google.com, pub-9220471781781135, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 Learn to speak English: 2015

Friday, September 11, 2015

Idioms in English - 'All'

Here & Hear - Commonly Confused Words in English

Business English - 7 Common Workplace Abbreviations

English Writing - Sequencing - How to use first, next, last, after that,...

English Vocabulary - WISH & HOPE

Expressing Time in English

7 Workplace Expressions in English

English Grammar - Countable and Uncountable Nouns

English Grammar - Much / Many / A lot

7 Common English Expressions about Money $$$

10 Common Expressions in English

English Vocabulary: "Would" And "Could"

Spoken English Leaning Video Spoken English Tutorial English Conversation

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Why do you want to leave your job - Answers to job interview questions

Job Interview Question: Do you have any questions for me?

What Are Your Strengths (English): Interview Skills

Job Interview Question : Why Should We Hire You?

Interview Question: Tell Me Something About Yourself?

Get Fluent With 1 Trick - Become A Confident English Speaker With This S...

Accent Training - Pronunciation of Vowel Sounds Part 01 | Accent Traini...

How to overcome shyness with strangers? Public speaking & personality d...

Mistakes to avoid during a job interview - Job interview tips

10 Common Expressions in English

English Grammar -- Passive Voice and Active Voice

English Grammar - Phrases And Clauses

English Grammar - Verbs

English Grammar - Pronoun

English Grammar - Tenses

Introductions & Greetings - Learn English Conversation

Making an Appointment - English Conversation Lesson

Telephoning - English Conversation Lesson

British vs American | English Pronunciation Lesson

The best English 77. Improve English Pronunciation.

English pronunciation Phonetic vowel sounds video & mp3

Pronunciation Practice A in American English

Pronunciation Guide

How to Speak English
Pronunciation symbols in dictionaries:
In dictionaries, the British pronunciation is given first.
Consonants
p
pen
/pen/
b
bad
/bæd/
t
tea
/tiː/
d
did
/dɪd/
k
cat
/kæt/
ɡ
get
/ɡet/
chain
/tʃeɪn/
jam
/dʒæm/
f
fall
/fɔːl/
v
van
/væn/
θ
thin
/θɪn/
ð
this
/ðɪs/
s
see
/siː/
z
zoo
/zuː/
ʃ
shoe
/ʃuː/
ʒ
vision
/ˈvɪʒn/
h
hat
/hæt/
m
man
/mæn/
n
now
/naʊ/
ŋ
sing
/sɪŋ/
l
leg
/leɡ/
r
red
/red/
j
yes
/jes/
w
wet
/wet/
The symbol (r) indicates that British pronunciation will have /r/ only if a vowel sound follows directly at the beginning of the next word, as in far away; otherwise the /r/ is omitted. For American English, all the /r/ sounds should be pronounced.
/x/ represents a fricative sound as in /lɒx/ for Scottish loch, Irish lough.
Vowels and diphthongs
see
/siː/
i
happy
/ˈhæpi/
ɪ
sit
/sɪt/
e
ten
/ten/
æ
cat
/kæt/
ɑː
father
/ˈfɑːðə(r)/
ɒ
got
/ɡɒt/ (British English)
ɔː
saw
/sɔː/
ʊ
put
/pʊt/
u
actual
/ˈæktʃuəl/
too
/tuː/
ʌ
cup
/kʌp/
ɜː
fur
/fɜː(r)/
ə
about
/əˈbaʊt/
say
/seɪ/
əʊ
go
/ɡəʊ/ (British English)
go
/ɡoʊ/ (American English)
my
/maɪ/
ɔɪ
boy
/bɔɪ/
now
/naʊ/
ɪə
near
/nɪə(r)/ (British English)
hair
/heə(r)/ (British English)
ʊə
pure
/pjʊə(r)/ (British English)



Many British speakers use /ɔː/ instead of the diphthong /ʊə/, especially in common words, so that sure becomes /ʃɔː(r)/, etc. The sound /ɒ/ does not occur in American English, and words which have this vowel in British pronunciation will instead have /ɑː/ or /ɔː/ in American English. For instance, got is /ɡɒt/ in British English, but /ɡɑːt / in American English, while dog is British /dɒɡ/, American /dɑːɡ/. The three diphthongs /ɪə eə ʊə/ are found only in British English. In corresponding places, American English has a simple vowel followed by /r/, so near is /nɪr/, hair is / her/, and pure is /pjʊr/.
Nasalized vowels, marked with //, may be retained in certain words taken from French, as in penchant /ˈpɒ̃ʃɒ̃/ and coq au vin / ˌkɒk əʊ ˈvæ̃/.
Syllabic consonants
The sounds /l/ and /n/ can often be "syllabic" – that is, they can form a syllable by themselves without a vowel. There is a syllabic / l/ in the usual pronunciation of middle / ˈmɪdl/, and a syllabic /n/ in sudden /ˈsʌdn/.
Weak vowels /i/ and /u/
The sounds represented by /iː/ and / ɪ/ must always be made different, as in heat /hiːt/ compared with hit /hɪt/. The symbol /i/ represents a vowel that can be sounded as either /iː/ or /ɪ/, or as a sound which is a compromise between them. In a word such as happy /ˈhæpi/, younger speakers use a quality more like /iː/, but short in duration. When /i/ is followed by /ə/ the sequence can also be pronounced / jə/. So the word dubious can be /ˈdjuːbiəs / or /ˈdjuːbjəs/. In the same way, the two vowels represented /uː/ and /ʊ/ must be kept distinct but /u/ represents a weak vowel that varies between them. If /u/ is followed directly by a consonant sound, it can also be pronounced as /ə/. So stimulate can be /ˈstɪmjuleɪt/ or /ˈstɪmjəleɪt/.
Weak forms and strong forms
Certain very common words, for example atfor, and can, have two pronunciations. We give the usual (weak) pronunciation first. The second pronunciation (strong) must be used if the word is stressed, and also generally when the word is at the end of a sentence. For example:
·         Can /kən/ you help?
·         I’ll help if I can /kæn/.
Tapping of / t /
In American English, if a /t/ sound is between two vowels, and the second vowel is not stressed, the /t / can be pronounced very quickly, and made voiced so that it is like a brief /d/ or the r-sound of certain languages. Technically, the sound is a "tap", and can be symbolised by /t̬/. So Americans can pronounce potato as /pəˈteɪt̬oʊ/, tapping the second /t/ in the word (but not the first, because of the stress). British speakers don’t generally do this.
The conditions for tapping also arise very frequently when words are put together, as in not onlywhat I, etc. In this case it doesn’t matter whether the following vowel is stressed or not, and even British speakers can use taps in this situation, though they sound rather casual.
The glottal stop
In both British and American varieties of English, a /t/ which comes at the end of a word or syllable can often be pronounced as a glottal stop /ʔ/ (a silent gap produced by holding one’s breath briefly) instead of a /t/. For this to happen, the next sound must not be a vowel or a syllabic /l/.
So football can be /ˈfʊʔbɔːl/ instead of /ˈfʊtbɔːl/, and button can be /ˈbʌʔn/ instead of /ˈbʌtn/.
But a glottal stop would not be used for the /t/ sounds in bottle or better because of the sounds which come afterwards.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Aren't I? Vs. Am I not? Vs. amn’t I?

“Aren’t I?” is used in informal language.

“Am I not?” is grammatical. It is formal.

Incorrect: I’m a student, aren’t I?

Correct: I’m a student, am I not?

“I am a student, aren’t I?” is accepted correct in spoken and informal written English.

“I am a student, am I not?” is correct in a formal context.

“I am a student, amn’t I?” is incorrect. However it is accepted correct in places like Scotland.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Each Other and One Another

These two are reciprocal pronouns.

We use the reciprocal pronouns each other and one another when two or more people do the same thing.

Traditionally, ‘Each other’ refers to two people. Similarly ‘One another’ refers to more than two people.

·         He and She look at each other.
·         Mary and Rani like each other.
·         Joseph, Peter and John like one another.

Standard dictionaries recognise the terms ‘Each Other’ and ‘One Another’ as interchangeable.

In spoken English, there’s no harm in following the traditional” rule. At the same time there’s no harm in ignoring it.


Thursday, March 19, 2015

Dynamic Verbs and Stative Verbs


Verbs are classified into two categories. 

1. Dynamic verbs 

2. Stative verbs
Dynamic verbs are also called action verbs. They can be used in the progressive (continuous) form.
Example: "Peter is playing now."

Stative verbs refer to a state or condition which is not changing or likely to change.
Stative verbs cannot normally be used in the progressive (continuous) form (ing form).
Example: "John wants a cup of coffee."

Dummy Pronouns It and There

We use the term dummy pronoun to refer to the pronouns it and there used as grammatical subjects without any meaning, but with a relation to another element in the clause that carries the meaning.

English makes use of dummy pronouns in subject position.

‘It’ and ‘there’ are used in different contexts.

Look at these examples:

What time is it?  
It’s six o'clock.  
It’s raining. 
It’s time for lunch.
How far is it from here to London?
There was a tiger in this jungle.
There were a lot of people outside the police station.
There was an earthquake in the early morning. 

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Sleepless Nights

Dialogue (conversation) between a doctor and a patient.

The patient has a problem of sleepless nights.

Patient: Good morning, Doctor!

Doctor: Good morning, what is your Problem?

Patient: Doctor, I have a problem of not getting proper sleep at night?

Doctor: I’ll give you a medicine. You’ll become alright.

Patient: Thank You Doctor. How often should I take the medicine?

Doctor: Just take a pill about 30 minutes before going to bed.

Patient: For how long?

Doctor: For thirty days. Come back if you do not get a proper sleep.

Patient: Is there anything else?

Doctor: Don't worry so much about things at work.

Patient: Thank you.

Doctor: You are always welcome.


Wednesday, February 18, 2015

An Ode to the Spell Checker

Eye have a spelling checker
It came with my pea sea
It clearly marks four my revue
Miss Steaks eye kin knot sea
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong awe write
It shows me strait a way
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
It’s rare lea ever wrong
Eye have run this poem threw it
Eye am shore your pleased two no
It’s letter perfect awl the weigh

My checker tolled me sew!

Summary of Paradise Lost Book 4 by John Milton

Satan lands atop Mount Niphates, just north of Paradise, the Garden of Eden. He becomes gripped with doubt about the task in front of him; s...