Category Archives: The English language

Katy Perry can help you Practise Linking Words

In the Computer Room, Lesson Plan: Advanced, Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, Listening, Music, Phonetics, The English language, , ,

Learning  a new language can be difficult. We often wonder why  it seems easier for some people, for some nationalities, to  understand English better  than for other speakers. The level of difficulty depends on various aspects but, most definitely, one of them is whether your first language is syllable-timed (giving syllables equal prominence)  or stress-timed ( temporal duration between two stressed syllables is the same ). English, as well as Danish, Swedish or German, are stress-timed languages  whereas Spanish, French or Cantonese Chinese are syllable-timed.

♥Content and Function Words. This is important because we, as Spaniards, try to give equal importance to each syllable but in English, only some words in a sentence are considered important and therefore pronounced with more emphasis (Content words) while others are quickly spoken (Function words) some would say, swallowed.

Look at these two sentences. Although the first has 7 words and the second 12, it should take you the same amount of time to read both sentences. Why? Because as English is a time stressed language there is always the same distance between two stressed words.

Peter said horrible things about your mother.

He left after dinner taking most of his books in his suitcase.

♥ Another thing to take into consideration is Linking. Words , when they are pronounced in isolation do not sound the same as when pronounced in a sentence. Why? Because of this linking.

  Linking occurs in English in these situations:

–Consonant+ vowel : when a word ends with a consonant sound and the next one starts with a vowel sound, we, very often, link them

Liked it   | ˈlaɪktɪt |

And I    /ən´aɪ |

–Vowel+ Vowel : when one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, we link the words with a sort of W or Y sound.

To simplify :

♥ If our lips are round at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound: Ex: do it /du:wɪt/

♥ If our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound: Ex: Ray is /reɪyɪz/

– And then we have the Linking “r” for example, the “r” in “here” would not be pronounced in “Here they are ” (because it is followed by a consonant), but it would be pronounced in “Here I am”. Likewise, the “r” at the end of “far” would only be pronounced if the next word begins with a vowel, as in “far away” /fa:r∂wei/ or” far off”. /fa:rof/

Listen to these sentences and repeat after them paying attention to the  linkings. linking.mp3

Not at all

Isn’t it a pity

Ian’s wearing odd socks?

Was ever a bride so pretty?

♥To be honest, I am not a big fan of Katy Perry  but her song   I kissed a Girl is great to practise  Content and Function Words  and the  chorus is just the perfect example to make students understand the issue of Linking Words  and Function Words; by singing along Katy Perry” I kissed a girl and I liked it “, they’ll be practising  linking words and weak forms  without effort .

The English Language

The English language,

Have you ever wondered why foreigners have trouble with the English Language?
Let’s face it
English is a stupid language.
There is no egg in the eggplant
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England
French fries were not invented in France.
We sometimes take English for granted
But if we examine its paradoxes we find that
Quicksand takes you down slowly
Boxing rings are square
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
If writers write, how come fingers don’t fing.
If the plural of tooth is teeth
Shouldn’t the plural of phone booth be phone beeth
If the teacher taught,
Why didn’t the preacher praught.
If a vegetarian eats vegetables
What the heck does a humanitarian eat!?
Why do people recite at a play
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy
Of a language where a house can burn up as
It burns down
And in which you fill in a form
By filling it out
And a bell is only heard once it goes!
English was invented by people, not computers
And it reflects the creativity of the human race
(Which of course isn’t a race at all)
That is why
When the stars are out they are visible
But when the lights are out they are invisible
And why it is that when I wind up my watch
It starts
But when I wind up this observation,
It ends.

… a pescatarian!!!

The English language, , ,

Yes, exactly. This is what I am .
You surely remember that some time ago I wrote something about the different kinds of vegetarians , namely, vegan , ovo-vegetarian , lacto-ovo… and I remember that I didn’t know what to call myself, although it was crystal clear to me that I was not a vegetarian.
Well, I am a pescatarian . New word , by the way. So new, that some British people don’t even know what it means, at least , yet.
It was my teacher in London who taught me this new word. I was so happy with my new acquisition that I jumped at the first opportunity to use it. So, there I was, at a cafe asking for a sandwich.
“What is in there?” I asked the waiter, pointing suspiciously at a sandwich.
“Chicken” he said .
“And this other one?”
“Ham”
Every single time he told me the contents of the sandwich I said “no, no..”
I imagine he was getting quite tired of me when he asked :
“What the hell are you… a vegetarian?
“No, I am a pescatarian.” I happily admitted.
“What on earth is this? “he snapped at me
And, there was a girl behind me, probably as angry at me as the waiter who explained to the man behind the counter that a pescatarian is someone who abstains from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish.
So this is it… you already know what a pescatarian is.

Now , this is homework …. What is a flexitarian??

Related entries:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndro…

Funny Stuff, The English language, ,

….bwllllantysiliogogogoch
I was 14 ,and staying in England, the first time I heard this word. We were a group of teenagers attending classes from 9.00 to 13.00 and we really needed some funny breaks in-between the sometimes tedious lessons.
So I remember the teacher challenged us to try to give her the longest word we could think of, and I offered the popular ” supercalifragilisticoespialidoso”. Well, I was pretty sure nobody could beat me there but then she said she had an even longer one.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch .
Phew!!!
She was at pains to write it and… to pronounce it.
But what is this long name? What does it stand for?
It is the name of a village on the island of Anglesey in North Wales ; in fact, it’s one of the most-photographed places in North Wales and it has been officially recognised as one of the longest words in the world, but it cannot be considered an authentic Welsh toponym as it was made up in the 1860s to give the railway station the longest name of any railway station in the UK to mainly attract visitors . And this early publicity stunt has worked as thousands of visitors visit this place every year.

By the way, this toponym has a meaning: “The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio’s of the red cave”.

Want to have a go at pronouncing it?llanfair.mp3

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Now, there is some homework , what do you call the people living in this tiny picturesque village?