Improving pronunciation: linking /r/ sound in spoken English
Hi again. In spoken English, when a word finishing in r or re (e.g. for or are) is followed by a word starting with a vowel sound, an /r/ sound is added linking the two words (e.g. this present is for Anthony).
Read and listen to the following six examples and try practising the linking sounds. Each example is recorded three times – the first time slowly and without the linking /r/ sound.
1 Here in my room, it’s very quiet.
2 We’re Earthlings. Where are you from?
3 Are octupus native to these waters?
4 Far away, I heard the sea’s ebb and flow.
5 Fear is not a number, I’m afraid.
6 My dear Izzy, it’s a shame you were out when I dropped by yesterday.
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Reference: New English File Advanced, OUP, 2008
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Copyright (c) 2010 Maurice Taylor
A poem
Perfect Blue
I shall weave the perfect blue
Of mockingbirds, finest silks;
Sapphires that catch your eye,
When dreams wing by.
Forget the din of spheres colliding,
Where barren souls spawn their ilk.
Then I shall weave the perfect blue.
Copyright (c) 2010 Maurice Taylor
Polite requests – improving your intonation
Canada geese on the river Otter estuary, Devon, England
Just a quick blog this time to help you with your intonation. Read and listen to the following polite requests. Each request (examples 1 to 7) is recorded three times – the first time with ‘flat’ intonation, the second and third with ‘ordinary’ intonation. Notice how the ‘ordinary’ intonation in each request makes the speaker sound both friendlier and more interesting than the duller sounding ‘flat’ intonation. Try to copy the ‘ordinary’ intonation and rhythm of each example. Good luck!
1) Would you mind opening the window? It’s rather hot in here.
2) Could I sit here, please?
3) I wonder if you could help me out tomorrow morning? I’m moving house.
4) Would you like to see a movie tonight? Avatar is showing at The Odeon.
5) How about going to the beach this weekend? It’s going to be 35 degrees on Saturday.
6) It would be really helpful if you could stay on tonight – as you know, we have to finish the accounts audit.
7) Can you pass me the newspaper, please? I’m afraid I’ve hurt my back.
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Copyright (c) Maurice Taylor www.taylorenglish.wordpress.com
DIY tools and modals
Are a you a big fan of DIY? If you enjoy fixing things in your home (i.e. do-it-yourself), you probably already know the names of the ‘DIY essentials’ (above) – but what are their English names?
A) Match the ‘DIY essentials’ (1 – 9) with their names (below).
a) screwdriver
b) pliers
c) hammer
d) nails
e) spanner
f) scissors
g) horseshoe pliers
h) adjustable spanner
i) screws
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B) What can you do with the tools in the photo? Match the following actions with the appropriate tool.
a) bang in a nail
b) screw in a screw
c) turn a nut or a bolt
d) grip something (e.g. a piece of wire)
e) cut a piece of paper
f) pull out a nail from a piece of wood
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In the following audio dialogue you will hear two builders attempting to put up a shelf in a client’s home. But first let’s look at the modals that feature in the dialogue.
MODALS
Essentially, modals (e.g. can, can’t, should, shouldn’t, must, mustn’t, have to, don’t have to)
1) modify the meaning of a verb: I must do my homework tonight, I have a test tomorrow.
2) take the infinitive without to: I’m sorry but I can’t go out tonight – I’ve got a cold. (except have to which takes the infinitive with to: she has to do a lot of overtime this week.
3) do not add an s in the third person: she should work harder if she wants to get a well paid job.
Here are some (of the many) uses of modals:
CAN is used to express possibility or permission: I can meet you there at 5 pm if I leave now. I can leave early tonight, my boss said it’s ok.
CAN’T is used to express impossibility or prohibition: I can’t go to Spain this weekend because there’s a strike at the airport. You can’t drink beer in the town centre unless you want to be arrested.
SHOULD is used to express a weak obligation or to make a suggestion/give advice: I should eat less, but my wife’s cooking is so tasty. You should go to the El Taco bar, on Saturdays the music’s great there.
SHOULDN’T is used to give advice/criticize or to say what isn’t a good idea to do: You shouldn’t cycle on the road without a helmet. You shouldn’t get there too late, all the nice food will be gone.
MUST is used to express a strong personal obligation or to give someone strong advice/a command: I must eat all the vegetables if I want to be healthy. You must turn up for work on time or you’ll get the sack!
MUSTN’T is used for prohibition: Quiet please! You mustn’t chat in the library.
HAVE TO expresses an obligation that is less personal/more objective: She has to arrive at work by 8 am tomorrow. I have to make an appointment with my dentist, I think one of my teeth is loose.
DON’T HAVE TO expresses the idea that something is not necessary – that there is no obligation: It’s ok, you don’t have to meet me in person, we can discuss your design ideas through Skype.
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C) Now listen to the Audio – two builders and a shelf and note down which of the following statements are TRUE or FALSE. If you think a statement is false, can you say why it is false.
1) There’s a problem concerning the position of the shelf.
2) One of the builders phones Mrs Jones, the owner of the property.
3) Mrs Jones lets the builders move the shelf to a new position.
4) Mrs Jones is going to visit Mrs Dumblebee
5) Mrs Jones thinks that the builders have too many tea breaks.
6) The builders need a screwdriver to open the wall panel.
7) One of the builders injured his arm while playing darts.
8) In the end, the men decide to move the shelf to a safer position.
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D) The following sentences contain modals. Listen to the audio again and fill in the missing words.
1) Look, we ………. ………. ………. the shelf here, that’s what Mrs Jones said.
2) We ……….. ……….. ……….., there’s an electrical cable behind here – look!
3) You ……….. ………… ………… but she won’t be very happy.
4) Oh no, ……….. ………… ………… in the exact position I requested.
5) You ………… …………. ………….. the job by 3 pm because Mrs Dumblebee from the Women’s Institute is visiting.
6) Well you …………. ………….. for so many tea breaks, should you?
7) I ……….. ………… ………… a nail here to check if the cable’s live or not.
8) You ………… …………. …………., you’ll blow the fuse box!
9) Anyway, you ………… …………. to ………… hammering like a madman.
10) I …………. …………… …………… the cable out through this hole.
11) I ……….. ………… a ………… one of these days.
12) Besides, I ……….. ……….. out ………… ………… by 2 pm – I want to go home for the England v Germany game.
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E) What is the (modal) function of the sentences 1 – 12 above? Match the sentences to the functions below.
a) to express possibility
b) to express a command/give strong advice
c) to express criticism
d) to express a lack of obligation (i.e. that something isn’t necessary)
e) to express prohibition
f) to express an impersonal obligation
g) to express impossibility
i) to express permission
Do you enjoy DIY or is it a tedious chore for you? Check your dictionary for other DIY tools – you never know when they’ ll come in handy!
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Vocabulary and expressions:
a strike – when employees stop work to demand better pay, conditions, etc
get the sack – lose your job because you’ve done something wrong
tedious - dull, boring and apparently without end
a chore – a routine or tedious chore (e.g. doing the washing up)
come in handy – be convenient to use, useful
a cable – electrical wires surrounded with a plastic cover/sheath
put up a shelf – attach a shelf to a wall
plaster – a mixture of lime, water and sand that is used to form a surface on walls and ceilings
Women’s Institute – an English friendship society for Women
blow the fuse box – destroy the fuses in a house with an electricity overload
a panel – a mounting for a set of controls, circuit board, etc
bolt down something - to attach one thing to another with a bolt
strain (e.g. a muscle) – to injure a muscle
be done with something – to hastily finish a job that has become tedious or annoying
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Answers
A) a)6, b)3, c)2, d)7, e)8, f)1, g)9, h)4, i)5
B) a) hammer b) screwdriver c) spanner d) pliers e) scissors f) horseshoe pliers
C) 1) true 2) false – she arrives when he’s about to phone her 3) false – she insists on the shelf’s original position 4) false – Mrs Dumblebee is going to visit Mrs Jones 5) true 6) false – they need a special spanner but they don’t have one 7) true 8) false – they put it in its original position, inspite of the danger from the cable
D) 1) have to put 2) can’t do that 3) can call her 4) it must be 5) have to finish 6) shouldn’t stop 7) can bang in 8) mustn’t do that 9) don’t have (to) start 10) can probably pull 11) must see (a) doctor 12) should be (out) of here
E) a)7 and 10 b)4 c)6 d)9 e)8 f)5 g)2 i)3
Copyright (c) 2010 Maurice Taylor taylorenglish.wordpress.com
Shakespeare – sonnet XVIII
Dunsford nature reserve, Devon, England.
I’ve decided to post, from time to time, my favourite poetry by Shakespeare. Sonnet XVIII is, in my opinion, one of the finest poems in the English language. You can read, listen, and copy the rhythms, intonation and pronunciation of this lovely poem.
Sonnet XVIII
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this give life to thee.
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Photo: copyright (c) 2010 Maurice Taylor
The Ponies of the Baskervilles – weather expressions
Farmer Hugo Baskerville sets out to tend his ponies
If you have ever had an unfathomable urge to visit an inhospitable wilderness replete with treacherous bogs, changeable and often extreme weather conditions; then the moorland of Dartmoor, Devon, is the perfect place for you. For more than a hundred years the Baskerville family - despite such harsh conditions – have succeeded in breeding prize-winning ponies there. Listen to an interview with Hugo Baskerville in which he talks about the weather conditions he has to deal with as a moorland farmer.
Audio: interview with Hugh Baskerville
1) Place the weather words/expressions he mentions into three categories:
a) hot/dry weather
b) cold/wet weather
c) mild weather
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2) According to the interview are these statements about Dartmoor’s weather conditions TRUE or FALSE?
a) Hugo Baskerville’s ponies have never died in winter
b) This year, there was more rain in February than usual
c) It is unsafe to walk on Dartmoor in winter unless you wear appropriate clothing
d) The ponies do not need extra water in June
e) Mr Baskerville enjoys winter more than summer on the moor
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3) In Hugh Baskerville’s opinion, which is:
a) the coldest month of the year?
b) the hottest month – over the last few years
c) his favourite season?
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Vocabulary
unfathomable – impossible to understand
urge – wish, desire
moorland – open land overgrown by grasses, heather, etc
inhospitable – unfriendly
treacherous – dangerous
replete – well filled, abundant
harsh – of the weather: difficult to bear
drizzle – fine, misty rain
torrential downpour – heavy rain falling in a short burst
bog – wet, spongy ground
cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey – extremely cold
sweltering – unpleasantly hot
scorching – of heat: so hot it makes things dry up
close – hot and stuffy weather
dehydration – state of losing water or body fluids
drought – a long period with no rainfall
shrivel up – become small and wrinkled, due to heat
clement – pleasantly mild weather
overcast – cloudy
gear – equipment, clothing
trough – feeding container for cattle, horses, etc
top up – fill a container when its level drops below the recommended level
fodder – farm animal feed
perish – die
a gonna – deceased (informal)
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Answers:
1 a) sweltering, heat wave, scorching, fire, drought, shrivel up, dehydration, close
b) snow, cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey, chilly, Jack Frost, rain, drizzle, torrential downpour
c) clement, cooler, overcast
2 a) true b) true c) true d) false e) he enjoys neither winter nor summer
3 a) February b) September c) Spring
Copyright (c) 2010 Maurice Taylor www.taylorenglish.wordpress.com
A walk between Beer and Branscombe, Devon
Here is a majestic view of the East Devon coastline between Beer and Branscombe, Devon.
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