Look Who's Talking

Do people think you’re crazy? If the answer is ‘no,’ then I know you haven’t been doing your homework!

Yes, this is one of those posts where I’m checking up on you. Are you talking to your plant? Here is what will happen if you do:

• You can practice new sounds
• You will gain confidence
• Your mouth muscles get exercise
• You can test new vocabulary
• Plants grow better when you talk to them
• The plant won't laugh at you

Of course, you can talk to your dog or cat too, they’ll also love it. Way back in ‘92 when I didn’t know how to speak Spanish, one of my roommates had a couple of parakeets. I asked him what they were called and he said ‘buitritros.’ Whew, that was a hard word for me to pronounce so I practiced and practiced and every day I said good morning to the buitritros and every evening I wished them a good night. And every time I said it my roommates laughed. I thought it was because I was pronouncing it so badly. I found out later that a buitrito is a little vulture. LOL!

In any case, talking to those birds really helped me get my mouth around new sounds and did wonders to boost my confidence.

Some people find singing a lot more fun than talking. That’s great. Pick a song in English that you like and use youtube to help you learn it. Even if you can only remember the chorus, that’s a great start. Your plant is going to love it!

Until soon!

Jennifer

At Last!

Everyone should have a few fancy words in their vocabulary, like everyone should have a fancy pair of shoes in their closet. You may not wear them often, but when the occasion is right, they’re the only ones that will do.

Most days however, we’re not going to fancy balls and the opera, so we wear our everyday clothes. We can mix and match tops and trousers to make combinations for work or the weekend. These clothes are our basics.

Likewise, 80% of what a native English speaker says are the same words used over and over in different combinations and contexts. The other 20% is just for special occasions.

I just love four-letter words, so today let’s look at ‘last’ and a few of its multiple meanings.

Final: That's the last thing I want to do!
Latest: What did you do last weekend?
Previous: Did you see the last presentation?
Continue: How long did the presentation last?

You can see that last can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb. Cool, eh? And each one of these definitions has its own little variants. Take a look at your favorite online dictionary and research a few more and write sentences using the word last in different contexts.

The Daily Training Program (DTP) is a great way to keep on top of your vocabulary-building efforts and it’s included in every package. Right now I’ve got a special 7 day trial offer on the Private Lessons Package ... only 0.99€! This offer not only includes the DTP but also 3 private lessons with a native speaker so click the button to reserve your first class:

I hope to see you there!

Jennifer

From Reading to Speaking

I’m guessing you learned to read and write English before you learned to speak it. You likely have few difficulties with written documents, but perhaps you feel unsure about the correct pronunciation. Let me tell you, that’s perfectly normal. And the reason for this is, as my good friend and colleague Judy Thompson says, English is Stupid. Unlike some other languages that sound exactly the way they are written, English has this tendency to sound any way it feels like.

This is due to the history of Modern English. During its early years it did not exist in a standardised, written form. It wasn’t until 1476 (less than 200 before Shakespeare) that the written version of English we know today was galvanised by a London businessman named William Caxton. Unfortunately Caxton perhaps lacked the competences to invent a written language … he was more of a technician than a writer or a poet or a linguist. Changes in pronunciation from the Middle to Modern English periods and the borrowing of spelling patterns from other languages make orthography a challenge for both native and English as a Second Language speakers. Oh boy!

The one tool that can help us navigate this seemingly unmappable ocean is the Thompson Vowel Chart. All sixteen English vowel sounds are here to reference in this handy printout. Remember, each word has a tonic and each tonic has a color (Speak English Once and for All). If you say the tonic right, you will be understood. Get your Thompson Vowel Chart here:

Thanks to Judy for letting me share this with you!

Enjoy and happy learning!

Jennifer