Sunday, October 25, 2015
Intonation Practice
Intonation Practice
A: Waiter! Waiter! There's a fly in my soup!
B: A fly in your soup? What's it doing there?
A: I have no idea.
B: Well, what do you want me to do about it?
A: I want you to come and get it out.
B: All right. Calm down. I'll be there in a few minutes.
Practice the dialogue with appropriate intonation, substituting the words below.
Police! Police!
Waiter! Waiter!
Mommy! Mommy!
Daddy! Daddy!
Teacher! Teacher!
Help! Help!
Jimmy! Jimmy!
Mr. Hopkins!
Waitress! Waitress!
Ms. Chivous!
Principal!
Mrs. Harper!
Grandma! Grandma!
Teacher! Teacher!
Grandpa! Grandpa!
Uncle George!
Aunt Martha!
Mr. Lee! Mr. Lee!
Tammy! Tammy!
|
There's a rhinoceros in my backyard!
There's a spider in my spaghetti!
There's a kangaroo in the living room!
There's a gorilla in the garage!
There's a scorpion in my school bag!
There's a hippopotamus in the bathtub!
There's a lizard in my slipper!
There's a crocodile in the cafeteria!
There's a worm in my hamburger!
There's a fish in cash register!
There's a giraffe in the gymnasium!
There's a snake in the snack bar!
There's a rabbit in the refrigerator!
There's a rat in my backpack!
There's a bird in the attic!
There's a stork in the auditorium
There's a pig in the parlor!
There's a bull in the china shop!
There's a bat in the belfry!
|
"R" and "W" Practice
Consonant ‘R’
Consonant ‘W’
Two things to remember when making an American ‘R’ sound…
• Your mouth and lips come forward, like you are going to kiss.
• Your tongue moves back in your mouth, NOT forward.
‘R’ at the beginning of words
Rock
Rip
Reach
Road
Rain
Rich
Rome
Raise
Robe
Rice
‘R’ at the end of words or after a vowel
Car
Far
Star
Door
Bear
Four
Air
Year
Turn
Poor
‘R’ in the middle of words
Very
Direction
Arrange
Erase
Correct
Marry
Garage
Original
Hurry
Zero
Marine
Berry
Operation
Caring
Arrive
Everyone
‘R’ Sentence
The round rooster rushed into the wrong road.
R’ Blends
Remember…
•‘R’ is the strongest sound of the blend.
•When the blend is at the beginning of a word, your mouth prepares for the ‘R’, by coming forward before you even say the word.
‘R’ blends at the beginning of words
Training
Trust
Trip
Great
Tropical
Bring
Print
President
Product
Cracker
Crawl
Break
‘R’ blends in the middle of words
Subtract
Waitress
Nutrition
Australia
Introduce
Compress
Oppression
Betray
‘R’ practice sentences
- The story he read on the radio was incorrect.
- Her career in the law firm is permanent.
- Richard and Brooke took a ride in their brand new Range Rover truck.
- Everyone will respect the Royal Family when they arrive at the airport.
- The trip to the Rocky Mountains will be rescheduled on Friday.
Consonant ‘W’
Practice first with » 'OO’
then go into » ‘OOOOOWAWAWA’
Remember, A “W” is always makes a “W” sound. It NEVER makes a “V” sound.
‘W’ Sentence
What will we do?
Comparing ‘R’ and ‘W’
Rick – Wick
Right – White
Remember, the ‘W’ sound is also at the
beginning of the words One and Once.
‘W’ at the beginning of words
Why
Which
When
What
Wipe
Wish
Weight
Wing
‘W’ in the middle of words
Always
Away
Beware
Rewind
Awake
Someone
Halloween
Hollywood
‘W’ practice sentences
- The wind from the west was very wet.(Notice very has a /v/ sound)
- We woke up and washed the white washcloth.
- We waited for the waitress to give us water.
- We had a wonderful time in Washington and Wisconsin.
‘Q’ words (produced as a KW sound)
Question
Quiet
Queen
Qualify
Quit
Quebec
Quilt
Choir
Paragraph Practice
Word Review -
Ray
Russia
Dreamed
Roller Coaster
Grand Canyon
Arizona
Friend
Fred
Norway
Railroad
Traveling
Creative
Perfect
Construct
Everyone
Ray was born in Russia. He dreamed of building the perfect roller coaster at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. He had a friend named Fred who lived in Norway. Fred’s profession was designing railroad tracks and his career involved traveling around the world. Ray thought it would be perfect if Fred designed his roller coaster ride. Fred was creative, brilliant and worked well with railroad tracks. He would be the perfect engineer for the project. The ride took two years to construct and was painted red and white. Everyone really wanted to ride the brand-new roller coaster.
Consonant ‘W’
Two things to remember when making an American ‘R’ sound…
• Your mouth and lips come forward, like you are going to kiss.
• Your tongue moves back in your mouth, NOT forward.
‘R’ at the beginning of words
Rock
Rip
Reach
Road
Rain
Rich
Rome
Raise
Robe
Rice
‘R’ at the end of words or after a vowel
Car
Far
Star
Door
Bear
Four
Air
Year
Turn
Poor
‘R’ in the middle of words
Very
Direction
Arrange
Erase
Correct
Marry
Garage
Original
Hurry
Zero
Marine
Berry
Operation
Caring
Arrive
Everyone
‘R’ Sentence
The round rooster rushed into the wrong road.
R’ Blends
Remember…
•‘R’ is the strongest sound of the blend.
•When the blend is at the beginning of a word, your mouth prepares for the ‘R’, by coming forward before you even say the word.
‘R’ blends at the beginning of words
Training
Trust
Trip
Great
Tropical
Bring
President
Product
Cracker
Crawl
Break
‘R’ blends in the middle of words
Subtract
Waitress
Nutrition
Australia
Introduce
Compress
Oppression
Betray
‘R’ practice sentences
- The story he read on the radio was incorrect.
- Her career in the law firm is permanent.
- Richard and Brooke took a ride in their brand new Range Rover truck.
- Everyone will respect the Royal Family when they arrive at the airport.
- The trip to the Rocky Mountains will be rescheduled on Friday.
Consonant ‘W’
Practice first with » 'OO’
then go into » ‘OOOOOWAWAWA’
Remember, A “W” is always makes a “W” sound. It NEVER makes a “V” sound.
‘W’ Sentence
What will we do?
Comparing ‘R’ and ‘W’
Rick – Wick
Right – White
Remember, the ‘W’ sound is also at the
beginning of the words One and Once.
‘W’ at the beginning of words
Why
Which
When
What
Wipe
Wish
Weight
Wing
‘W’ in the middle of words
Always
Away
Beware
Rewind
Awake
Someone
Halloween
Hollywood
‘W’ practice sentences
- The wind from the west was very wet.(Notice very has a /v/ sound)
- We woke up and washed the white washcloth.
- We waited for the waitress to give us water.
- We had a wonderful time in Washington and Wisconsin.
‘Q’ words (produced as a KW sound)
Question
Quiet
Queen
Qualify
Quit
Quebec
Quilt
Choir
Paragraph Practice
Word Review -
Ray
Russia
Dreamed
Roller Coaster
Grand Canyon
Arizona
Friend
Fred
Norway
Railroad
Traveling
Creative
Perfect
Construct
Everyone
Ray was born in Russia. He dreamed of building the perfect roller coaster at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. He had a friend named Fred who lived in Norway. Fred’s profession was designing railroad tracks and his career involved traveling around the world. Ray thought it would be perfect if Fred designed his roller coaster ride. Fred was creative, brilliant and worked well with railroad tracks. He would be the perfect engineer for the project. The ride took two years to construct and was painted red and white. Everyone really wanted to ride the brand-new roller coaster.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Sunday, October 11, 2015
A Few More Idioms
GET UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED
to be in a bad mood from the beginning of the day
1. Don’t be upset that Peggy got angry with you; she’ll cool off soon. She always has a short temper when she gets up on the wrong side of the bed.
2. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.
Originally this phrase was “got up left foot forward” and dates back to the ancient Romans. In their time, the left side of anything was seen as sinister or unlucky, and Romans believed it was bad luck to put the left foot down first when getting out of bed. The idea that left is bad continued for centuries and eventually the word left was replaced with wrong.
GET/GIVE (SOMEONE/SOMETHING) SHORT SHRIFT
to make quick work of something or to give little time to someone
1. The secretary preferred working with people directly. She was an excellent secretary but she gave short shrift to typing up notes and preparing reports.
2. I haven’t much time for incompetent fools like Sam. I gave him short shrift when he came in here asking for a pay raise.
The expression conveys a negative feeling about someone or something. They are thought of as unworthy of much time or consideration.
GET/GIVE (SOMEONE) THE COLD SHOULDER
to ignore someone intentionally
1. Margie and Steve used to be close friends, but now every time they meet, she gives him the cold shoulder.
2. When we bought our new house, we thought everyone would welcome us to the neighborhood. But people give us the cold shoulder when we try to be friendly and neighborly.
Synonym: turn up (one’s) nose at (someone/something)
Whereas give someone the cold shoulder is used only with people, turn up one’s nose can be applied to both people and things.
GET/GIVE (SOMEONE) THE GO-AHEAD
to get or give permission to proceed
1. The kids asked their mother for permission to set up a lemonade stand. Her lemon tree was full of lemons, so she gave them the go-ahead.
2. Playing baseball in the middle of the work day sounds like a great idea, but you should probably get the go-ahead from our boss before we start.
Synonym: get/give (someone) the green light
GET/GIVE (SOMEONE) THE GREEN LIGHT
to get or give permission to proceed
1. The planning stage of the project was complete and we got the green light to start construction.
2. The boss gave them the green light to order all the equipment they needed.
Synonym: give/get (someone) the go-ahead
This expression comes from the green light on a stop light, which indicates that cars can move forward.
GET/GIVE (SOMEONE) THE SACK
to be fired from one’s job
1. John lost his job yesterday. He got the sack.
2. Marie has two small children to support. You can’t just give her the sack. What is she going to do for money?
3. I was sacked from my last job for showing up late every day.
Compare to: pink slip
GET/GIVE (SOMEONE) THE SHORT END OF THE STICK
to get (give someone) the unfair or less advantageous part of a deal or arrangement
1. Martha agreed to babysit the children while Henry went shopping. Martha had much more work to do than Henry did. She got the short end of the stick.
2. Look out for your interests and speak up if you think you’re getting an unfair deal. Don’t let them give you the short end of the stick.
GET/GIVE (SOMEONE) THE THIRD DEGREE
to be questioned in great detail
1. My parents didn’t believe that I’d spent the evening at the library. They gave me the third degree, questioning me about when I had arrived and left and what I’d done while I was there.
2. When it was revealed that the candidate had been arrested some years before, he got the third degree from the newspaper reporters. He had to answer question after question.
GET/HAVE (SOMETHING) DOWN PAT
to do something repeatedly until one knows how to do it without a mistake; to perfect an activity
1. Lynn worked on her dance routine until she could practically do it in her sleep. She had it down pat.
2. Practice saying your speech again and again. I want to be sure you get it down pat.
GET/LEND (SOMEONE) A HAND
to help someone
1. I need some help lifting these boxes. Who can give me a hand?
2. They gave him a hand with his rent and utility bills while he was unemployed.
The expression suggests that by giving someone a hand, one helps that person do more work than he could do with his own two hands. The expression is usually used in the sense of helping someone physically (sentence 1) but it can also be used in a financial sense (sentence 2).
GIFT OF GAB, THE
the ability to speak easily and well
1. We always enjoy listening to Uncle Charlie’s stories. He really knows how to tell good ones—he’s got the gift of gab.
2. I’m not much of a talker. I wasn’t blessed with the gift of gab.
Compare to: talk a blue streak
The expression is used humorously or with admiration. It suggests that being able to speak (gab) is a welcome trait (gift). The word gab is probably an Old English variation of the Scottish word ‘gob,’ which means ‘mouth’ or ‘beak.’
GIVE IN
to surrender
1. The workers refused to give in and accept the unfair contract, so the strike continued.
2. The parents tried to resist their children’s pleas for sweets, but the kids were so cute that the parents were forced to give in.
Similar to: cry uncle; knuckle under
GIVE (ONE’S) RIGHT (BODY PART) FOR/TO DO (SOMETHING)
to want something very much
1. I want that car so badly. I’d give my right arm for that car.
2. Veronica wants so badly to spend her vacation on the beach, she said she’d give her right leg to go to Hawaii.
The expression suggests that one wants something so much that one is willing to give an essential part of one’s body for it.
GIVE (SOMEONE) A HARD TIME
to be difficult with someone; to give someone unnecessary difficulty
1. Patricia had not done a good job on the report, and she thought her boss would just ask her to redo it. Instead, gave her a hard time and wouldn’t stop talking about it. He gave her a hard time about the report.
2. The students gave the new teacher a hard time on his first day. They dropped their books, passed notes while he was talking, and were generally uncooperative.
GIVE (SOMEONE) A PIECE OF (ONE’S) MIND
to confront someone who has behaved badly
1. Joan was upset with Bill and she told him just what she thought of him. She really gave him a piece of her mind.
2. I can’t believe that they let their dog loose in my garden. I’m going over there right now to tell them that if I find that dog in my yard again, I’ll call the police. I’m going to give them a piece of my mind!
Synonyms: read (someone) the riot act; chew (someone) out; rake (someone) over the coals; speak (one’s) piece
GIVE (SOMEONE) A RING
to call someone on the telephone
1. When Sally arrived, she found a telephone in the airport and gave her mother a ring.
2. I’ll be home by the phone all morning. Give me a ring when you get a chance.
Refers to the ringing of a telephone when it receives a call.
GIVE (SOMEONE) A SNOW JOB
to give someone a description of something or someone that is unrealistically attractive and positive
1. The English teacher was trying to find students to help with the publication of the school newspaper. She gave us a snow job about how much fun it would be and how little work it was—in fact, it was very hard work.
2. Richard tried to get Marsha to go out with his friend Don. Richard told Marsha that Don was good-looking, had a great personality and was rich. Richard gave Marsha a snow job, because Don turned out to be none of those things.
Synonyms: sales pitch; con job; song and dance; pull the wool over (someone’s) eyes
GIVE (SOMEONE) A/SOME SONG AND DANCE
to give someone an overly dramatic or unbelievable excuse
1. Don’t give me a song and dance about how difficult it was for you to get this work done on time—I know you’ve been goofing off.
2. We went to collect the rent from Paul, but he gave us some song and dance about not having the money right now.
Synonyms: pull the wool over (someone’s) eyes; cock and bull story; snow job
Brief Transcription from Three Weeks Ago
Ahhhh, to some extent, yes, ahhhh. Had a lot of speaking practice with my foreign colleagues, ahh, especially from Poland, ahhh this week. Ahhhh, actually. I like it and you know, ahhh, it's always easier to understand the accents from people who are either from your country or, from some kind of near country. Yeah, especially for Russians it's easier to understand accents from Eastern Europe, right, from CIS, ahhh, so I had a lot of practice and I'm more or less satisfied with the results. Yeah, I think it's, like, it's good results...
More succinct:
To some extent, yes. I had a lot of practice speaking (English) this week with (a few of) my foreign colleagues, especially from Poland. I really liked/enjoyed it. It's always easier to understand the accents from people who are either from your country or close by/near, like the CIS. So I had a lot of practice and I'm more or less satisfied with the results.
Ahhhh, yes, we have, like, a big office in (Bialystok?), Poland, ahhh, actually, like Poland is one of the most, ahh, cheapest countries for living in Europe and so we've located...
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
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