Wadjasay? American English Pronunciation Practice
Lessons to help you understand and speak normal-speed American English. Now on YouTube, too: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwcGjQ1ScMc9gTNWvrsxq4g
Episodes
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Adverbs of frequency are words like “always”, “sometimes”, and “never.” They are usually placed between the subject and verb. For example: He often practices piano in the afternoon.
1. He never had problems with math.
2. We always ate dinner around 8 o’clock.
3. Mary always arrived early for meetings.
4. I so...
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In this podcast we’ll practice with “few” and “a few”.
When should you use this word? Here are a few examples (2 or 3 examples equals ‘a few’).
For example, if I have 40 friends and three of them speak Russian, it is correct to say “A few of my friends speak Russian.”
Another example: I want to b...
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In this podcast you’ll practice the verb “close” as in “Close your eyes.” English also has an adjective, “close”, as in “You’re standing too close to me.” This “close”means “near.”
1. Close the door, please.
2. Please close the window.
3. She closed the gate on her w...
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Listen and practice along with the podcast as needed. Then practice the numbers listed below starting around 9 minutes 40 seconds from the beginning of the podcast.
Begin here:
256
394
27
199
583
275
1,585
7,014
2,001
9,857
19,522
26,483
88,000
157,500
209,555
329,633
1,000,000
5,245,123
15,208,300
57,113,605
156,001,412
355,888,004
999,999,999
1,000,000,000 = 1 billion
1...
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This is easy:
I'll say: "She lives in France."
You'll ask: "Does she live in France?"
So take my statement and turn it into a question. Easy! The rest of the directions are in the podcast. Use it to practice grammar (questions with 'does'), the names of some countries (France, Senegal, Kenya, and others), and, of course, pronunciation, rhythm, inton...
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1. Roger has a red rabbit.
2. My robot is right-handed.
3. I like to read about railroads.
4. I fed my bird a carrot.
5. The doctor wore a white shirt.
6. Have you ever seen a lizard on a giraffe?
7. I’ll pay you a dollar for your green rocket.
8. I live on a ranch with my mother.
9. The rich pirate had a pet turtle.
10. I ran away from the walrus.
1...
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1- You said that already. I’m afraid you’re repeating yourself.
2- I think that’s a terrible idea, but you’re the boss so suit yourself. Do what you want.
3- In ten years I see myself running a successful consulting business.
4- My children always behave themselves in public. At home, however, they are monsters!
5- John is qui...
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This is a companion podcast to the previous one which gives sentences with "when." The word "while" is used to link actions which are happening at the same time. For example: During dinner, I listened to a podcast. You can express this with while: "While I ate dinner, I listened to a podcast."
I prepared dinner while my wife took a nap.
My ch...
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A student asked me today to explain the difference between "when" and "while" in English. I think examples are the best way to learn so here are questions and statements containing "when" and I'll do "while" very soon--I promise!
When I arrived, it was raining.
When is your next meeting?
When I saw him, he was getting ready for a trip.
When did she g...
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This podcast is the sound portion of one of my YouTube videos. It describes all my language learning experiences spread over many decades. Personally I think this is just as useful (or useless) as a podcast as it is in video form. In both formats it's just me telling a story. I hope you enjoy it: it includes successes as well as failures. If you'...
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Important note: This podcast is the audio portion of a video you can watch on my YouTube channel. So if you hear me say "video", that's why. I have added a transcript if you'd like to read along as you listen. I hope you enjoy it.
Barry
PS You can watch the original video here: https://youtu.be/cD5SEoif7bs
Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du ...
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Listen and repeat. Please do NOT read and repeat. The spelling won't help. Use your ears and your brain.
1. I saw a balloon in a cartoon.
2. It was cool in the swimming pool.
3. The table top was very smooth.
4. The kook lived in an igloo.
5. There was a lagoon at the zoo.
6. Which booze did you choose?
7. He climbed the roof and stood aloof.
8. At...
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The present perfect and present perfect continuous generally allow us to talk about things which start in the past and continue into the present.
1. I’ve lived in Turkey for three years. I’ve been living in Turkey for three years.
2. She has studied English since 2023. She has been studying English since 2023.
3. He has worke...
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Verb tense review: the present continuous (also called the present progressive.
The present continuous is mostly used for actions which are happening right now. Sometimes we also use it for future actions. Compare these two sentences:
A) We’re going to the zoo.
B) We’re going to the zoo on Saturday.
The sentences are exactly the sam...
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Verb tense review: the simple past.
The simple past is used for actions that took place in the past and are finished. For example:
“Yesterday I went to the gym after work.”
“Last week I met a woman who is a yoga instructor.”
Here are some sentences to practice with:
1 - I lived in Los Angeles for three years. (Then I moved ...
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In writing, regular English verbs add “ed” to the infinitive to show past tense. So hope becomes hoped, grab becomes grabbed, and wait becomes waited. Now close your eyes and listen to the ending sound of these three verbs.
Hoped, hoped, hoped.
Grabbed, grabbed, grabbed.
Waited, waited, waited.
The past tense of hope ends with a T sound.
T...
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I wrote this poem this morning to use for reading and pronunciation practice in my class on Tandem. I didn't write it deliberately to be good for teaching English, but it turned out that it was. Hope you like it.
I’VE LOST MY MIND
I’ve lost my mind.
I asked my wife.
“Look in your jacket pocket,” she said,
Like my mind w...
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More simple present: the verb “to be”
1- I am from Costa Rica. He is from Cuba.
2- This is my brother. His name is Jack.
3- This is my adopted cat. Her name is Nefertiti.
4- How old are you? I’m twenty-seven.
5- Are you hungry? No, not yet. Well, actually I am a little bit hungry.
6- Are you my new teacher? Yes, I am. My name is Mr. J...
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Another quickie podcast. Over the next week or two or three, I will record short podcasts going through the most commonly used English verb tenses. In this one the examples are from the simple present. This tense is used to describe habits and states of being: I get up early every morning. I go to the gym after work. I like to read after dinner. ...
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(This podcast is for Irma who reminded me about this construction.)
Note: this podcast has fewer repetitions than usual. That DOES NOT mean you shouldn't play it and practice is many times. It just means my time is limited.
In English we can take two questions:
a) Do you know….?
b) Where are my keys?
And combine them into one question: Do you k...
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