Friday 26 February 2016

Schwa /ə/ in words

English pronunciation - Short vowel /ǝ/

English pronunciation - Long vowel /ɜ:/

English Vowels: /ɜ:/ and /ə/ (video explanation)






Pronunciation tips - VOWELS /ɜ:/ and /ə/


Little Red Riding Hood - (pronunciation practice activity)

Hello class:

Today we are going to practice what we've learned in class with a classic Grimm brothers' bedtime story: "Little Red Riding Hood".

Here's a video I found at Learn English Kids BBC Council's webpage.
You can listen and read the story.


You can visit the site clicking on the following link and download the text and some activities to complete the exercise:
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/short-stories/little-red-riding-hood

Listen to the story carefully, pause the video and repeat what you heard focusing on a propper acticulation.

Enjoy!
Jon.

Monday 22 February 2016

giving opinions - SPEAKING ACTIVITY


Synonyms for the 100 most used words in English

English synonyms


Hello there, 

Check out this website where you can find an excellent list of synonyms for the 100 most used words in English

This is a perfect place to improve your vocabulary.

I hope you find it useful.

Teacher Jon.

Monday 15 February 2016

"The hundred foot journey"

This week we'll watch the film "The hundred foot journey" a beautiful 2014 American comedy-drama film directed by Lasse Hallström.
The film stars Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayaland and Charlote Le Bon and tells the story of two nearby restaurants in a French town: one which is run by a recently relocated Indian family and the other a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Enjoy!


Friday 12 February 2016

Betty Botter Bought Some Butter - English Tongue Twisters

Here's a famous English tongue twister which is perfect to practice short vowels:

/æ/ batter
/e/ better - Betty
/ɪ/ bitter - bit - this
/ɒ/ Botter
/ʌ/ butter
/ʊ/ would

And the long vowel:

/ɔ:/ bought

Sound pairs to practice vowels /ɒ/ and /ɔ:/

Here are some minimal pairs to practice vowels /ɒ/ and /ɔ:/:


Click on the image to hear the words.








Vowel Pronunciation - A & O

English pronunciation - / ɒ / compared to / ɔ: /

English Vowels: /ɒ/ and /ɔ:/ - VIDEOS



PRONUNCIATION TIPS: /ɒ/ and /ɔ:/


Wednesday 10 February 2016

Friday 5 February 2016

English vowels: /ɑ:/ and /ʌ/ - PRACTICE






Sound pairs to practice vowels /ɑ:/ and /ʌ/

Here are some minimal pairs to practice vowels /ɑ:/ and /ʌ/ :


Click on the image to hear the words.







And here are some more minimal pairs to practice these vowels:


Minimal Pairs 

barn - bun
calm – come
cart – cut
card - cud 
tart – tut
heart – hut 
karting – cutting 



Learning English Pronunciation - /ʌ/ compared to /ɑ:/ - VIDEO

English vowels: /ɑ:/ and /ʌ/ - VIDEOS








PRONUNCIATION TIPS: /ɑ:/ and /ʌ/


Audio Guide to British English

Hello class, 

Here's a link to a website with mp3 audio files which you can listen to to practice your pronunciation:



http://www.davidappleyard.com/english/pronunciation.htm#ah

Enjoy!
Jon

My Fair Lady - pronunciation







Monday 1 February 2016

A short summary for gerunds and infinitives

INFINITIVE OR GERUND?

we use the INFINITIVE with to:

  • after adjectives
  • to express reason or purpose
  • after certain verbs (see list below)

we use the INFINITIVE without to:




  • after most modal and auxiliary verbs
  • after make and let
we use the GERUND:




  • after prepositions
  • as the subject of a sentence (NOMINALIZATION)
  • after certain verbs (see list below)