Pronouncing the 'th' sound (as in 'the')

Pronouncing the 'th' sound (as in 'the')

This is a sound that many students find challenging to pronounce in English and yet occurs very frequently in words such as 'this', 'that', 'other', 'worthy' and 'bathe'. Brush up on your pronunciation with this helpful tutorial:

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish


How do you pronounce the word 'the'? 

There are two pronunciations: 'The' sometimes sounds like 'thee'. Sometimes it sounds like 'thaaa'. 

 I think because 'the' is such a common word in English - it is in fact the most common word both in writing and in speech - we often tend to overlook it. 

It has two pronunciations. One pronunciation - the one that most learners will know - is 'the' with a vowel that we call a schwa - a very common vowel. So we talk about 'the sound' ; 'the word' ; 'the number'. This pronunciation appears before consonants. The other pronunciation 'the' comes before a vowel. So you will notice that I said 'the other pronunciation'. 

One warning though - there are words that look as if they begin with a vowel, but they actually begin with a consonant. One example is the word 'university'. It starts with a /j/ sound, which is a consonant. So we say, 'the university'. Another example is the word 'one' - 'the one that most learners will know'. So remember that these words are consonants, not vowels. 

The other place you would use 'the' is when you are stressing the word and adding extra emphasis to the noun coming after it. So you talk about restaurant that you like and say, ' It's THE best restaurant in town'; or 'It's THE restaurant in town'. Very useful for expressing your enthusiasm about anything.

Source: www. bbc.co.uk/worldservice

Informal Greetings

Informal Greetings

Source: www.falibo.com

Common Mistakes with some Adjectives and Adverbs

Common Mistakes with some Adjectives and Adverbs

Some words ending in –ly are adjectives, and not normally adverbs. Examples are: costly, cowardly, deadly, friendly, likely, lively, lonely, silly, miserly and unlikely.

Incorrect: He behaved cowardly.
Correct: He behaved in a cowardly manner.
Correct: He behaved like a coward.

Incorrect: He laughed silly.
Correct: He gave a silly laugh.

Incorrect: He lives miserly.
Correct: He lives in a miserly way.

In the sentences given above the words cowardly, silly and miserly are all adjectives which cannot be used to modify verbs. And because there are no adverbs for these meanings we have to use adverb phrases like ‘in a cowardly manner’ and ‘in a miserly way’ to express the same idea.

Incorrect: Just I had gone when he came.
Correct: I had just gone when he came.

Incorrect: Still I love you.
Correct: I still love you.

The adverbs still and just go before the verb. If there is an auxiliary verb, the adverb goes after the auxiliary verb and before the main verb. If there is no auxiliary verb, the adverb goes before the main verb. If there are two auxiliary verbs, the adverb goes between them.
I am still waiting for your reply. (NOT I still am waiting for your reply.) (NOT I am waiting still for your reply.)

They have just been informed. (NOT They have been just informed.)
She has just arrived. (NOT She just has arrived.)

source: www.practiceenglish.com

Pronouns

Pronouns

There are four types of pronouns: Subject Pronouns, Object Pronouns, Possessive Pronouns and Demonstrative Pronouns. Here is a list and explanation showing the different types of pronouns:

• Subject Pronouns - I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they function as the subject of a sentence:
  I live in New York.
  Do you like playing tennis?
  He doesn't want to come this evening.
  She works in London.
  It won't be easy.
  We are studying pronouns at the moment.
  You went to Paris last year, didn't you?
  They bought a new car last month.
• Object Pronouns - me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them serve as the object of a verb.
  Give me the book.
  He told you to come tonight.
  She asked him to help.
  They visited her when they came to New York.
  She bought it at the store.
  He picked us up at the airport.
  The teacher asked you to finish your homework.
  I invited them to a party.
• Possessive Pronouns - mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs show that something belongs to someone. That house is mine.
  This is yours.
  I'm sorry, that's his.
  Those books are hers.
  Those students are ours.
  Look over there, those seats are yours.
  Theirs will be green.
• Demonstrative Pronouns - this, that, these, those refer to things. 'this' and 'these' refer to something that is near. 'that' and 'those' refer to things that are farther away.
  This is my house.
  That is our car over there.
  These are my colleagues in this room.
  Those are beautiful flowers in the next field.
• Possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their are often confused with possessive pronouns. The possessive adjective modifies the noun following it in order to show possession.
  I'll get my books.
  Is that your car over there?
  That is his teacher, Mr Jones.
  I want to go to her store.
  Its color is red.
  Can we bring our children?
  You are welcome to invite your husbands.

If you think you've mastered pronouns, try out this quiz!



Source: esl.about.com

Modal Verbs

Modal Verbs (Can, Could, May, Might)

Source: www.falibo.com

Basic Mathematical Vocabulary

Basic Mathematical Vocabulary

+ plus
Example:  2 + 2 (Two plus two)

- minus
Example: 6 - 4 (Six minus four)

x OR *  times
Example: 5 x 3   OR   5 * 3  (Five times three)

/ OR ÷ divided by
Example: 4 / 2 OR 4 ÷ 2 (Four divided by two)

=  equals
Example: 2 + 2 = 4 (Two plus two equals four)

1/2 One half
1/3 One third
1/4 One quarter
% Percent


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Games

Word Wheel

How many words can you find in today's word wheel?
See if you can find the 9 letter word (Clue: An OISE Oxford programme)

Note: All words must be at least 3 letters long and must include the letter in the centre of the wheel. See how your score rates below:

5 = Poor   15 = Not bad   25 = Average   35 = Good   45 = Excellent

Word Wheel

How many words can you find in today's word wheel?
See if you can find the 9 letter word (Clue: An OISE Oxford programme)

Note: All words must be at least 3 letters long and must include the letter in the centre of the wheel. See how your score rates below:

5 = Poor   15 = Not bad   25 = Average   35 = Good   45 = Excellent



Word Wheel

How many words can you make out of OISE Oxford?

Note: All words must be at least 3 letters long and must include the letter in the centre of the wheel. See how your score rates below:

5 = Poor   10 = Not bad   15 = Average   20 = Good   25 = Excellent



Winter crossword!

Capitalisation

Writing: Capitalisation

Source:  www.falibo.com

Expressing Quantity

Expressing quantity


Lots of people get confused about the differences between ‘much’, ‘many’ and ‘lots of’ in English. Hopefully these handy hints will help you to know which to use when describing a large quantity.

Much / Many

'Much' and 'Many' are used in negative sentences and questions. 'Much' is used with uncountable nouns such as 'rice':

Examples:
How much money have you got?
There isn't much rice left.

'Many' is used for countable nouns such as 'apples':

Examples:
How many people came to the party?
There aren't many apples on the table.

A Lot Of / Lots Of

'A lot of' and 'lots of' can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. 'A lot of' and 'lots of' are used in positive sentences:

Examples:
There is a lot of water in that jar.
He's got lots of friends in London.


Source: www.esl.about.com



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Spelling Test

Test your spelling!

Try the Oxford English Dictionary's spelling test to see how well you can spell in English. If your spelling is anything like mine, you are sure to learn some new words and how to spell them! 

Click on the image below to start the test

Similes

21/10/13 - Today's Simile

'as clear as mud'

Meaning: Very confusing and unclear

Example: My Latin teacher explained this grammar point several times but it is still (as) clear as mud to me!

NB: Often the first 'as' is omitted in spoken English.

29/03/13 - Today's Simile

'as busy as a cat on a hot tin roof'

Meaning: Very busy

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5 similes you need to know

A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words "like" or "as".

The usual format of a simile is: to be as.........as a.............

1. As flat as a pancake
Example: Peter sat on my hat and now it's as flat as a pancake.

2. As blind as a bat
Example: I doubt Grandad will notice. He's as blind as a bat.

3. As dry as a bone
Example: I think mum must have overcooked the turkey - it's as dry as a bone.

4. As cool as a cucumber
(Meaning: calm, especially in a difficult situation)
Example: I was really nervous about the exam but Annie was as cool as a cucumber.

5. As bright as a button
(Meaning: intelligent and lively)
Example:My niece is only 6 years old but she's as bright as a button.

For more, visit: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/figures-similes-list.htm

Homophones

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Homophones: Words which sound the same but mean different things. 

Here are a lot of great examples (click to enlarge):

Source: @languagelab

How To Improve Your Pronunciation:

1. English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic.
2. In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length).
3. English pronunciation focuses on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, non-stressed, words.
4. Stressed words are considered content words: Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter - (most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct - Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting - Adverbs e.g. often, carefully
5. Non-stressed words are considered function words: Determiners e.g. the, a - Auxiliary verbs e.g. am, were - Prepositions e.g. before, of - Conjunctions e.g. but, and - Pronouns e.g. they, she
6. Read the following sentence aloud: The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.
7. Read the following sentence aloud: He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.
8. Notice that the first sentence actually takes about the same time to speak well!
9. Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence.
10. Write down a few sentences, or take a few example sentences from a book or exercise.
11. First underline the stressed words, then read aloud focusing on stressing the underlined words and gliding over the non-stressed words.
12. Be surprised at how quickly your pronunciation improves! By focusing on stressed words, non-stressed words and syllables take on their more muted nature.
13. When listening to native speakers, focus on how those speakers stress certain words and begin to copy this.

Tips:
Remember that non-stressed words and syllables are often 'swallowed' in English.
Always focus on pronouncing stressed words well, non-stressed words can be glided over.
Don't focus on pronouncing each word. Focus on the stressed words in each sentence.

Source: http://esl.about.com