzes

Pronunciation:
60 Words with the / / / ‘uh’ sound
Pronunciation Practice – /v/ and /b/
Pronunciation Practice – /v/ and /w/

Canada Fun Facts:
#3 – The Beaver is Our National Animal…and We Eat Beaver Tails!
#4 – We Remember When Alanis Morissette Was a Teenage Dance-pop Singer Called ‘Alanis’!

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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: Watching my cousin perform in an opera!
Pronunciation lesson: How the / dʒ / sound is usually spelled!

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!

*music by Incompetech

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

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. Who is performing in the opera?

2. What is the name of the opera?

3. What is the opera about?

4. What did I think of the opera?

5. Have I been to Venice, Italy?

6. In what part of Venice does the story take place?

Transcript:

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

One of my cousins is a dancer and she recently graduated from university with a degree in performance dance. Last weekend, I went to see her in her first job as a professional dancer. She’s performing in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of A Death in Venice. Now, you’re probably thinking the same things I first thought when I heard about this: why is there dancing in A Death in Venice? -and- why is A Death in Venice an opera?

A Death in Venice is a novella – a short novel – written by Thomas Mann in 1912. It’s about a writer whose life falls apart while he’s on vacation at the beach in Venice, when he finds himself attracted to an adolescent boy and struggles to understand why. I thought it was a strange story to make into an opera, but it’s been getting rave reviews, and this production has been travelling around the world.

My cousin was really good and she looked like she was having fun on stage. In one scene the dancers were gondoliers, setting the stage for the writer’s arrival in Venice. In other scenes the dancers were a group of friends frolicking at the beach. I’m not crazy about opera in general – I prefer musicals like Rent, Les Miserables, or Mamma Mia! – and the story line didn’t really interest me, but I thought it was a good production.

I’ve actually been to the real city of Venice in Italy! The story takes place on the Lido, one of the islands in the Venetian Lagoon, not the more famous island of Venice. The Lido was a popular summer vacation spot for wealthy Europeans and it’s where the Venice film festival is held each year. It was fun to picture this story unfolding in places where I have walked.

Pronunciation: the / dʒ / sound

Listen to some words I used in the story:
graduated
job
strange
onstage
general

What sound do all these words have in common? The / dʒ / sound.

The / dʒ / sound is the exact same mouth position as the / tʃ / sound. The / tʃ / sound (normally spelled ‘ch’) is the unvoiced sound, while the / dʒ / sound is voiced. It’s a blend of the /d/ and / ʒ / sounds.

This sound is often confusing for English learners, because it can be spelled different ways.

The / dʒ / sound is most commonly spelled with the letter ‘j,’ like in the words: jeans, job, enjoy, subject

It could be spelled ‘gi,’ like in the words: giant, giraffe, magic, original

It could be spelled ‘ge’ at the beginning of a word, like: genius, gentle, gesture

…in the middle of a word, like: intelligent, danger, gorgeous

…or at the end of a word, like: change, huge, college, large

It could be spelled ‘dge,’ like in the words: judge, edge, fidget, bridge

Finally, it could be spelled ‘du’ like in the words: education, graduate, individual, procedure

Take a few minutes now and try to make a list of more words that you know that have the / dʒ / sound!

Vocabulary:

a production
…the Canadian Opera Company’s production of A Death in Venice.
= a series of performances of a play or other show presented to the public

to fall apart
It’s about a writer whose life falls apart…
= generally: to break into pieces; when a person falls apart, they experience emotional pain or confusion, and because of that they cannot continue living normally.

rave reviews
…it’s been getting rave reviews…
= if a play or other show gets ‘rave reviews’ it means that a reviewers or critics have given it excellent good reports

a gondolier
In one scene the dancers were gondoliers…
= a man who steers and pushes a gondola through the canals of Venice

a musical
I prefer musicals like Rent, Les Miserables, or Mamma Mia!
= a theatre show with songs and dancing

the Venetian Lagoon
The story takes place on the Lido, one of the islands in the Venetian Lagoon…
When most people think of Venice, Italy, they are actually thinking of just one island. The city of Venice is made up of many different islands and part of the mainland. The islands of Venice are all in the Venetian Lagoon. The islands are separated from the Adriatic Sea by the Lido – an island that is also a sandbar.
More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_Lagoon
Satellite image from Google Earth

to picture
It was fun to picture this story unfolding in places where I have walked.
= I can imagine in my mind the character in this opera walking around Venice