English Teacher Melanie

Helping English learners move from the classroom into the real world!

  • Home
  • Vocabulary
  • Grammar
  • Study Tips
  • Reading

video

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Melanie

{The Rhythm of English} Lesson 1: Stress & Syllables

April 28, 2014 by Melanie

My goal as a teacher is to help you understand natural, spoken English.

To understand spoken English, you need to understand the rhythm of English.

To understand the rhythm of English, you need to understand stress.

To understand stress, you need to understand syllables.

Syllable stress explained in 5 minutes:

Dictionaries for English learners:
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/ (Merriam-Webster)
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

Filed Under: Videos Tagged With: rhythm, video

American Accent Pronunciation: T + N (video)

March 20, 2014 by Melanie 14 Comments

In this English pronunciation lesson, you’re going to learn something that will help you better UNDERSTAND American English speakers, AND it will help you SOUND more American.

You’re going to learn how to pronounce words like written, eaten, & frighten with an American accent!

BONUS! You’ll also learn the difference between a fully pronounced T sound and a held T sound.

This is the second lesson in the American Accent Training series.

 

 

This is the first lesson in the American Accent Training series:

(you can read the transcript of this lesson here.)

 

 

 

Filed Under: Videos Tagged With: American accent, video

Pronunciation – How to Say the Names of all the Winter Olympic Sports! (video)

January 28, 2014 by Melanie

Are you excited about the Winter Olympics? The Winter Olympics begin on February 7, in Sochi, Russia!

In this lesson, you’re going to learn the Engllish names of all 15 sports that are part of the Winter Olympics. You’ll see a picture of the sports, the name of the sport, and the IPA pronunciation/phonetic transcription of the sport name. Watch my lips, listen, and repeat after me!

Let’s get started!

Here are the 15 sports:

alpine skiing (which is more commonly known as downhill skiing)

biathlon
– This sport is combination of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

bobsleigh
This is the official name of the sport on the Sochi 2014 website, but in Canada & the United States, this sport is more commonly called bobsledding.

cross-country skiing

curling

figure skating

freestyle skiing
– Freestyle skiing includes moguls, aerials, ski cross, ski halfpipe, ski slopestyle.

hockey
On the Sochi 2014 website, it’s called Ice hockey, but in Canada & the United States, it’s just called hockey.

luge

nordic combined
– This sports includes a ski jumping competition and cross-country ski race.

short track speed skating

skeleton

ski jumping

snowboarding

speed skating (or long-track speed skating)

 

Filed Under: Videos Tagged With: video

American Accent Pronunciation: N + T = Silent T (video)

January 3, 2013 by Melanie

In this English lesson, you’re going to learn something that will help you better UNDERSTAND American English speakers, AND it will help you SOUND more American.

You’re going to learn how to pronounce words like center, disappointed, & internet

 

In fast speech, American English speakers often don’t pronounce the T after an N in a word. [Click here to tweet this!]

 

Listen carefully to these 5 words & repeat after me:

entertain
counter
printer
twenty
accountable

When you make the /n/ sound, the tongue goes up and the front of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth. This is the same as the starting position for the ‘t’ sound. So instead of trying to make two separate sounds, just don’t say the T!

This is a very common feature of fast speech.

Here are some more examples:

international
percentage
seventy
wanted
painter

It’s not wrong to fully pronounce the ‘t’ and say ‘international.’ In fact, you’ll hear Americans say both ‘international’ and ‘innernational.’ You should listen for both and know that they are the same word.

This also happens with the n + d combination, since the ‘t’ and ‘d’ sounds are the exact same mouth position.

handsome
landscape
grandparents
understand
underneath

Let’s try some practice sentences:

I don’t understand!

I was really disappointed with my interview.

I flew from Toronto to Atlanta.

I went over to my friend’s house.

That’s it! Don’t worry if this difficult for you at first! It takes 21 days to form a new habit, so keep practicing!

I hope this video helped you better understand the American accent.

 

Filed Under: Videos Tagged With: American accent, video

Pronunciation – How to Say the Names of all the Summer Olympic Sports! (video)

July 8, 2012 by Melanie

Are you excited about the Summer Olympics? The Summer Olympics begin on July 27, in London, England!

In this video, I’ll teach you the correct American pronunciation for all the sports that are part of the Summer Olympics. You’ll see a picture of the sports, the name of the sport, and the IPA pronunciation/phonetic transcription of the sport name. Watch my lips, listen, and repeat after me!

 

 

archery

athletics
– In North America, this sport is more commonly called ‘track and field,’ because it’s a collection of events that include running races around a track, and jumping and throwing competitions on the field inside the track

badminton

basketball

beach volleyball

boxing

canoe – slalom
canoe – sprint
Even though the official name of this sport is ‘canoe,’ it includes events for two different kinds of boats: canoes, and kayaks

cycling
There are 4 different types of cycling sports at the Olympics:
– BMX cycling
– mountain biking
– road cycling
– track cycling

diving

equestrian
This sport is more commonly known as ‘horseback riding.’ There are 3 different events in the sport of equestrian: jumping, eventing, dressage

fencing

football … which is called soccer in North America.

There are 2 different types of gymnastics at the Olympics:
artistic gymnastics
rhythmic gymnastics

handball

hockey … which, in North America, is called field hockey.

judo

modern pentathlon
In this sport, athletes must compete in 5 different events: fencing, swimming, horseback riding, shooting, and running … all in the same day!

rowing

sailing

shooting

swimming

synchronized swimming

table tennis
Informally, this sport is also called ping pong.

taekwondo

tennis

trampoline

triathlon
In this sport, competitors must swim, cycle and run … one right after the other!

volleyball

water polo

weightlifting

wrestling

That’s it! Now it’s your turn!


What sport do like to watch at the Olympics?

Let me know in the comments below.

 

Filed Under: Videos Tagged With: video

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 6
  • Next Page »
Posted in VideosTagged Videos

Post navigation

Previous: American Accent Pronunciation: T + N (video)
Next: pronounciation

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Food or Foods? Fruit or Fruits? When is It OK to Use Foods and Fruits?
  • Vocabulary Spotlight on: Relationships
  • Vocabulary – Sometimes, Sometime & Some Time
  • Learn Some English Words about SEX from James Bond Movies!
  • How to Use the Verb “Go”

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

Archives

  • January 2025
  • October 2017
  • May 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • May 2015
  • January 2015
  • June 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014
  • September 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • May 2011
  • February 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009

Categories

  • Blog
  • Blogiversary
  • Canada
  • Canada Fun Facts!
  • Grammar
  • Podcast
  • Popular
  • Pronunciation
  • Reading
  • Seasonal
  • Study Tip
  • Study Tips
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Vocabulary
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Amazon Disclosure

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in